Words for Life Articles

The word Holiness for years has struck a chord of fear, of impossibilities in many Christians. To some the word Holiness is unattainable, and some see it as legalism based on their experience.

I am always challenged by scripture and what it represents. Therefore, based on scripture, I do not see Holiness as anything other than what God is calling the Church to. He who has called us is able to complete what He began.

Hebrews 12:14

14 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:

I believe that all believing Christians have all been called to a lifestyle of Holiness. Not just called to Holiness but to PURSUE HOLINESS. To strive towards Holiness. This is a call to the Church, to push towards peace with all men AND to live a life of Holiness without which no one can see God.

Paul puts it this way in 1 Thessalonians 4:7

7 For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness.

In Ephesians 1:4

4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,

Coming up to a higher level is the response to God’s invitation to rise up and soar as an eaglein our spiritual walk with Him.

Many believers today are satisfied with their spiritual successes but only few have a hunger to come up higher.

Both Scripture and experience teach that it is you and me, not God, who determine the degree of our intimacy with Him. Every Christian is as close to God as they really choose to be.

As much as many of us will love to build a stronger intimacy with God, we find it difficult to pay the price involved. Many of us settle for a less demanding level of Christian living, because we are not prepared to pay the price.

There is a price to pay in responding to a higher-level invitation, An invitation to a mountain top experience can be costly.

In scripture we find that God is always calling people to higher level for a greater purpose.

In the book of Exodus

Habakkuk 2:4 

“Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him.

But the just shall live by his faith.

Faith in God is a sign of humility.

Romans 1:17

17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”

Living a life of faith is stepping into the unknown, trusting in our God who is beyond our understanding.

The truth be told, Faith is not an emotion. Faith is not a feeling. We have many people around us today who have given up and full of hopelessness. Many are quitting the faith. Many are in despair; they have lost hope and lost any sense of reprieve or getting out of their predicament. They are saying this faith thing is not working for me. They are looking at everything around them and they have given up.Yet scripture says in Romans 1:17

17 For in it In what? In the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is your believe and mine in that Gospel that makes us the righteousness of God because of Christ Jesus and keeps us persevering and hopeful in God. We are made JUST by the blood of Jesus Christ and because we have been JUSTIFIED therefore, we must walk and live by FAITH.

Hebrews 5:4

4 And no man takes this honour to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was.                                                        

In 1994, I had just been told by my senior Pastor then, that, I was being appointed and to be ordained as the associate Pastor for the church we were attending then, which was also an Elim Church.

This information came to me with mixed emotions as I tried battling my excitement with trepidation wondering if I could fulfil this role. I was not sure I was equipped for this call of God. I was not sure if I had the qualification for it, or was it just a fleshly desire? So, when it came to the ordination / commissioning time, I decided I was not going to attend the ceremony at Westminster Central Hall.

One night whilst singing and praising God in our room, I heard clearly in my Spirit, this scripture from Hebrews 5:4 no man takes this honour upon himself except he who is called of God.

Scriptures clearly show us that God is a man of His Word.

There are times that many Christians doubt their salvation, lose hope, lose focus, doubt the promises of God, lose faith in the Word and they give up. Especially when they look at their unchanged circumstances and the situation. They want to throw in the towel.

In book of Numbers 23:19

19 “God is not a man, that He should lie,

Nor a son of man, that He should repent.

Has He said, and will He not do?

Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good

In the world of today when men easily change their words, when people cannot be trusted, when promises are easily broken. It makes difficult for some people to trust or take God at His word. I want to confidently say to you today, that God can be trusted despite what we see or hear.

This month of October, we continue with our theme from last month CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH.

Jude 3-4

3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. 4 For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

In contending for the faith, we must ask ourselves this question about our Christianity.

Am I a consumer or contributing Christian?

SO, YOU MIGHT ASK WHO IS A CONSUMER, CHRISTIAN?

2 Timothy 3:1-5

1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.

Today we are seeing scriptures being fulfilled. The love of many waxing cold, children disrespecting parents, the love of money, the love of self. The lists go on. False prophets and teachers, wars and rumours of war. False messiahs, increase in warfare, and increases in famines, plagues, and natural disasters. Jesus advises us not to be deceived, that these are only the beginning of the "birth pangs"; the end is yet to come.

In the meantime, what are we to do as believers.  We are to contend or defend the authentic faith that we have received.