We need a Heaven-sent revival, a burning fire from on high, a purifying passion and a forsaking of our stubborn pride. We need a vision of eternity, of Hell and the Judgment Day, A fervent love for our Savior that will gladly serve and obey. We need a Pentecostal purging and a breaking deep within, a vision of God Almighty and a river of tears for our nation’s sin. We need a Heaven-sent revival, a burning fire set ablaze. Yet, we'll never see such glory, until the Church begins to pray." David Smithers
1 John 3:3-9 And every man that hath this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure. [4] Whosoever commits sin transgresses also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. [5] And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. [6] Whosoever abides in him sins not: whosoever sins hath not seen him, neither known him. [7] Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. [8] He that commits sin is of the devil; for the devil sins from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. [9] Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remains in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
Our goal is to live a holy life
By Samuel Logan Brengle Revised by Dennis Selfridge
Jesus came into this world, and lived, and labored, and taught, and suffered, and died and rose again in order to accomplish a twofold purpose. The Apostle John explains this twofold work. In I John 3:5, speaking of Jesus, he says, 'You know that He was manifested to take away our sins.” This is His justification, and regeneration, which are done for us and in us. He adds, “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” That is entire sanctification, which is a work done in us. We find from this scripture this is exactly what we need to have done for us.
First, we need to get rid our own sins, and have a new principle of life planted in us. 'For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God' RM. 3:23. When we come to God, we come with a sense of our own wrongdoings. Our sins condemn us; but Jesus came to take away our sins. When we come admitting we are sinners we put our trust in Jesus and we will find we are freed from sins of our past. Guilt is gone. The power of evil is broken. The burden will roll away. Peace will fill our heart. We see our sins were laid on Jesus when He died for us.
We receive pardon for all past sins that were against God. God gives us a new heart and a new life. We are born of God, and receive what Paul calls the washing of regeneration, which washes away all the man's guilt, and all the sin for which he is responsible.
Into our heart will flow love, joy, peace and fruits of the Spirit, and if our experience is through we will believe that there is nothing more to be done. But, if we walk in meekness of mind' and we speak often and freely with those who love the Lord and if we carefully search the word of God, we will soon find that sin's disease is deeper and more deadly than we thought, and that behind and below our sins are the 'works of the devil,' that must also be destroyed before the work of grace in his soul can be complete.
We will find a nature within us that wants to get mad when things are against us; a nature which will not be patient; a nature that is touchy and sensitive; a nature that wants to grumble and find fault; a nature that is proud and blames others; a nature that suggests hard thoughts against God; a nature that is self-willed and ugly and sinful. We hate this nature in us and want to get rid of it. This sinful nature will lead us to condemn our self for it will make us feel that we are worse off than before we were saved. But the truth is we are saved so long as we resist this something.
"I've been running on empty," the man said. "Not possible," his daughter corrected him. "Sure it is," he replied. "I am simply going through the motions." "Something's keeping you going. You can't go through the motions without the energy to do so," she responded. "I just don't care. I just have no interest in life." They sat quietly for a few moments just looking out at the world around them. "Apparently life has interest in you," the young woman said softly. He looked at her without saying a word, his eyes blinking periodically as they filled with tears. A small bird flutters in from the nearby tree landing in front of them. "Can you imagine if birds felt the same way?" she asked. "What?" "Birds. Imagine if birds woke up and said, "I don't feel like flying today. I just don't feel like being a bird." "That's silly," he said. "It's silly that you don't feel like living, too. What right do you have to decide that?" Shaking his head and flailing his hands about, he struggled for a response. You're not "running on empty," you're running on His will, His time, His reason forever having created you. There's still life left in you and you're wasting it," she said. Then as he stood up, he added, "Thank God." "And you're just like Him. Live up to it." No one runs on empty who has God in their life. If you are feeling uninspired, without a purpose or direction, take time to reconnect to the Source. God is ever present even when you feel alone. God is never ending even when you think you have come to a dead end. Simply call on Him and listen. He will always respond. It may not be what you want to hear but it will always be what you need. He is the source of your joy and the resource for your emptiness.
So, second we need to ask what this trouble we feel in our hearts is. Paul calls it by several names. In RM. 8: 7 ‘the carnal mind and he says it is 'enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.' You by yourself cannot fix it. A whitewash will not make it better. Story of man who was painting a church but was running out of paint so thinned it out to get it done. A rain came and the paint washed off. He heard a voice from heaven, Repaint, Repaint and Thon no more. Following what culture says will not cure. Spiritual growth by praying more or attending church or reading the Bible more will not be the treatment needed. All self effort of any sort will not be the answer. In the RM 7:24 it is called 'the body of this death'. In Eph. 4:22, and in Col. 3:9, it is called 'the old man.' In Gal. 5:17, it is called 'the flesh.' James calls it unnecessary naughtiness,' which is also well rendered, 'the remainder of iniquity'. John calls it 'sin,' as distinct from 'sins,' and the 'works of the devil.' In Ezek.36:26 it is called a 'stony heart.' Church leaders have called it 'inbred sin,' 'original sin' and 'depravity.' It is something evil and awful that remains in the heart after a man has been converted. It is an enemy of God, and cannot be anything else.
Some believe that it is dealt with at conversion. John Wesley, who was a much wiser man than I am, and who had a far wider range of observation, examined thousands of people on this very point, said he never knew of one who got rid of this sinful nature at the New birth.
There are some who say that growing in grace is the remedy. Others say you never get rid of it while you are alive. It will remain in you and war against you till you die. They say you need to overcome it and keep it down, that you will have to stand on guard and watch it, club and repress it till death relieves you. My question is “Do you want to take a chance that when you die God will then make you holy so you can enter heaven.” That would mean that as you are going up to heaven God changes your heart to purity that He could not do for you as you lived here on earth. I want to know while I am alive and conscious that God has provided for me to live a holy life. For I find it throughout the Bible that God says we are to be holy as He is holy. This does not mean perfection in everything we do or that we will never sin but as I understand it a love for God that allows us to serve Him with a pure heart. We do not want to sin because we love Him so much.
God's teachings are very plain.
1. God does not admit that we get rid of our sin nature at conversion, for all His teachings and exhortations concerning living a holy life are addressed to Christians.
2. God does encourage us to grow in grace and that means to grow in favor with God, by obedience and faith. Corn may grow beautifully and delight the farmer, but all its growth will not rid the field of weeds, and the farmer will have to look to some other method to get rid of those troublesome things.
3. The Bible does not teach anywhere that the sin nature will be with us until death, or that in death it will be destroyed.
4. We do not find any guarantee in the whole Bible for purgatory fires being the deliverer from this evil.
5. But we do find that God teaches very plainly how we are to get rid of the sin nature. Paul says, RM 6:1-2 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? 6:6-7 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. 6:11-14 Likewise reckon also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for you are not under the law, but under grace. 6:22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. 8:6-8 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 'Put off the old man" Eph. 4: 22. James says, 'lay apart all filthiness and excess of disobedience Jas. 1. 21. John says, '. . . the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin' I John 1: 7, not part or some, sin, but 'all sin.' Jesus 'was manifested' to 'destroy the works of the devil'; I John 3: 8. In Ezekiel 36: 26 'I will take away the stony heart'.
All these passages teach that we are to get rid of the sin nature that hinders our spiritual life and shows plainly that this is an instantaneous work, created in the heart of the humble believer by the Holy Ghost. The Bible further teaches that this one thing is needful on our part to secure this operation of the Holy Spirit in obedient faith and cries "It shall be done."'
It is no little salvation that Jesus Christ came to work out for us. It is a 'great salvation,' and it saves. It is not a deception. It is not a 'make believe.' It is a real salvation from all sin and uncleanness; from all doubt and fear; from all guile and insincerity; from all hatred and wrath.
I want to end with simple steps to take for maintaining a Holy life here and now.
1. Paul says in Galatians 5:16, "Live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature." Every moment of every day, we have a choice. We can live according to our fleshly desires for comfort and pleasure. Or, we can trust the Holy Spirit to enable us to fearlessly serve the Lord.
2. Resist the tug of the flesh. Even the disciples, who spent three years learning directly from Jesus, couldn't expect to achieve righteousness in their own strength. The Lord instructed the disciples in Acts 1:4 to wait in Jerusalem until the power of the Holy Spirit came upon them. We can put no more confidence in the flesh than did 11 of Jesus’ close friends. Have you waited for the Holy Spirit to take lordship of your life? They waited some 7-10 days in prayer. They were never the same.
3. In order to walk by the Holy Spirit we must accept the truth that it's impossible to live the Christian life alone. If we depend upon our experiences and strength, we'll fail. God's Spirit works in and through us. That's why submitting our will to His power and guidance is critical. And surrender isn't a one-time deal. Believers have to yield repeatedly. For sanctification is not a once for all experience, but a continuous experience.
4. Each time you need to make a decision you should look to the Spirit for guidance. Righteous living simply isn't natural for human beings. We require help. Our Father has graciously given us the Helper so we can live in a godly manner. When we choose to yield to His direction, joy and peace will follow.
