Strive For Christ

“He that wishes to attain right views about Christian holiness must begin by examining the vast and solemn subject of sin. He must dig down very low if he would build high. A mistake here is most mischievous. Wrong views about holiness are generally traceable to wrong views about human corruption.” (J.C. Ryle, Holiness, Evangelical Press, 1879, pg 1.)

Ryle begins his book on holiness with the above quotation as he refutes the weighty matter of “immediate sanctification,” or “Smithism,” or “The Keswick Experience,” or “holiness movement,” to name a few of modern terms for the Armenian idea.

 My objective for this blog is not to rehash the theology of the higher life view, nor to dismantle its historical and current leaders. Rather, my desire is to encourage others in their daily walk with Christ from what I believe is the best perspective on sanctification, the Reformed view.

 We live in a day and age where immediate gratification is thought of as a right and a privilege. Whereas the “American Way” of our fathers was to work hard and be productive citizens for community and country, the generation that begins with mine (Generation X) is bent on “what you are supposed to give me.” We live as if everyone else is supposed to take care of us and we have a right to live any way we want. The world revolves around ME, and it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks.

 This same idea has infiltrated our spiritual lives as well. Going to church is not about what we can give to God anymore, its about what can this church or that church give me. If I can’t find satisfaction in the sermon, or I stay bored, then I will try the one around the corner. Church has become entertainment for many and not a means of blessing God for who He is. We want to live every day “normal” in light of worldly standards without the struggles of following in the true Light, that is Jesus Christ.

 You see, I want to encourage you that just because we don’t receive immediate sanctification and perfectionism in this life, it doesn’t mean that our piety shouldn’t aspire to that end. Jesus said in Matthew 16:24-28,
“If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will find it. What will it benefit a man if he gains the whole world yet loses his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life? For the Son of Man is going to come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will reward each according to what he has done. I assure you: There are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.” (HCSB)

 In following Christ we are going to have failures. Paul said in Romans 7:13-25, “Therefore, did what is good cause my death? Absolutely not! On the contrary, sin, in order to be recognized as sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that through the commandment sin might become sinful beyond measure. For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am made out of flesh, sold into sin's power. For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not practice what I want to do, but I do what I hate. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree with the law that it is good. So now I am no longer the one doing it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it. For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do. Now if I do what I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but it is the sin that lives in me. So I discover this principle: when I want to do good, evil is with me. For in my inner self I joyfully agree with God's law. But I see a different law in the parts of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I myself am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh, to the law of sin.” (HCSB)

 However, we continue to strive for Christ. We continue to become more like Him. We work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:1-2a, “Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not give up. Instead, we have renounced shameful secret things, not walking in deceit or distorting God's message.” (HCSB)

May you be encouraged today to strive for Christ and not for yourself. Live your life for Him and make Him your Lord. Search, read and study Scripture; pray without ceasing; and find a good Bible-based church that focuses its worship on Him. And always, keep looking up!