Living Holy by the Power of God

2 Peter 1:5-10: "And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall." If you will do these things and be obedient, you will never fall.

This holy living is done by the power of God, not ourselves. Even after we are Christians, we are still earthen vessels and the Excellency of the power is of God, not of us. One of the ways the devil is deceiving many of the church folks is by making them feel that they are able to make decisions and have their own opinion. Salvation isn't by our opinion. Holy living is done by the power of God, not ourselves.

It's possible to live holy and right because we are made free from the law of sin and death. Let's read in Romans 8:2, "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." We plead the blood of Jesus Christ and are cleansed from all sin, and the power of God comes in. A new principle of action comes in which frees us from the power of the corrupt principles that carried spiritual death in its bosom. Paul called it the Spirit of life, still talking about the Holy Ghost, the power of God.

Jesus taught it this way. That strong man, which is the devil, rules till the stronger than the strong comes. When the Holy Spirit comes on the scene, He binds the strong one and casts him out. Christians have been freed from the law of sin and death which people are under. What is the law of sin and death?--sin we will, sin we cannot help it, sin we must. When we are under that law, we never know what sin we may commit tomorrow. We are set free from the law of sin and death by the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.

Shall we allow Satan to cause us to lower the concept of the Almighty? The devil in the religious world is making more and more room for sin, yet talking about God and getting people to altars. He's lowering the concepts of God all the time. The Holy Spirit wants to work things exceeding abundantly above what we can ask or think (Ephesians 3:20), but the devil, little by little , is taking down the concept of God. God is being presented as one who is not able to keep the redeemed from sin. Look at the falsity of this teaching. If God can do anything, but chooses not to keep us from sinning now, then sending Christ to die so it could be done would make His cross and every effort He put forth a failure; that's exactly what the devil wants.

God made full provision in the Gospel to teach us that we are to live free from sin. This is not some ideal that we shoot for and never reach. This is the normal everyday life of a true child of God: "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world" (Titus 2:11-12). That's the normal life of a true Christian. If God can do it and does not do it for us, then all the efforts He put forth through Jesus Christ are failures. If he writes it plainly in His Word, telling us what to do and how to lay hold of it, and if it were not true, this would make the Gospel a farce, and that is what the devil is trying to do.

We live by every work that proceedeth out of the mouth of God (Deuteronomy 8:3). There are no non-essentials! The devil is out to prove the Bible is a farce and he has thousands sitting home who will not darken a church door. They read the Bible which tells what a Christian ought to do, and then they watch people live contrary to that. Then they try to prove to them that nobody is able to live according to the Bible. If nobody is able to live according to the Bible, why did God set up such a standard?

On the Day of Pentecost he gave the power; then the New Testament was written after that. He gave the power and then set up the standard. That's the way He works in our individual life. He gives us the power of God in our life, and as we go along, He will set up the standard through the preaching of His eternal Word. It will work!

The Kingdom of God

We read in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10: "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? [What is the Kingdom?---righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost (Romans 14:17). We're right back to the power again. Christ is King of the Kingdom and His scepter is righteousness. There' no need to talk about a millennium and imagine that the mercy of God will let us in someday even though we live unrighteously. The unrighteous cannot inherit the Kingdom because the Kingdom is the Kingdom of righteousness. As long as we live unrighteous, we can't inherit the Kingdom of God.]

"Be not deceived [People go right along with things in their life and want to claim they are part of the Church. There's no difference between the Kingdom and the Church, in the truest sense. The devil is out to deceive the whole world. He will deceive the very elect, if possible. He's not deceiving us making us feel that we can commit sin after sin every day and still be a member of the Kingdom or Church. He's deceiving many by their attitude, how they treat their companion or brethren. Many are riding right over it, still claiming an experience with God. Let's not be deceived! If we practice unrighteous principles (no matter what they are), we are not in the Kingdom. Too many are waiting for the devil to deceive them on adultery or something else. He is working in finer means; he knows the little foxes spoil the vine (Solomon's Song 2:15.]:

"Neither fornicators [ Any unrighteous thing we do will keep us out. Jesus taught us that the Kingdom is God's will being done in us just like it is in heaven. We can't live daily without God's will being done in our life. We can rebel against it, follow the flesh, act up, mouth-off, but we are not in the Kingdom.], nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of them selves with mankind.

"Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. [He lets us know that sinners shall not inherit the Kingdom of God. If, according to modern teaching, Christians are sinners, then there isn't going to be anyone saved. There would be no one for Jesus to come back after because sinners cannot inherit the kingdom and all Christians are sinners. That's what some people are swallowing because it satisfies the flesh. Some would fly their companion to Mexico or halfway around the world if they hear there's a cancer cure, but try to give one of them a cure for sin, and they'll fight you. All we have to do is read verse 11 to know that Paul had a different vision than that.]

"And such were some of you [Sounds like a change had taken place. We were sinners, but we are not sinners any more.]" but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified [According to Peter's, Paul's, and Jesus' teachings, you have to be set apart from sin. A sanctifying work has already worked on us through the blood of Christ, set us apart from sin before we are justified before the throne of God.] in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." It takes the power of God to live victoriously over sin , the flesh, and the devil. This is what many seemingly, have not received. some who once possessed it have lost it by trying to finish in the flesh what was started by the Sprit. We can't do it!

God's Seal

God has power to sanctify us and make us meet for the Master's use. Let's read in 2 Timothy 2:15-21: "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. [Truth, preached and believed, will make us more godly and set us apart unto God in a greater way, but vain babblings and false teachings of men will only allow more ungodliness to increase. All we have to do is look around and see how the standard which is supposed to be Christendom is being lowered. In most cases, truth is not being preached and believe.].

"And their word will eat as doth a canker [There is another kind of cancer---cancer of the soul. Oh, how we are afraid of cancer on our body. The worst that cancer can do on our body is to kill the body. I'm talking about things which will bring cancer on our soul, eat like a canker on our soul and cause us to end up (soul and body) in hell! These are the things to get excited about.]: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.

"Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal [Let us make sure it is there. The seal lets us know that which God has founded, the Church, the Kingdom of God.

God help these brethren who are rising up and saying that there was no falling away in the morning-time Church. There's a falling away going on in the Church right now, let alone in the morning time. God may have founded and fed it, but if we refuse to depart from iniquity, we will go down just as other congregations have gone down. God chooses; He knows the hearts of man. We can't see the heart, so God said for us who have been chosen to depart from all iniquity. So not only God can recognize us as His, but the world can recognize us as His by the life we live.]

"But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to houour, and some to dishonor. If a man therefore purge himself from these [ What? The dishonorable things; the things that don't honor God.], he shall be a vessel unto houour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work."

Real Faith Lies in the Heart

To lay hold of power over sin, first of all, we need to make a full surrender to God, renouncing all sin and bad habits. When I say bad habits, I don't just mean drinking and smoking. A bad habit can be talking too much. That will send us to hell as quickly as smoking cigarettes. Also, the habit of answering back too sharply can become habitual with us. The power of God in our life can change us from running back and forth to the altar for the same thing. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, that He can save from sin and impart unto us the power where we can say "No" to the devil and to the bad habits. There's more to believing in the Lord Jesus Christ than just giving mental assent. When we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. we are saying we believe on everything He taught. We believe that he is real, that He is in authority, and that He can change us. The Bible said we must believe with the heart.

In Romans, Chapter 10, Paul was dealing with Jews who thought they were going to get in by works. He told them the beginning of salvation was by faith in Jesus Christ, and what a blow this was because that's one thing they couldn't believe. They could believe in the Holy Spirit, but they couldn't believe that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah whom God sent as a Savior of the world.

Paul, therefore, just put it right straight to them: "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart [All real faith lies in the heart. All real believing and faith is not in the intellect or in the understanding. Faith is in the heart! People today have struggled to get healed, and could not get healed. Finally, we found that there were things in their hearts. When things are wrong, there can't be a bit of real faith operating toward God. We can know it is Bible with our mind (I am going to believe God), but faith operates out of the heart. With the heart man believeth unto salvation, and with the heart man believeth unto healing.] that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness..." (verses 9 and 10).

There's only one place where faith operates, and that is in the center of our affections, called the heart. That's the only place where faith can reign. Why did Paul use the expression, "...if thou shalt...believe in thine heart that God hath raised him [Jesus] from the dead..."? First of all, the resurrection is proof that Jesus died. If we don't believe that He was really resurrected the third day, we don't believe that He died. When we really believe He died, we know that He died, as the Bible says, for our sins.

Paul said in Romans 1:3-4: "Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness [How was it declared?], by the resurrection from the dead." If we believe that God raised Jesus from the dead, then we believe He is the Son of God, that He has been given power through the spirit of holiness to change our life and make a new creature out of us. By raising Christ from the dead, God accepted the ransom paid. The only way we know that Jesus' sacrifice was acceptable to God is by the resurrection.

In Romans 4:25 Paul said, "Who was delivered for our offences, and was raise again for our justification." We believe He has done everything needed to make us righteous. We believe with the heart unto righteousness. We believe that God through Jesus Christ's death, burial, resurrection and ascension, has done everything which is needed to make us come unto Him as a sinner. he can make us righteous in a moment of time.

They that bear the vessels of the Lord must be clean (Isaiah 52:11). We have to get it settled and fixed in our mind that if it is real, there's a change, and that change takes place when we get in Christ. Second Corinthians 5:17 tells us, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all thing are become new." The change takes place when we get in Christ, and when we get in Christ we are not in sin any longer.

Let's read Galatians 5:24 again, "And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts." When did we crucify the flesh? When we nailed it to Christ's cross, we crucified the old life, with all its affections and lusts. They who are Christ's have already crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts. One of the big changes is that we become a crucified person. First John 1:7 says, "...the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."

Perfect Holiness

Paul said in 2 Corinthians 7:1, "...let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." Holiness can't be one-sided and be perfect holiness. Before holiness can be perfect holiness, it has to be God making us clean and then we making ourselves clean. If we really believe in our heart that Jesus has the power to change us, we won't keep a sinful thing close by, in a drawer or anywhere, in case we have a breakdown. When God makes us a new creature, old things pass away. When we work that human part, we perfect holiness.

We read in Revelation 1:5, "...Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood." It's ridiculous to even think that men could undergo this great change and still continue practicing sin as they once did. First John 1:9 tells us, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful an just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." When He cleanses us from all unrighteous, it won't be hard to have faith to believe in righteousness because the unrighteousness is gone. It's impossible for a man to really confess his sins, and not be forgiven and cleansed by God. If we obey what the Bible says to do, the rest of it is up to God.

Now, I said that it's impossible for a man to confess his sins and God not to cleanse and forgive him. Well, why don't more people get hold of this power? It's possible for man to confess part of his sins or most of his sins. God cannot cleanse us from all sin until we confess all. I'm not talking about being able to remember all. We won't remember every sin we every did, but we will acknowledge all. More people don't reach this power over sin because they hold on to part of their sins. We will never be truly forgiven if we hold back some sin or habit. God deals with all; He cleanses all because we give up all.

How many have come to Jesus desiring this experience, at least they say so, but they hold some habit or sin out on Him? Some are unwilling to forgive all men. They have no power in their lives. They aren't even talking about salvation, just professing an old weak profession because they're not willing to forgive everybody from the heart. They hold grudges. They are just like the disciples before Pentecost. Some could laugh a hideous laugh if fire comes down on somebody, if their house would burn down, or they had a car wreck and one of them were killed. It would just tickle them to death, but they claim to be Christians. Some people can't lay hold of the power because they hold on to things. God sees everything in our heart. We can't remember everything, but we can acknowledge, "Lord, nothing is hidden. You know all about my life. I am sorry for every bit of it." How come people don't get hold of this power? Because they don't come clean: they don't confess all their sins.

When a man is honest with God and freely gives up his sins and habits, willing to forgive all men and make proper restitution when possible, God will give us this power. We have to restitute what God brings to our mind and tells us to deal with. We must come with a willingness to straighten anything that God sees in our life that needs to be straightened. We won't only want to be straight with God, but we will want to be straight with others. I'm talking about what withholds power from people. When we come completely clean and square with God, He will never fail to forgive, cleanse and make a new creature out of us.

Obey From the Heart

If we receive Him, we have to quit receiving sin. We have to quit receiving in the heart the works of the flesh, the works of the devil. Why? Christ and the devil can't be in the same heart at the same time. The works of God can't be in our heart and the works of the devil, the works of the flesh. Receiving Christ is a big job and a long job. I know we receive Him initially, but of His fullness we are receiving as we walk on in the light of His truth. Jesus said in Matthew 6:24, "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." The question is, how much Christ are we receiving? We can't serve God and mammon. If we love one, we hate the other or else we hold on to one and despise the other.

We read in Romans 6:1-2, 16-23: "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? Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? [There's no middle ground. It's one or the other. Every one of us is yielding ourselves one way or the other.]

"But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart [There it is again. Believe from the heart, obey from the heart. This is where faith really is.] that form of doctrine which was delivered us. Being then made free from sin [Then, when we obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine that was delivered to us, we were made free from sin, right there.], ye became the servants of righteousness.

"I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. [And now that we are the servants of righteousness, we are free from sin.] What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? [The devil made us think we were getting fruit.] for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

God has power to give us power over every work of the devil and of the flesh, and make us able to live soberly, righteously and godly, day after day. When we do that, we are blessing the Lord; we are glorifying and honoring God. As we honor God, God is going to honor us. John 12:26 tells us, "...if any man serve me, him will my Father honour." When God honors us, we will be that city lifted up, set on a hill, far above the religions of man.

[The End]