Holiness

I have been reading R.C. Sproul's book, The Holiness of God, and after each chapter he asks the reader to answer questions about that chapter. Instead of sending my regular daily journal, I decided I would share this with you today, again. Feel free to ask these questions to yourself and share the answers with someone. I highly recommend the book to anyone who wants to know more about the character of our God.

Question 1. What does it mean to you to be holy, to live a holy life?

Answer: To me, being holy means being separated unto God. It means that when I became a Christian, my relationship with God changed forever, I was no longer His enemy, I became His, and only His, like a marriage. It also means that my relationship with the world and the things of this world have changed. I am no longer driven by the desires of the world, or the false hope it offers. Being holy means that I let nothing or nobody get between me and my walk with God. Being holy doesn't mean I'm perfect, it just means that I don't go anywhere, where I have to let go of the hem of Jesus' robe.

Question 2. How are you trying to renew your mind?

Answer: I am trying to renew my mind in two ways. First by studying the word of God every day of my life. Besides prayer and other Christians, the Bible is the only way for me to hear from God. The second way I am trying to renew my mind is by the things I watch and listen to. I no longer listen to secular music, and I am trying really hard to cut out TV or movies that I know would grieve the Holy Spirit. All the time I am being careful not to condemn others for the music or movies they like, but trying to not to join in, if it is not good for my Christian walk.

Question 3. How do you respond when you realize that God has justified you by transferring to your account all of Christ's righteousness?

Answer: I am in total amazement and speechless when I think about the fact that I have the righteousness of Jesus Christ. The grace of God in justifying me, makes me want to please God by seeking after righteousness. If my salvation depended on 99% Jesus righteousness, and 1% my righteousness, I would go straight to hell because I need all of Jesus 100% righteousness. I so thankful that Jesus did it all on the cross. When I enter the kingdom of heaven, I won't be able to boast that I did anything to be there.

Question 4. What fruit has the Holy Spirit been developing in your life?

Answer: In my life lately, the Holy Spirit has been developing patience. Patience is not something that God just gives you in one day, it must be developed, and it takes time. My job involves working with customers, and if I'm going to show Christ-likeness to those people, I need patience. I have a wife and two children, and if I am going to raise a godly family I need to be patient, and do it with love and joy.

Question 5. In what ways do you want to grow in holiness?

Answer: I would like to be holy in a way, that I don't compromise with the things of the world, but at the same time be totally involved in the lives of unbelievers. I think it would be easy to just live in a cave and be holy. I want to be like Jesus, he was like a doctor among the sick, working in perfect love. I would like to be compassionate to sinners and share the Good News of Jesus Christ.