Holiness, Godliness, Usefulness
09/06/2014, by John Kincaid
Lesson 351: Stop Pretending
We are tempted to think “It’s all up to me.” If I sin, God will stop loving me.
Col.2:13-14 you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
When we were dead in our sin, God made us alive, canceling our debt. He nailed it to the cross.
Our union with Christ gives life. God overcame our human limitations by His grace.
We were unable to live for Him; He willingly died for us.
Rom.5:6 Christ died for the ungodly.
We can stop pretending that we are able to work our way to God. We can’t achieve holiness.
But Christ overcame that. He forgave our sin and removed our guilt. In Him, we can be holy.
The Christian gospel is a unique message among world religions: we are free from our efforts.
About This Series
The goal of this series is to become more useful in serving the Lord Jesus Christ, as an instrument in the Redeemer's hand. The theme verses for the series are Ephesians 4:22-24, Philemon 11, 2 Timothy 2:21
- to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,
- and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
- Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.
- Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.
