As much as possible, I try to live according to 1 Corinthians 10.31, “…whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” I find it is unhealthy to live comparing all you do to sin, since sin is only sin because it is contrary to the will and purpose of God. If we compare all we do to sin, we are in danger of living legalistically and self-righteously, like the Pharisees. On the other hand, if we live our lives in reverence of God, with His eternal glory in mind as the end result of our actions, constantly seeking out what He desires us to do with out lives, then it is in this way that we can truly live holy lives.

Romans 11.16 says “If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy…” This is to say that holiness is often the result of holy intent. This does not mean that the general, ‘good’ person will naturally achieve holiness; rather the person who in a moment truly reflects the character of God through their desires will act upon that desire to achieve the holiness available to that moment. It is that in everything we do, we can do for the glory of God or not and there is a holy or unholy result in every instance.

As an example, Abraham. His faith was credited to him as righteousness (Rom. 4.9), but Abraham was anything but righteous. He did not take possession of the promised land because of his own merit, for he had none; rather it was because he was willing to do the will of God (Due. 9.5). In a micro-chasm his actions were accounted to him as righteous because of the moment of obedience.

I think it is pertinent to say that we can only know the will of God, in order to act upon it, if we believe in the name of the Son, Jesus Christ, and commit ourselves to following him, for his glory.

Image Credit: ilco, sxc.hu

Holiness in a Vacuum