REFLECTIONS

Written by Stephen Shead

Let’s jump straight into the second Commandment, which is about … well, what would you say it is about?

4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them.” (Exodus 20:4-5a)

This follows on from the first commandment, about being loyal to the Lord God above all other “gods.” The brilliant thing about the second commandment is that, in God’s kindness, it points to the thing that is most likely to take God’s place in our loyalty, love, and worship – which is … money, possessions, and comfort. (Is that what you said it’s about?)

Originally, the commandment was specifically about worshiping images, or idolatry. Idolatry means worshiping something other than the one true God – and in a way, that’s the sin that’s at the heart of all sin (see Romans 1:21-25). For ancient Israel, the most dangerous idols were carved statues of pagan deities. But the Apostle Paul applied the same warning to greed:

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. (Colossians 3:5)

For people in the modern West (including most of us), our lives are unbelievably luxurious compared to the lives of almost all human beings in the history of the world. Our forebears wouldn’t even have been able to imagine the amount of stuff we have in our houses, our  bank accounts, even our pockets. For our part, we wouldn’t be able to imagine life without constant entertainment in our fingertips, let alone without food and hot showers.

Here’s a challenging thought: Could you get rid of it all?

That’s not very realistic, so here’s a different thought: How do we guard against money, possessions, and comfort being more important and precious to us than the Lord Jesus?

Jesus had some things to say about that:

19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)

The way to guard against earthly treasures becoming an idol is not simply to try not to store them up. It’s to do the positive opposite: “store up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” Jesus is encouraging us to focus our priorities, and use our possessions, on things that have true worth and eternal value – things like being generous to those who have little, and devoting your prayers, your effort, your money, your home, and your gifts to things that enable gospel preaching and Christian ministry.

That is how to shift your heart’s loyalty away from earthly possessions and to fix your heart’s loyalty and longing to your true, heavenly inheritance with Jesus. Because Jesus tells us that your heart will follow your investment. “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” If you invest your time, your talents, and your treasure generously and sacrificially for God’s kingdom and his righteousness (Matthew 6:33), you will train your heart to be more and more captivated and delighted by God rather than the temporary and uncertain things of this world.

This is a principle we will continue to see as we think about how to grow in holy living. I’ll call it “the bottle principle.” If you have an empty glass bottle, what’s the best way to get all the air out of it? You could just try to suck the air out and create a vacuum. But the best and most effective way to get all the air out is to fill the bottle with something else, like water!

Similarly, the bottle principle of holiness says that the best way to cure devotion to the things of this world is not to try to stop loving those things. It’s to replace them with something far better: being captivated by God.

We’ll keep thinking about how we go about pursuing holy living in the days to come. For now, think and pray about two questions: First, what things in your life – money, possessions, or comforts – are you worried might have a stronger grip on your heart than the Lord Jesus? Secondly, is there a way you can take that part of your life and use it to invest in eternity out of devotion and thankfulness to Jesus?

Here's an old prayer from the Prayer Book that you can use to help you pray:

Merciful Lord, you alone can order our disordered wills and affections. Teach us to love what you command, and to desire what you promise, so that, among the changes and uncertainties of this world, our hearts may be firmly fixed where true joys are to be found, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephen is our senior minister.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Stephen Shead

We’re halfway through our month of devotions on growing in holiness. Let’s pause to recap what we’ve seen.

Holiness means being devoted to God. Our holiness starts with God rescuing us. Through faith in Jesus, he delivers us from sin and adopts us as his children, so that now we belong to him. We now exist for the praise of his glory and goodness. God delivers us and devotes us to himself, as an act of sheer grace.

But that holy status that God gives us is something we also live out in an ongoing and growing way. Practical holiness means living a life that is devoted to God.

Over the next two weeks, we’re going to think about what it looks like to live in devotion to God in many different areas of life. But what we’ve seen so far will help us to avoid two possible errors: legalism and licence to sin.

Legalism is thinking that the thing which will save us is obeying God’s laws. But legalism completely misses the fact that we receive salvation by God’s grace alone, as a gift that we will never earn or gain by our works. Holiness means being devoted to God by his grace.

The other error is thinking that the gospel gives us a licence to sin. After all, if our works don’t save us, then it doesn’t matter what we do, even if it’s sinful, right? But that thinking completely misses the fact that holiness means being devoted to God! The gospel teaches us to be captivated by God himself, and to allow his love to both forgive us and transform us.

Let’s start the second half of our journey, and think about growing in holy living. To help us, we are going to turn to one of the most famous parts of the Old Testament: The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17). The Ten Commandments are a summary of the Law that God gave Israel through Moses. We’re not going to stick closely to them, though – they will be a rough guide to the topics we’ll cover, but we’ll range over the whole Bible.

Here is how the Ten Commandments begin:

1 And God spoke all these words:

2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

3 “You shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:1-3)

Delivered from slavery, devoted to God. It almost sounds like this is going to be about holiness, doesn’t it!?

Like most of the Ten Commandments, the first one is expressed negatively: “You shall not have other gods before me.” What would the positive version be? I think it would be the commandment that the Lord Jesus said is the greatest in the whole Old Testament Law:

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. (Deuteronomy 6:5; see Matthew 22:35-38)

When we hear “love,” we tend to think about emotions. Now there’s nothing wrong with loving feelings – and I’m confident that in heaven, we’ll be bursting with loving feelings for God at every second. But in the Bible, love is not about emotion, but devotion. To love God doesn’t mean to feel warm and fuzzy. It means to be completely loyal and committed to him, to obey him above all others, to put him above everything else in your life. It’s about your will, your determination and resolve – which what the Bible usually means by “your heart.”

So the question God’s Word puts before us is: Are you unwaveringly, constantly committed to putting God above every other path in life that would diminish his glory? Are you determined to obey him in every area of your life? Is your loyalty to God stronger and more faithful than every competing desire or impulse?

You know, this very first commandment – the one that Jesus says is the most important of all – is so impossible for us sinners to obey perfectly that it ends up being strangely comforting! It’s a reminder that we can’t possibly earn God’s favour … and it’s such a relief that we don’t need to! Jesus is “our righteousness, holiness and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30).

Of course, if you have said “yes” to Jesus, then God’s kindness and love have started to radically change your direction in life, so that you want to live for him alone. But if you realise that you are keeping God out of the direction of your life, if you have never surrendered your life to him and said, “I want you to be completely in charge,” then you need to do some serious business with the Lord Jesus today.

Either way, bring this to God in prayer, and tell him what you want him to do in your life and your heart.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephen is our senior minister.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Stephen Shead

Yesterday we reflected on the fact that Christ died not just for individuals, but to make the church holy. That’s why the normal context for us to practise and grow in holiness is the gathering of believers in the local church. In particular, we thought about the place of serving one another in a life of devotion to God.

But there is a more basic and fundamental way that we live out and express the fact that God has made us his holy people. Theologian John Webster suggests that the church’s holiness becomes “visible” in confession – that is, in acknowledging and declaring together “the sheer majesty, transcendent worth and goodness of God” (John Webster, Holiness). Serving each other is a key part of the life of practical holiness, but it doesn’t start there. Remember, holiness isn’t doing good things; it’s being devoted to God; and the most basic way we as Christ’s people express our devotion to God is by declaring his glory and goodness.

God has made us holy, devoted to himself in Christ. The fundamental way we express that devotion to God, the way we reflect it back to him, is in gathering to worship.

That explains the shape of what we do when we gather. Webster describes four things we do when we gather which express our holiness in Jesus.

1. We hear God’s Word to fill our minds with the gospel, to remind each other of who God is and his promises to us in Jesus.

2. We confess our sins together and ask for God’s forgiveness through Jesus.

3. We praise God to testify to the world about his glory and goodness.

4. We pray “Hallowed be your name” – we pray to God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and tell him how much we want his name to be honoured.

All of this reflects what Israel did by singing and reciting Psalms together, and is what Paul encourages us to do in Colossians 3:16:

Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. (Colossians 3:16)

I wonder if the second one seems strange to you – that we express our holiness by confessing our sins together. Surely if we’re holy, we won’t have sins to confess, will we? But once again, holiness is not merely goodness – in fact, the arrogant confidence of thinking you can be clean apart from God’s constant cleansing and grace is the opposite of holiness. Holiness is devotion to God, and for fallen creatures like us, that means recognising our weakness and failings, falling before God in humble need, crying out to him for the cleansing that can only ever flow from his grace, and joyfully receiving his forgiveness. All of that is a perfect expression of our devotion to God.

Acts 2:42-47 is a beautiful little portrait of what the church’s holiness looks like in practice – of how it is “visible” in the world, as Webster says.

42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42-47)

Notice how the devotion of the early Christian church flowed from the Word to the world. It began with gathering to worship through hearing God’s Word and responding in prayer. That flowed out into genuine, radical, generous love and service of one another. But they did all of that – gathering for worship and loving one another – in full view of the general public. And the end result was … praise! Their devotion to God as they gathered was a powerful testimony to those around of the glory and grace of Christ; and God used the public worship of his gathered people to save many more.

How much of that picture do you see in our life as Christ’s church, especially as we gather to worship God and serve one another? Can you think of changes we can make, or changes you can make personally – perhaps to your mindset and goals when you come to church – that will help our gatherings be a visible picture, in front of the world, of our devotion to God by his grace?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephen is our senior minister.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Stephen Shead

Finish this sentence: “Jesus died to save ___.”

I hope you are able to finish that sentence with the word “me.” That’s an assurance that every believer should have: that Jesus died for you personally.

But there’s an even better word to finish that sentence: “Jesus died to save us.” There’s nothing wrong with rejoicing in Jesus’ salvation of you as an individual (e.g., Galatians 2:20). But far more often, the Bible encourages us to understand God’s saving work as directed not to me, but to us. Jesus saved us from sin and condemnation, and he saved us into a people, a body.

That’s not just a small difference of language. It’s a gigantic shift in mindset – and it’s particularly important for our understanding of holiness. God has delivered and devoted us to himself by grace, not as disconnected individuals but as a body, unbreakably joined to one another through our union with Christ.

For example, in Ephesians 2 Paul describes God’s work of delivering us from sin and devoting us to himself, and at the heart of it is God’s work of joining us together and building us into a “holy temple”:

14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. (Ephesians 2:14-22)

Isn’t that last sentence striking? We might be inclined to say, “God lives in me by his Spirit” – and that’s true. But it’s even more important to know that God has devoted us – all together – to himself as a building, a temple, a holy people, so that he might come and dwell in us by his Spirit.

Listen to how Paul describes Christ’s saving work a few chapters later in Ephesians:

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. (Ephesians 5:25-27)

Christ died to make the church holy.

Why is that important? We’ll return to this tomorrow; but for starters, it means that as believers in Jesus, we shouldn’t only be concerned for our own holiness of life. We can’t be content with that! We should be concerned for the holiness of his church. That is, the more I become captivated by God, the more I should long to encourage my brothers and sisters at church to reflect God’s holiness in their lives as well.

The second reason it’s important is because practical holiness is something we need to … well, practise! And the normal context for practising holiness is not sitting by yourself contemplating spiritual things, but the beautiful, frustrating, purifying mess of the local church. Not just your friends or the people you “click” with at church, but the whole body of those who gather together (yes, including that person).

The normal context for growing in holiness is Christ’s church. In fact, in most cases the only way to grow in holiness is through the hard work of striving to love and serve your brothers and sisters in Christ (yes, including that person).

Finish by meditating on Paul’s words in Ephesians 4 – here is how God will supercharge the process of growing us, all together, in practical holiness:

1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:1-6)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephen is our senior minister.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Stephen Shead

I’m free to do what I want any old time.

So sang Mick Jagger on the Rolling Stones’ 1965 album, Out of Our Heads. Even though that was nearly 60 years ago, that vision of freedom is still very much the spirit of the age. We long for freedom, and the idea of being able to do whatever I want, whenever I want, sure sounds like freedom to me!

And yet, as usual, the Bible’s message is very different. In fact, the Rolling Stones’ freedom is a recipe for slavery. Listen to what Jesus said:

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:34-36)

Sin means living for yourself instead of for God; and that doesn’t lead to freedom. Saying, “I’m free to do what I want any old time” sounds bold and brash and inspiring, but it’s morally bankrupt. It simply isn’t true that we are free in that childish, selfish sense – we all have responsibilities to other people in our lives. The Rolling Stones version of freedom leaves you trapped in a pattern of ugly self-centredness, and those around you will suffer for it.

Jesus makes a far bolder claim: that he is the only one who can give us true freedom. In fact, anyone who has put their faith in Jesus as Lord is truly free.

But if that’s the case, you might be wondering: Why is it that the Christian life so often doesn’t feel like freedom? It’s because of what freedom really means. Freedom isn’t being able to do what I want. It’s being able to do what Godwants. Freedom is the ability to obey God, to live a life of practical holiness.

But the way to take hold of that true freedom in Jesus is not to kick back and relax. It’s to strive with all your effort against sin, the world, and the devil. And the reason for that is not because practical holiness relies on what I can do. It’s because all of holiness is a gift of God’s grace.

2 Peter 1 beautifully illustrates that shape of Christian freedom. In verses 3-4, Peter tells us where the power for obedience in the Christian life comes from:

3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. (2 Peter 1:3-4)

If you trust in Christ, you have everything you need for a life of practical holiness and obedience. But the source of that new ability is not anything in you. It comes from God’s “divine power”, “his own glory and goodness”, and “his very great and precious promises.”

Does that mean obeying God should be easy? Not at all – because as we saw yesterday, that power which continually flows from God is at war with our sin-riddled natural selves. So Peter continues:

5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. (2 Peter 1:5-7)

Notice Peter’s logic: “For this very reason” – that is, because the power to obey comes from God, not from within us – make every effort to live out your faith in goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, mutual affection, and love.

I find that immensely helpful for my expectations about the Christian life. We should expect that holiness of life will be a titanic struggle. But it’s not a hopeless struggle. It’s not a struggle fuelled by fear or desperation. It’s a struggle that’s powered by the assurance, comfort, forgiveness, and joy of knowing God’s power and his unconditional love for you in Jesus. You can know the struggle is not in vain – trust God to finish the work he began in you (Phil. 1:6).

The true freedom that Jesus gives sings a far more beautiful song: “I’m free to do what God wants, by his grace and power.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephen is our senior minister.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Stephen Shead

How can you be your true self?

For many people in the Western world today, that’s the most important question in life – because the number 1 value in modern Western culture is authenticity. Things like kindness, patience, and honesty might be good, but what’s most important is to look inside yourself to find the real “you,” and then try to be that person.

But there’s a different question our culture doesn’t seem to consider: Do you really want to be your true self? What’s to say that it’s only the good bits of your character, or the parts you like about yourself, that are your true self? What if my true self is that I’m a compulsive liar, I take everything personally, and I’m selfish and lazy?

The gospel has a far better message, one which offers true security and hope. Jesus doesn’t say, “Live out your true self.” He offers you a brand new self – one “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24).

The key to that is the fact that faith unites us to Jesus. In particular, being “in Christ” means that we are joined to Jesus in his death and in his resurrection life. In Colossians 3, Paul says:

1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:1-3)

Our union with Christ means that Jesus’ death on the cross was my death – which is very good news, because his death was the full and final payment for sin. Jesus’ glorious resurrection life is our life as well. We experience the power of his resurrection life partially now, but we will experience it fully at the final resurrection of the dead.

Being united with Christ also means we now have a new identity. There’s a new “you,” and that new “you” is so closely connected to Christ that Paul can say:

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

Through faith in Jesus, you have come alive to God, and that new life in you is Christ himself!

You can think of it the other way around as well: Your real life is now hidden with Christ in heaven (Colossians 3:3). The new “you” is the risen Christ! Whatever way you look at it, it’s impossible to separate the new “you” from Christ himself.

But none of that means that practical holiness is simple and easy. The reality, this side of Jesus’ return is, that there are now two “you’s,” and they are in conflict with each other.

See, here is how holiness doesn’t work: Our inner nature hasn’t suddenly become good. As we saw yesterday, practical holiness is about offering our bodies to God – but it’s not like the corruption in my body has disappeared and been replaced by pure rays of sunshine. The old you is still hanging around like a bad smell. Your natural self is still a “body of death” (Romans 7:24), infested with pride and selfishness, and headed for the grave.

Because of that, the call of the gospel is to live a constant process of putting to death the old self, and putting on the new.

22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:22-24)

Growth in practical holiness is about constantly striving to be, not your true self, but your new self. Or as writer Kevin DeYoung says:

God does want you to be the real you. He does want you to be true to yourself. But the “you” he’s talking about is the “you” that you are by grace, not by nature. (Kevin DeYoung, “The Hole in Our Holiness”)

And as we constantly put to death the old and put on the new, we look forward to the day when we will be raised in perfect bodies that are like Jesus’ glorious resurrection body. On that day, the only “you” will be the Christ-shaped one. Your new self really will be your true self.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephen is our senior minister.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Stephen Shead

As we saw yesterday, holiness – being devoted to God – is not just a status or position. It’s also practical. It’s physical and down-to-earth. It involves people and spaces and objects – which is not surprising, because behind New Testament’s language of holiness lies the very physical world of holiness from Israel’s life in the Old Testament.

If you said the word “holy” to an ancient Israelite, their mind would immediately have jumped to one space in particular: the temple (or before Solomon built it, the tabernacle – like an earlier outdoor-camping version of the temple). That’s because holiness is directly connected to God. Holiness is “God-ness”; and the temple was the physical space that represented God’s presence among his people. It was God’s dwelling-place on earth – even though Solomon himself recognised that God isn’t contained in any earthly space:

“But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!” (1 Kings 8:27)

Nevertheless, as part of God’s training program for Israel, everything related to holiness centred on the temple.

So there was one group of people specially set apart to be devoted to God – the priests. They could approach the presence of God as mediators between God and people. They were the ones who offered animal sacrifices in the temple for people’s sin. The sacrifices were a visual symbol of making atonement (e.g., Exodus 29:36). Making atonement is about dealing with sin, turning aside God’s wrath, and restoring a person’s relationship with God.

There were also many objects that the priests used in their holy service: utensils, bowls, clothing, and so on. Everything that was considered “holy” in this system of symbols needed to be set apart from even the slightest hint of sin, because they were devoted to God.

How does all this translate to the New Testament and to our holiness? Well, it doesn’t translate directly to us, but to Jesus. John 1:14 says about the coming of the Son of God as a man:

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling (literally, “tabernacled”) among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

Jesus is the fulfilment of the Temple – the place of God’s presence on earth. Jesus is also the one true high priest, the perfect mediator whose coming has done away with all other human mediators (see Hebrews 7:25-26).

Jesus is not only the high priest, he is the sacrifice as well! He gave his own body and blood in our place on the cross, and then he ascended to God’s true sanctuary in heaven where he intercedes on our behalf. As Paul says:

Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 5:2)

The BIG takeaway of the whole Old Testament holiness system is: Jesus is our holiness.

But all of this also applies to us indirectly, through Jesus. And just like the pictures of holiness in the Old Testament, the life of holiness that Jesus calls us to involves practical, down-to-earth things. It means being devoted to God in the way we use spaces, objects, and most of all … our bodies and minds. After Paul has spent 11 chapters unpacking the grace and kindness of God through Jesus in the letter of Romans, he says:

1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:1-2)

Our bodies and minds. What we do with our bodies, how we relate to others; and how we think, our beliefs and attitudes and desires. In Jesus, because God’s mercy at the cross has filled us with such thankfulness and delight and relief and hope, we gladly offer all that we are to God. Not as a sacrifice to pay for our sin – Jesus already did that for us – but as worship.

In the second half of the month, we will spend a lot of time thinking about how, practically, we can offer our bodies and minds to God in our daily lives. For today, meditate on God’s mercy in Jesus: his sacrifice for you, his ministry right now of interceding for you before God, and that he has brought God’s holy presence into your life through the gift of his Spirit.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephen is our senior minister.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Stephen Shead

So far in our devotions on holiness, we’ve seen that holiness is not about being a good or moral person. To be holy means to be devoted to God – to be set apart from sin and belong to God, for the praise of his glory and goodness. And because we begin our journey as rebels, cut off from God, we need to be delivered from sin in order to become devoted to God. That’s not something we can achieve for ourselves; we receive it by God’s grace alone, through Jesus’ death and by the gift of his Spirit who washes us clean and reconciles us to himself.

Holiness means being delivered and devoted to God by grace.

Theologians often distinguish between two kinds of holiness: positional holiness and practical holiness (though they might call “progressive holiness”). Being holy starts with a holy position or special status before God – being cleansed from sin so that you belong to him. But the Bible is also very interested in practical holiness – that is, living in obedience to God, so that our behaviour and attitudes reflect that we are devoted to him now.

There is a lot of truth in that distinction (yes, there’s a “but” coming). For example, the writer of Hebrews assures us of our holy position through Jesus’ death:

And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:10)

Then two chapters later, he urges us to pursue practical holiness in our lives and relationships:

Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14)

Hmm … do you find that verse mildly terrifying? Not only are we called to live in a holy manner, it seems that practical holiness is a non-negotiable for salvation!

That call to holy living is all through the Bible, for example:

14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:14-16)

In this week’s devotions, we’re going to shift our focus from positional holiness to practical holiness.

And yet (see? here’s the “but” you were waiting for) … it’s important to start by saying what that distinction does notmean. It’s not that our holy position before God is by his grace, whereas our growth in practical holiness comes by our effort and work. It’s not as if we get in the door by God’s grace, but when it comes to our obedience, his grace goes out the window, and we’re left relying on our own striving.

We will think about the place of our effort later on. But we need to start here: The entire process of sanctification – including our striving to live a holy life – is the gift of God, flowing from the Father, through faith in Christ, by his Spirit. Christ Jesus is our holiness (1 Corinthians 1:30). God’s grace fills and empowers the whole journey.

The late English theologian John Webster put it profoundly. He described our holiness as “always and only an alien sanctity.” He wasn’t talking about the movie Aliens. He meant that our holiness always comes to us from outside – from God as a gift. Even as a believer, my holiness of life doesn’t spring from within me, from my own nature. We never possess holiness as our “own”; it continually comes to us from God, by his grace. To be holy is to say with the Apostle Paul:

I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. (Galatians 2:20)

John Webster goes on to say:

The Church’s holiness is thus always an alien sanctity: gift, not possession; grace, not achievement. … Holiness is not self-achieved perfection but a pointing to the perfect reality of the holy God. (John Webster, Holiness)

Holiness is not something God transfers to me, so that it’s mine and not his anymore. It’s not like when you buy a car and the registration is transferred to you. Christian holiness is more like … God inviting you to sit with him in the front seat of his Rolls-Royce every day, to be driven wherever he wants to take you.

Finish today by filling your mind and soul with Paul’s beautiful expression of that truth, in Ephesians 2:

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:8-10)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephen is our senior minister.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Stephen Shead

We’ll finish this week returning to where we started: thinking about the holiness of God. Here’s a question that might seem strange. If holiness for a person means being devoted to God, does that definition apply to God’s own holiness as well? Is God devoted to himself – to his own glory and goodness?

Yes, absolutely. He is so devoted to his own glory that his ultimate purpose in sending Jesus as the saviour and judge of the world is to “hallow” or sanctify his name. That is, while it’s true that Jesus died on the cross out of his great love for sinners, it’s equally true that God’s ultimate goal is that the entire universe might honour him as holy, to the praise of his glory and goodness.

In Ezekiel 36, when God was explaining to his wayward people in exile why he was going to rescue them, forgive their sin, and transform their hearts, he said this:

22 “Therefore say to the Israelites, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: It is not for your sake, people of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. 23 I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I am proved holy through you before their eyes.” (Ezekiel 36:22-23)

Does the idea that God is wholly devoted to his own glory make you feel a little uncomfortable? Are you thinking, “Doesn’t that make God self-centred? And isn’t it bad to be self-centred?”

The answers are (1) yes, and (2) that very much depends. In our case, yes, but with God, it’s a very good thing that he is devoted to his own glory and goodness.

Think about when a person acts as if they’re the centre of the universe and everything revolves around them. Why is that so repulsive to us? It’s because they are not the centre of the universe. And that’s because … God is. God IS the centre of all reality. Everything exists for him. Paul says:

For from him and through him and for him are all things.
          To him be the glory forever! Amen. (Romans 11:36)

You and I exist for God – to know him and love him.

But there’s another difference between my self-centredness and God’s devotion to his glory. When I’m self-centred, I keep everything for myself. I can’t be self-centred for the good of others. But God’s devotion to his own glory overflows in love and self-giving. In fact, God’s devotion to his glory IS his love.

The key to understanding that is the profound truth we explored yesterday: that God is Trinity. He exists eternally as the three Persons of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in perfect union. Not only that, God is an eternal fellowship of perfect, complete, pure love between the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. That’s why God’s devotion to himself IS love. It’s not like our grasping self-centredness. Within the eternal being of God is a constant, unceasing flow of self-giving love.

Shortly before Jesus was arrested, as he looked towards his death, he prayed an amazing prayer of self-consecration or self-devotion to God and to his saving mission. It is often described as Jesus’ high-priestly prayer. In it, he prayed this:

1 … “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. ... 4 I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” (John 17:1, 4-5)

God’s devotion to his own glory and goodness, God’s determination to show the holiness of his name, turns out to be the best thing in the universe. It’s good in itself, because God is the reason and purpose of everything that exists. But it’s also the best thing possible for us. God’s devotion to his glory is the entire reason he sent Jesus to deliver us from sin and shower us with his grace and love. In fact, through Jesus, God’s glory and goodness flow to us as a gift. And through Jesus, we are drawn into loving fellowship with God (1 John 1:3).

There’s nothing better than to know you exist to the praise of God’s glory and goodness. That will not only fill you with purpose and joy, it will also launch you – and launch us together – out to the world in mission, for Jesus’ sake.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (2 Corinthians 13:14)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephen is our senior minister.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Stephen Shead

When we think about holiness, our brains often jump to the “doing” part – what kind of people we should be and how we should live. Those things are crucial, and we’ll get to them. But it’s more important to slow down and give God our full attention. Because the real transforming power comes not from struggling with sin, but from gazing on God.

So let’s delve deeper into the giver of holiness. Yesterday we saw that the way to become holy is by grace, that is, as a gift. But who exactly is the giver of that gift? Well, God, of course. But in Jesus, God’s gives us a much fuller, deeper picture of who he is and how we are sanctified.

Through Jesus, we discover that the one true God is an eternal relationship of three “Persons” or “someones”: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And through the New Testament, a pattern emerges in the life of God and in his work in the world. This isn’t the time for a full-blown doctrine of the Trinity, but the pattern looks something like this:

• The origin of basis of everything God does is the Father’s purpose and election.

• The Son is the mediator, the content of God’s work and the agent who carries it out.

• The Spirit is the one who completes or “perfects” God’s purpose and connects his power to our lives.

That’s why the Bible tends to focus on the Father in God’s work of creation, on the Son in redemption, and on the Spirit in our experience of God’s work in our lives. It’s not that the other two Persons are less involved at any point. All three are fully and equally involved in everything God does. It’s just that the spotlight shifts.

So, when it comes to God’s work of making us holy: The Father elects, the Son redeems and reconciles, and the Spirit completes.

We saw that from Ephesians chapter 1 (you can read it again if you like):

• God the Father chose us before the creation of the world to be holy. He predestined us to belong to him as his sons (v4-5).

• Jesus the Son redeemed us from sin and reconciled us to God by his blood shed on the cross – in him we have redemption and forgiveness (v7).

• The Spirit completes God’s electing and redeeming work by bringing us to faith in Jesus. It’s through the Spirit that we experience Christ’s redeeming work and are born again. Or in Paul’s words, when we believed the gospel, we were sealed with the Holy Spirit (v13).

It can feel special when someone makes a big fuss over you or goes to a lot of work for you. But when it’s not just one person – when everyone goes to huge trouble for you – it can be very humbling, even embarrassing. So, what an awesomely humbling thrill it is to know that all three Persons of the eternal Godhead were fully involved, from before the world was created until the moment you said “yes” to Jesus, in making you holy.

God the Father chose to devote you to himself, even before he said, “Let there be light.”

God the Son was thinking of you when he laid down his life and allowed the soldiers to hammer the nails into his Word-become-flesh wrists.

God the Spirit came to you personally, opened your eyes to see the light of Christ, and marked you out as a child of God himself. He made Christ’s work real to you, and gave you the experience of being washed clean and becoming wholly devoted to God.

That last point is why it’s appropriate that the spotlight tends to fall more on the Holy Spirit when we think about the experience of salvation and coming to new birth through faith in Jesus. The Spirit is the one who completes God’s redeeming and reconciling work. That is, the way we actually become holy is through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

But the Spirit doesn’t do that in a way that means the Father and Son fade into the background. He does it by turning the spotlight at full brightness back on the Father and the Son. That’s why, when the Spirit has sanctified you through faith in Jesus, your mind is filled with God the Father and his love and glory and goodness in Christ. It’s the Spirit’s work that makes you long for nothing more than to run to the Father and call him ”Abba”, “dad”.

Finish today by meditating on Paul’s words in Galatians 4:

3 So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. 4But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba , Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir. (Galatians 4:3-7)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephen is our senior minister.