The Significance of our Faith - Part III: Pursuing a Holy Life

Do you ever struggle with doing the right thing? I know that I certainly do.  In fact, I had an issue today where I had to admit that I had reacted in the flesh.  It wasn’t what I said, per se, that was wrong, but rather my attitude and my delivery.  I ended up having to apologize, and in the end my point – which was extremely valid – was essentially lost.  You may not like to admit it – and unless you are a psychopath you probably will admit it - but everyone struggles with doing the right thing sometimes.  Fortunately, we have the gift of God’s grace.

You have most likely heard of the phrase “God’s grace is sufficient.”  Romans 5:20-21 says

“Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Do you know what that means? Essentially, the more we sin, the more grace and forgiveness we receive in return.  This is an astounding promise.  No matter how badly we fail, God is there to pick us up and forgive us.  The problem with this promise, however, is that some people use it as an excuse to quit trying to be good.  Some people say it gives us a license to sin or a free pass to do whatever we want, because – after all – God will forgive us.  Perhaps you do not do this overtly, but I wonder how many of us fall into this trap subconsciously.   That is why this beautiful promise comes with such a stern warning – stated twice, in fact, in Romans 6.

Romans 6:1 says “What shall we say, then?  Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?  By no means…”

Likewise, Romans 6:15 says “What then” Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace?  By no means!”

The reality is that because God’s grace is sufficient, we are obligated to strive with all our might to live out the Holy life that God intended - not for salvation's sake, but for the sake of the Holy name of Jesus Christ.  Romans chapter 6 gives us three reasons why we have this obligation.  First, we are dead to sin.   The Sin Nature that used to control us may still exist in our flesh, but its power has been put to death.  Its only power over us is the power we choose to allow it to have in our lives.  Second, we are baptized into Christ.  That means we have identified ourselves with Christ and so are obligated to live according to his established plan.  It would be a fallacy to identify yourself with any cause and not strive to represent the values and ideals of that cause.  The same is true with Christianity. When we identify with Christ, we obligate ourselves to represent him faithfully.  Finally, we are crucified with Christ.  Our Old Self has been killed.  It is dead.  We have been born again.  We are new creatures in Christ.  In other words, we are not the same person we were before, so we ought to no longer be acting like that person.  Instead, we ought to act as the new person we are – made in the image of Christ.

Here’s the thing.  If you haven’t been changed by Jesus so that you are a different person – a person striving to be LIKE Christ – then you are not saved.  Likewise, if your desires have not changed so that you want to live like Jesus, then you are not saved.  Grace is a wonderful thing, but it is NOT fire insurance.  Salvation is not a get out of hell free card.  You can’t just “ask Jesus into your heart” and then go on with your lives the same as you always did before.  Being a Christian means FOLLOWING Jesus.  This is what we call being HOLY.

Jesus paved the way for grace by faith through his death on the cross.  However, in the three years leading up to that death, he taught us principles for how we should live our lives.  Jesus taught us what it means to be Holy.  As Christians, we are then obligated to live Holy lives.  Lives that are different from the world.  Lives that are an imitation of Jesus and that live out the principles he taught.

This takes us back to the question at the beginning of this post.  Do you have trouble living a Holy life?  If the answer is yes, the problem could be one of two things.  One: you might not be saved.  If you are not saved, there is no way you can live a Holy life.  In fact, it is not just a struggle, it is impossible.  On the other hand, the second reason may be that you are saved.  You see, even for those of us who are saved, living a Holy life can still be a struggle.  In case you missed that: we all still struggle to be Holy. Anyone who claims that living Holy is not a struggle is either (a) a liar, or (b) just exposing their ignorance and perhaps their lost condition.

So what is the difference between the one who is not saved and the one who is when it comes to living Holy lives?  The difference is the level of frustration.  The unsaved person doesn’t generally think twice about the way he lives.  In fact, the unsaved person may be perfectly content with the way he lives – especially if (a) he is comparing himself to Christians or (b) if he has deluded himself because he is relying on religious ritual instead of faith for his righteousness.  In fact, in his own self-righteousness he may even consider himself Holy.  As such, he is perfectly content where he is.  The saved person, however, knows that he is wretched, knows he is supposed to be Holy, and is frustrated by the paradox.  This is precisely the paradox that the Aspostle Paul describes in Romans 7:14-25 when he laments his desire to be holy in contrast to the weakness of his flesh.

Fortunately there is a solution.  As Paul says right after that in Romans 7:25 – Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.  The solution is that we have the Holy Spirit.

Romans 8:1-4 says: There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Our flesh truly is weak, but we have something better.  Jesus already accomplished what our flesh could not accomplish and then he gave us the Holy Spirit to help us overcome our fleshly weakness.  The Holy Spirit gives us the power to live Holy lives even though in our flesh it is difficult.  We just have to be willing to live by the Spirit instead of living by the flesh.  That is where faith comes in.  Our faith is so much more than belief.  We cannot just “believe in Jesus” and let that be the end of it.  Even after our “faith in Jesus” saves us, we must continue to live by faith in order to live the Holy life we are obligated to live.  So how do we do that?

Fortunately, Romans 8 gives us some insight into what it means to live by the Spirit instead of living by the flesh.  First, the Spirit desires the things of the Spirit.  This is in reference most likely to the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23 – namely, love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control.  By contrast, the flesh desires the things of the flesh, which are found in Galatians 5:19-21 – namely, sexual immorality, impurity, debaucher, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambitions, dissentions, factions, envy, drukenness, orgies, and the like.  So the question is… which of these two lists more accurately characterizes your life?

Similarly, the mindset of the Spirit is life and peace.  In other words, the Spirit controlled person is one who is content, peaceful, desiring good things towards others.  By contrast, the mindset of the flesh is death and destruction.  The thoughts of those controlled by the flesh are dominated by discontentment, anger, bitterness – all things negative.  Again, how would you assess yourself?

Finally, the one controlled by the Spirit has an attitude about God that says she will trust God in all things and obey God at all times – whereas the one controlled by the flesh is often angry at God and frequently disobedient to his commands.  One last time, which of these more closely describes you?

As a Christian, you are SAVED by grace – through faith.  That means NOTHING you can do in your own strength can save you.  You must trust God for your salvation.  However, once you become a Christian, you should be moving away from a life controlled by the flesh and towards a life controlled by the Spirit.  This requires faith.  Faith that God's grace is sufficient.

Sure, sometimes you will mess up.  Like I said at the beginning, I had to deal with this in my own life even today.  It is a part of the human condition.  But our striving and our goal should be for Holiness.  And here’s the best news of all - and it is the real meaning of the phrase “God’s grace is sufficient” - we have complete security in Christ!

The remainder of Romans chapter 8 goes into full on defense against any argument of Satan that our failings in any way make us unworthy of Christ or disqualified from receiving grace.  There is none who can condemn us except Jesus Christ himself and, as it says in Romans 8:34, he is actually the one who is arguing in our favor before the Heavenly Father.  The only one who can condemn us is on our side!  That's FANTASTIC!   So if that’s the case, what do we have to worry about? As it says in verses 35-39, there is absolutely nothing that can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus!

This gives us tremendous freedom.  Not freedom to sin, but rather freedom not to worry.  We are free to pursue a relationship with God and a life of holiness without the concern of any consequences to our slip-ups.  We can focus on living and not worrying about being judged.  We can forgive ourselves because we know we are forgiven.  We can pursue holiness without fear.