How is this series on the holiness of God affecting you? Is it causing you to check yourself when an improper, impure, or inappropriate thought comes to your mind? Are you feeling convicted when you want to lash out at a co-worker who has upset you? Do you feel bad when you yell at the kids? What about when that nice looking lady at work walks by? Oops!
I can tell you that I myself am experiencing this kind of conviction. Since I started writing this series, I have caught myself when inappropriate thoughts have come to my mind. I’ve had to stop and tell myself, “Wait a minute. I can’t be thinking like this. I can’t be having those kinds of thoughts. They are unholy.” And when I have committed some sin, I have really been hit with conviction from the Holy Spirit and have had to confess.
Recently, I have even found that, even with good intentions, I have sought to control certain events and situations in my life. That also is a sin. In fact, it is the grossest of all sins and is the essence of sin. It is the sin that Satan committed when he fell from heaven. He, being the most honored of the angels, was not content with his status. He wanted to be in control of his own life, of heaven, and of God.
Whenever we sin or when we seek to control our own lives, it is sin. It is an act of treason to our King. It is an offence to the holiness of God. In sinning, we are telling God that we do not want Him to be Lord of our lives. We are telling Him that we don’t need Him; that we can handle things on our own. We are, if you will, spitting in God’s face and giving Him the finger.
Oh, that we would be free of sin! It is such a frustration. It is agonizing to have see just how much sin yet remains in our lives. And it is equally as agonizing to have the Lord working to remove those things from us. The process of sanctification is never easy, and it is painful. God places us, as it were, in a crucible and puts us to the fire in order to, as Isaiah 1:25 says, “thoroughly purge away your dross, and take away all your alloy.”
Fire is hot. It burns. And so to be placed in a crucible and put to the fire does not feel good. But it is necessary. For God has called us to be holy, and He is committed to making us holy, regardless of the discomfort it causes us along the way. Is this because God is a mean God who delights in seeing His people suffer? No. Instead, it is because He cannot tolerate sin in the lives of His children. And even though we have been forever justified and when we get to heaven, all sin will be permanently removed from us, His desire, will, and purpose is that we should live holy lives here on earth.
Our part is to cooperate with the Lord in the process of sanctification. This is never easy. In fact, it is a battle. It is a battle against Satan, who does not want us to be victorious in our Christian life. It is a battle against the world, which tells us to go with the flow and which continually bombards us with every kind of temptation. And it is a battle against the flesh, which desires to give in to those temptations. However, we must fight the battle. We must persist in working with the Lord in the process of sanctification by yielding control of our lives over to Him. As we do, He will purge us, cleanse us, and give us the holiness He demands and we desire.