Striving for Holiness

I’ll just try harder. That’s the mentality of most people who are trying to be good Christians. “Well, I tried and I blew it, so I’ll just try harder.” The problem is that God resists the proud, so the more you think you can handle sin and temptation on your own, the less God will help. But He gives grace to the humble, so when you admit your helplessness, God comes to the rescue and gives grace, which provides strength.

We’re currently studying the issue of holiness in an early Tuesday morning Bible study, and this is the subject matter for tomorrow. It’s tough to grasp. We like our neatly packaged set of standards toward which we can strive with diligent effort. Have you stopped to ask, however, how much of our striving is based on a prideful view of our own abilities? Anytime we rely on will power, we’re trusting in the power of self. Instead, we should realize the utter weakness of self and allow the grace of God to operate in us.

Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit, not a fruit of the flesh. All the flesh (my abilities, my effort, who I am apart from Christ) will ever produce is pride and self-centeredness. Real holiness comes from an abandonment of self including self-effort, self-righteousness, and self-will. Holiness is our being set apart more and more to be like Christ.

Clyde Cranford summarizes a life of holiness in two aspects: striving to know Christ, and striving to please God. That’s it. The Christian life is pretty well summed up by those two phrases. It isn’t about “I’ll try harder to get it all done.” It’s not “I’ll resist more strongly when temptation comes along.” Instead, the essence of holiness is saying, “In this moment, I abandon self in exchange for Christ – I’ll know Him and please Him.” If we accomplish that, what else is there?

• What A Wonderful World
• No Man Like-Minded
• God’s Will For Every Believer
• Why Doth He Tarry?
• Cease To Do Evil