How To Be Holy – Christian Living – Jesse Morrell

HOW TO BE HOLY – CHRISTIAN LIVING

Hi Jesse,

I am tired of myself and of everything. I failed so many times, and I am little bit discouraged now, but I like so much when I hear someone like you speaking about God, especially about repentance and judgement. That brings me closer to the reality. I am tired of hearing that “God loves/accepts everybody as they are”…Repentance is the #1,but is so hard for a wicked man to do good. All his mind and body is corrupted, and he is a slave. How can someone get out of this slavery? Thats my big question.

I appreciate if you will be praying for me.

Good bible study is hard to find around here.

George

Hi George,

Ultimately, a life of holiness is a matter of faith. The Bible says that it is by faith that our heart is purified (1 Jn. 3:3), by faith we overcome the world (1 Jn. 5:4), and by faith our life is sanctified (Acts 26:18), etc. Sanctification is by faith, not works. When we face temptation, we overcome it by faith. When our trust and confidence is in the character of God, knowing that He has our best interest in mind, it becomes easy to obey Him in everything. The Bible says that it was by faith that Abraham obeyed God (Heb. 11:8, 17).

It is only when we doubt God and trust the devil that we sin, as Adam and Eve did (Gen. 3:4-6). The devil had to bring doubt to the word and character of God to get Adam and Eve to sin. But we should never trust the devil, knowing that he does not have our best interest in mind but rather our hurt (1 Pet. 5:8). Sin is harmful to ourselves and to others and therefore God forbids it from us. God is not trying to withhold something from us that is good. God is trying to promote the highest well-being of all by His moral government. We must keep our faith in God and not be deceived by the devil who tries to convince men that sin is really beneficial and worthy to be chosen. If we keep our faith in God at all times, we will obey God at all times.

The Bible says that we were servants of sin by choice, as we yielded ourselves to sin, but now we must choose to be servants of righteousness by yielding ourselves to God (Rom. 6:13, 16). The choice to be a servant of sin or a servant of righteousness is ultimately a choice between choosing to have faith in God’s word and character or choosing not to have faith in God’s word and character. In times of temptation, if we are choosing to have faith in God, we will choose to overcome sin and live as servants of righteousness.

Faith itself is not something that we passively have or don’t have, independent of our choice or will. Rather, faith is an active and personal choice. Jesus said, “Have faith in God.” The word translated “have” is “Ἕχετε” and it present active imperative, meaning that faith is a choice that we make. To “believe” is always in the active voice in the Greek. Faith is the choice to trust and rely on what we know about God. And when we choose to have this faith, Jesus said that we can move mountains. “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith” (Mark 11:23). So then, it is by faith that we can be holy and overcome sin.

I recommend reading Guide to the Savior: or Conditions of Attaining to and Abiding in Entire Holiness of Heart and Life by Charles Finney. I also deal extensively with the doctrine of holiness in my book, “The Natural Ability of Man: A Study on Free Will & Human Nature:” Those books can be found here: Click Here

Also, these sermons on YouTube on the topic of Holiness may be helpful to you:

God Bless,

Jesse Morrell

http://www.OpenAirOutreach.com