Being Holy: Biblical Perspective, Final

Reason number three, because of His son’s sacrifice on the cross. Paul in I Cor 6: 19 and 20 says, ‘Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.’ For you were bought with a price. You do not belong to yourself. You do not own yourself. You are a slave to Christ. You cannot do what you want to do.

Do you realize how difficult it is to go out in the streets, knocking doors as a salesman? As a salesman, I have done door to door sales and I know how difficult it is to make yourself get out of your room, shed your ego and shame and go knocking. I have stood in the malls and exhibitions approaching people, we call it prospecting. Do you realize how difficult it is? All salesmen do whatever it takes to procrastinate, postpone the prospect of going out and making cold calls. And Jesus having shed His glory and honor endured the shame and humiliation of being beaten and spit upon. If that was not enough, he was made to walk all the way to the Calvary, making himself a spectacle in front of the whole crowd who had gathered to see this event. If people didn’t know Him, it would have been easier for Him to go unrecognized as just another criminal being punished for his crime. But here He was, among the same people whom He taught daily in the synagogue, whom He healed, spoke great monologues. They knew Him and that’s why they mocked Him. He faced treachery from His own people, falsely convicted, humiliated and mocked by soldiers, endured pain due to the beatings and crown of thorns, isolated at the cross, died the death of a criminal. He did it because He chose to suffer for our sake. Jesus said in Jn 10:17b-18, ‘I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.’ II Cor 5:15, ‘And He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.’ Peter in I Pet 1:18 and 19 says this, ‘Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver and gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.’

Reason number four, because you are saved. God demands holiness because He is holy. God demands holiness because He hates sin. God demands holiness because of His son's sacrifice on the cross. God demands holiness because you are saved, transformed, redeemed, new creation. So, do not conform yourselves to the former lusts. II Pet 1:14. Conduct (behave) yourselves throughout the time of your stay in fear. I Pet 1:17. Fear means reverence.

God demands holiness from people who do not know Him for even though they may not know the True and Living God, they have a conscience which either accuses them or excuses them. Rom 1:19, 2:14, 15. How much more pertinent it is for those who are God's children to yield to this demand of their God.

The Greatest Indian

Out of a population of over a billion and add to that an additional billion who have already died since our independence, there were found only ten Indians worthy of being deemed as 'The Greatest' and one of them isn't even an Indian! Of the ten, many are already burning their heels, infact their whole self, in hell and the remaining are hurtling down the same road.

A nondescript person like you and me would do well to heed the warning.

Currently, the severest of punishment is reserved for Ms. Agnes Gonxha (Teresa) who knew the truth but rejected it. The best of the good works are like a filthy rag to the living God. He detests them all.

Their fault: They rejected Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father (God of the Bible) but by Me."

Again He said, "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?"

When Mom's lifted Up

Oh! How I wish that everyone’s mom dies. Oh! How I wish that everyone is brought to such a desperate condition as I was, and still am, brought. I’ve realized the futility of life. I do not long to live. I have a tremendous longing to see my mom, to kiss and embrace her. This heartache, agony, and her absence are immense. I suffer bouts of depression. I have cried a lot and often, praying to God, in my desperation and emotions, to raise my mom from the dead, lift her out of the grave and bring her back to me. That is the immenseness of my emptiness, the vacuum created by her demise.

I've known few who have been emotionally destroyed by their mom’s death, particularly, when their marital status is ‘single’. Individuals have suffered depression, gone into isolation shunning the world and some have attempted or committed suicide. My mom’s death has devastated me. I’ll never be able to recompense this loss. Her death is a huge blow to me, much greater than the blow inflicted by my termination from IBM.

But I thank my God that I’ve known Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I am glad that I’d put my faith in Him. He is my hope and refuge. When I feel her absence, when the agony overwhelms me, when I am possessed by the desire to see her, I find my refuge in Him. He consoles and comforts my soul. In Jn 14:18, Jesus said, “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” Everyone who puts his faith in Christ for the forgiveness of his/her sins, God sends His Spirit to reside in them as a guarantee of their being saved from their sins, as is written in Ephesians 1:13, 14, ‘In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.’ Bible calls Him, the Comforter. It is through His Spirit that the ‘peace of God which surpasses all understanding guards our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus’. Phil 4:7.

In Christ, I’ve hope to see my mom in heaven. I’ve this hope because she too had accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. She too lived a life in conformity to God’s standard, though she was not perfect. I’ve this hope because of the promise of Jesus, when He said, “that where I am, there you may be also.” Jn 14:3b. I’ve the hope that when Jesus comes back in the sky, my mom will be raised up from the dead as it has been written in I Cor 15: 51, 52, ‘Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed-in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.’

My mom’s death brought me back to Christ. Her death brought me closer to Christ. Jesus said, "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth (signifying by what death He would die), will draw all people to Myself." Jesus' death on the cross will bring you near to God. I wish and pray that you too would be brought to a desperate state as me and come to Christ. For years I lived a casual life. I am sorry for the years lost. I am sorry for having not understood the vanity of life and that I did not value time as it slipped past. In Christ I’ve been, and still am, able to understand and cope with the loss of my mom. If it would not have been for Christ, I wouldn’t have been and won’t be able to understand the reason of her death. I wouldn’t have been and won’t be able to bear the continual sorrow of her death. But having known Christ and the hope that I would see her in Heaven, give great satisfaction to my soul.

Are you living an uncertain life? Are you uncertain of your own future as well the future of your loved ones? Is your faith for the future based on the figment of imagination of humans and tradition received from your fathers? When it the question of eternity, wouldn’t you want to be certain of your belief? Do you love your sins over and above the love for your parents who are and will perish in their sins along with you?