By Joshua Harris @ http://joshharrisblogson.blogspot.com/ After a brief break in the series, this is the final post related to cultivating holiness. These are based on Romans 13:11-14:
o Holiness requires urgency
o Holiness requires putting off sin
o Holiness requires starving our sinful desires
Here is the fourth:
Holiness requires putting on Christ.
Throughout this passage, we’re instructed not only to put off sin, but to also to put on what is good. It’s so vital that we remember this: growing in godliness is not just a matter of what you don’t do. It’s not just negative. It’s also positive--the good to which we’re called.
So, verse 12 tells us to not only cast off the works of darkness, it instructs us positively to "put on the armor of light." The armor of light represents righteous living. When we love others, when we serve, when we speak the truth, when we are patient and kind, we are putting on the armor of light. This is behavior that is shaped by God’s commands. It stands against the darkness of our age; it protects us the effects of ungodliness.
Then, look at verse 14. What does it say? What does it tell us to do instead of feeding the flesh? What does it call us to instead of self-indulgence and sin?
It says, "But put on the Lord Jesus Christ." The NIV says, "Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ."
What does it mean to put on the Lord Jesus Christ, to clothe ourselves with Him?
Paul is telling us that, by ourselves, in our own strength, we are unable to resist the temptations of the world and our flesh. A life of holiness, a life pleasing God, is one that is totally united and identified with the person and work of the Son of God.
The clothing we wear defines us. We dress for our job. We dress to represent our personal style. We dress for certain activities. We dress to protect our bodies—from football padding to a firefighters coat. We wear clothes to show our affiliation—whether it’s an army uniform or a basketball jersey.
Paul is saying that the Christian life is about constant trust in, and dependence on, and identification with Jesus Christ. The only way any of us can be saved is through faith in what Jesus has done. We have all sinned, but he perfectly obeyed the law. We deserve God’s punishment, but he took our place on the cross. We have earned eternal death, but Jesus rose from the dead and conquered death forever. We are weak, but he intercedes for us, and has given his Spirit to make us holy as he is holy.
And so every day, and in every moment, we must relive this truth. We must preach the truth of the gospel to ourselves every day! We must PUT ON CHRIST and remember who we are through faith in Him.
In this text is an invitation from God Himself:
• When you are weak, put on the strength of my son.
• When you are tempted to feel condemned, put on my son’s righteousness.
• When you’re tempted to live for yourself, put on his perfect obedience and selfless humility.
• When you’re tempted to conform to this world, clothe yourself with the one whose victorious death has overcome the world.
• When you’re tempted to think you’re doing well on your own in conquering sin, acknowledge your dependence and put on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let me close with the words of Charles Spurgeon, the London pastor who faithfully preached God’s word in the late 1800s. Though he is a century and a half removed from our media-saturated age, with the sinful content that is so readily available to us, Mr. Spurgeon’s words are no less relevant:
Let us not rely on resolves, pledges, methods or prayers--but let us lean only and wholly on our wonderful Savior who died and rose again to make us his holy people.
Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. (ESV)The first 3 points were:
o Holiness requires urgency
o Holiness requires putting off sin
o Holiness requires starving our sinful desires
Here is the fourth:
Holiness requires putting on Christ.
Throughout this passage, we’re instructed not only to put off sin, but to also to put on what is good. It’s so vital that we remember this: growing in godliness is not just a matter of what you don’t do. It’s not just negative. It’s also positive--the good to which we’re called.
So, verse 12 tells us to not only cast off the works of darkness, it instructs us positively to "put on the armor of light." The armor of light represents righteous living. When we love others, when we serve, when we speak the truth, when we are patient and kind, we are putting on the armor of light. This is behavior that is shaped by God’s commands. It stands against the darkness of our age; it protects us the effects of ungodliness.
Then, look at verse 14. What does it say? What does it tell us to do instead of feeding the flesh? What does it call us to instead of self-indulgence and sin?
It says, "But put on the Lord Jesus Christ." The NIV says, "Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ."
What does it mean to put on the Lord Jesus Christ, to clothe ourselves with Him?
Paul is telling us that, by ourselves, in our own strength, we are unable to resist the temptations of the world and our flesh. A life of holiness, a life pleasing God, is one that is totally united and identified with the person and work of the Son of God.
The clothing we wear defines us. We dress for our job. We dress to represent our personal style. We dress for certain activities. We dress to protect our bodies—from football padding to a firefighters coat. We wear clothes to show our affiliation—whether it’s an army uniform or a basketball jersey.
Paul is saying that the Christian life is about constant trust in, and dependence on, and identification with Jesus Christ. The only way any of us can be saved is through faith in what Jesus has done. We have all sinned, but he perfectly obeyed the law. We deserve God’s punishment, but he took our place on the cross. We have earned eternal death, but Jesus rose from the dead and conquered death forever. We are weak, but he intercedes for us, and has given his Spirit to make us holy as he is holy.
And so every day, and in every moment, we must relive this truth. We must preach the truth of the gospel to ourselves every day! We must PUT ON CHRIST and remember who we are through faith in Him.
In this text is an invitation from God Himself:
• When you are weak, put on the strength of my son.
• When you are tempted to feel condemned, put on my son’s righteousness.
• When you’re tempted to live for yourself, put on his perfect obedience and selfless humility.
• When you’re tempted to conform to this world, clothe yourself with the one whose victorious death has overcome the world.
• When you’re tempted to think you’re doing well on your own in conquering sin, acknowledge your dependence and put on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let me close with the words of Charles Spurgeon, the London pastor who faithfully preached God’s word in the late 1800s. Though he is a century and a half removed from our media-saturated age, with the sinful content that is so readily available to us, Mr. Spurgeon’s words are no less relevant:
I charge you, do not rely upon what you have acquired in the past. Say not in your heart, “I am a man of experience, and therefore I can resist temptation, which would crush the younger and greener folk. I have now spent so many years in persistent well-doing that I may reckon myself out of danger. Is it likely that I should ever be led astray?” O sir, it is more than likely! It is a fact already. The moment that a man declares he cannot fall, he has already fallen from sobriety and humility. Your head is turned, my brother, or you would not talk of your inward perfection; and when the head turns, the feet are not very safe. Inward conceit is the mother of open sin. Make Christ your strength, and not yourself; nor your acquirements or experiences. “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ” day by day, and make not the rags of yesterday to be the raiment of the future. Get grace fresh and fresh. Say with David, “All my fresh springs are in thee.” Get all your power for holiness and usefulness from Jesus, and from him alone. “Surely in the Lord have I righteousness and strength.” Rely not on resolves, pledges, methods, prayers; but lean on Jesus only as the strength of your life.
Let us not rely on resolves, pledges, methods or prayers--but let us lean only and wholly on our wonderful Savior who died and rose again to make us his holy people.
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