How to become Holy....
If you are looking how to become Holy, that's good, but let's start by saying that we cannot become Holy, by trying to become Holy.
The only way to become Holy, is not by starting to do Holy things, it's by STOPPING doing unholy things.
For years my family have used a water distiller to produce the water we drink in the home, it's an easy way of ensuring that what you drink is pure and unadulterated, and it works on the simple principal that by heating the water, it turns to steam, passes over a cooling tube, and reconvenes as pure water at the other end.
All the impurities stay in the distiller.
Every believer will have had an encounter with Christ at some stage. It may have been at the front of your local church after an 'altar call ', or in private when your sins finally convicted you and you cried out to God, or even as your life flashed before your eyes in a dramatic incident that (almost ) cost you your life.
But it happened, and in that brief few moments when the presence of God was enveloping you, your spirit became enlivened and you believed.
At that moment you just KNEW that the battle for your soul was over, your rebellion was ceased, Satan had lost and you sang out praises to God.... you may still be singing His praises..... you may only remember that wonderful time when Christ saved you, from yourself (the world ) and released you into His Kingdom.
But it happened, and if it did not happen for you.... well.... set about getting to that point in time, for it's the start of eternity.... the second when you step out of time and into eternity.
But then, one morning, or maybe late in the night, you found yourself missing that vital link, your soul was heavy and you maybe even doubted whether the whole thing had been a mirage of your mind, a mental contortion.
You entered the 'dark night of the soul '.
Perhaps you are in that place now, and possibly that's why I was given this hub to write, just for you....
....or me?
When a believer comes to Christ, they are regenerated, and by that I mean reformed spiritually, in a literal sense.... 're formed ' and 're generated '.... in Christian speak it's called 'born again ' but most denominations put little emphasis on the dying part first, they are just happy to have a new believer and (in most churches I have visited ) seem content to let that newbie alone, as long as they read their bible, and attend cell/house group and Sunday service.
That's probably a generalisation in your churches case, but it's far too frequent in many churches that the new believer is not mentored or discipled to guide them through the maze that confronts them in their new life.
But if the church body may be content to leave it up to them to stop being unholy, (and let's face it, many of those in the church have not stopped their unholy activities ) then there is one person who definitely is NOT prepared to leave them in their new life.
Satan, who recently lost them out of his domain, is keen to try to get back into their lives and regain control, if not ownership, and he has legions of spiritual demons to assist him.
He saved them from the hand of him who hated them,and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
The waters covered their enemies;
There was not one of them left.
Then they believed His words; They sang His praise.
They soon forgot His works; They did not wait for His counsel,
But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness,and tested God in the desert.
He gave them their request,but sent leanness into their soul.
Psalm 106 v 10-15 NKJV
This article originated after I read the scripture at right, Psalm 106, which is actually written to describe the Hebrews deliverance from Egypt, but (like most of what God writes) is also applicable to ourselves, as the spiritual descendants of Christ.
The release from bondage in Egypt and especially the 'Passover' is a symbol of how Christ was sent to 'deliver' us from our enemies (Satan and his dominion of the world )
The verses that leapt off the page were:
Then they believed His words; They sang His praise.
They soon forgot His works; They did not wait for His counsel.
Like the Hebrew people.... Gods chosen.... we also come to faith, we sing His praises, but (unfortunately) many of us forget His works and do not await His counsel before we act.
We 'lust exceedingly in the wilderness, and test God in the desert' and God does give us our requests, but He also sends 'leanness to our soul'
We starve in our spirit's when our soul is not refreshed by Gods presence.
Then we feel 'unholy' and Satan is constantly whispering in our ear just how 'unholy' we are, and then we can make a second mistake, and start trying to become Holy.
Too often that leads to whoever is trying to attain Holyness becoming 'Holier than thou' in their lives, after all, they have worked hard to become Holy, and they believe you should respect their hard work......
But the keys to holiness do not lie in any endeavour to become holy, they lie in the praise of our Lord, the remembrance (daily, as you pick up your 'cross') of what He did for us, and the awaiting of His counsel before we act.
As with distilled water, purity happens when you have removed the impurities, and that is achieved in our lives by deciding to stop the unholy actions, when you do that, then in time, what is left will be available to God, for His purposes.
I have met a few Holy believers, and all of them had been through the fires of purification to get to be Holy, and none of them made any point about what they had become.
They are instantly aware of anything that will affect their relationship with God, and shun ungodliness in an instance.
They also carry a powerful anointing, and it's here that you see the healing and miracles taking place.
Our righteousness is NEVER our own, it comes from being hidden in Christ, so even in our depravity, we are acceptable to God, masked by Christ's redeeming sacrifice.
So do NOT let the enemy tell you that you are unworthy (even though we are).
Because Christ has made us worthy, nothing we do will ever make us worthy in our own right, but in Him, we are accounted worthy.
Everything that happens in your life is a way of bringing you to God, you were chosen, for a reason, to receive His blessings, and God does not make bad things.
It's Satan that corrupts our earthly minds with his deception and brings unholy things into our lives.
I post in the forums when I have time and am always confronted by Mark, Earnest, and PC along with the rest of the faithful 'band of brothers' committed to refuting Gods word.
I thank them for their rebuttals.
When I first started on the hub forums, they swarmed like flies to a dung-heap, as I started posting scripture replies to their challenges, and for a short while I 'lost it ' when I set about returning their attacks, rather than turning the cheek.
But God is using them just as much as He uses anyone who gets involved with God.
They may not like it, but they are 'God's Chisels ' just as much as the Skit Guys are, albeit from an opposing perspective, but still used to bring revelation to us sinners and make us challenge our beliefs and actions.
I have informed them (frequently ) that they are being 'Satan Whisperers ' and will continue to point out that they do Satan's job for him, accusing the brethren, but then someone must hold that position, for God does not bring guilt and accusation to us, God brings conviction of sin and salvation, not just condemnation and scorn.
They have rejected God, but it seems God has not rejected them (He never does ) and will continue to allow them to be used by Satan until they turn to Him, or die without a relationship.
We all have to make our own choices.
Edit Jan 2012: Earnesthub has since sadly died.
Now after that commercial break for our resident atheists, back to the hub!
Samson and David were men who carried Gods anointing, but were flawed in their personal lives.
Samson was a womaniser and in the eyes of most church councils would be considered a poor example of what being Holy was about, likewise David did things that would be frowned upon by any leadership, and indeed both were challenged by God, and paid for their sins in temporal time.
But they were still much used by God in their lives, and are 'champions of the faith'.
David seemed to have a direct line to God.... but then we all do.... however he kept his communication channel open and used it day and night.
Samson was also carrying the anointing.... but did not stay in touch, and ended up in a spiritual wilderness of the soul.
We need to stay in touch, Christ is not a once only experience, or even a once a week encounter, He's everywhere and the fact is that only by ignoring His communications to us, can we 'lust exceedingly in the wilderness'.
We need to apply a filter before we can cut out those gentle leadings that tell us that this or that is not acceptable to God.
When the supermarket checkout worker makes the wrong change for us, in our favour, we need to listen to Christ telling us to let them know, rather than our inner voice saying 'that's OK, it's their mistake, and anyway the store makes billions each year in profits, what's the problem'
The problem is that it's unholy to take their money, and that one small act of unholiness separates us from Gods blessings, until we have repented of it.
On the forums the constant mantra of the unsaved is along the lines of:
"Why does YOUR God bless you and not the starving children in Africa?"
And the answer is simple, but unpalatable to most folk of a non believing persuasion.
God favours us....
He favoured all of us who He has blessed with the capacity to even write or read this in our own home, rather than a tin hut in some small township, as many sincere believers must do.
He favours us with food each day, and He favoured us by letting us be born into the richest nations of the world, where we received education and civil protection and expect a comfortable life (no matter how poor we are) as a right, not a priviledge.
That favour was won by our forefathers relationship with Christ, and by the way our legal and social systems were modelled upon Gods precepts.
Sadly, the current generations of we rich ones have done exactly what God tells us not to do, we have: forgotten His works, have not waited for His counsel, and have lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, testing God in the desert.
We with our worldly humanist superiority, have turned away from God the Creator, and He, true to his word, has given us our request but sent leanness to our souls.
The world is suppurating in it's iniquity, seething with discontent and unrest, and oblivious to the reason why.
But they blame a god the refuse to acknowledge exists.
The poor will always be with us, Jesus told us that, and despite the considerable efforts of both church and state to improve their lot, they are still with us and always will be.
Do I think that's fair..... NO
Do I think it's just.... YES
Because God is just,,,,,, not fair... as opposed to the atheist mantra, "Gods just not fair!"
That comma makes all the difference.
The comma is the realisation that God IS in control and where He is ALLOWED to rule, then His blessings will flow from generation to generation, in individual lives and over states, nations and tribes.
Blessings or Curses, you can choose!
Most places where poverty rules have been evangelised since we first sent out missionaries to preach the word, yet still they have governments that steal from their people and do not observe Gods words, they have "forgotten His works, have not waited for His counsel, and have lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, testing God in the desert."
And still the humanists blame God for this!
Enough of the rant!..... if we want Holiness, we need to stop doing unholy things.
You will NOT be made Holy by what you do, it's what you do not do, that will bring you to holiness.
Every day you make the decisions that are either holy, or unholy.
We all make the choices, choose wisely.
