I was saved in an environment where it seemed the entire goal of the Christian life was holiness. Of course this was defined in light of what I did not do. I did not touch alcohol, did not go to movies etc… The problem was that none of these actions in and of themselves actually drew me closer to my Lord. In fact they made me a self righteous zealot who others found impossible to be around. There needs to be a re thinking of the subject of holiness in the church. Can I submit to you that holiness is not the goal of the Christian life, if it were then what is the difference between us and a Christ denying cultist who observes many of the same outward holy standards ?
Christ and his life being manifest in our mortal bodies is the goal. It just so happens that as we abide in Christ the inevitable outworking of His life in us by His Spirit will produce and increasing desire for purity in our lives. A holiness that does not flow out of relationship with Christ and that does not lead to a greater apprehension of Him is quite frankly useless religious chalistenics. We are only the branches, the life source is the vine. Christ himself is to be our focus and He produces the fruit in our lives.
The victory we so often strain to obtain is quite simply a greater apprehension and manifestation of Him in us. It is all fruit that flows from the vine. Holiness is the fruit of knowing him and Gal 5 speaks about Love as a fruit that is produced by His Spirit in and among us. Romans 6:22 speaks about holiness being a fruit not a root of our salvation. Matthew 22:37 speaks about the two great commandments that flow from a heart of love for God and others. Only the Spirit of God can create that kind of love in us so if we lack holiness in our life it is quite frankly because we lack love for the Lord and others which is because we are not walking in the Spirit.
The human heart was created to be captured and enraptured with the Love of God. I am of the opinion that God created the human heart with the capacity for addiction and I believe that everyone is addicted to something at every moment. The question is not do you have an addiction problem but rather what are you addicted to ? Why do I say this ? What is addiction? it is a dependence. When we were created we were created to be fully dependent on God but in our fall the heart began to look for other things to depend on.
The great news of the New Covenant is that we have been given a new heart that loves the Lord. If you are a believer there is a part of you that is fully in love with Jesus, fully captured by him. That part of you is the new man that was created in righteousness and true holiness. All we need to do believe it and renew our minds to the riches of the treasure within and begin to by faith walk it out by faith.
