Placing the Cart Before the Horse.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,  which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight  making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”(Ephesians 1:3-10 ESV)

Some see the doctrines of mercy and holiness as at odds with each other. That one detracts from the other, or one cancels the other. A view such as this could not be further from the truth. If we look at the second London Baptist Confession, Chapter 13, Paragraph 1, it is written: “They who are united to Christ, effectually called, and regenerated, having a new heart and a new spirit created in them through the virtue of Christ’s death and resurrection, are also farther sanctified, really and personally,1 through the same virtue, by his Word and Spirit dwelling in them;2 the dominion of the whole body of sin is destroyed,3 and the several lusts of it are more and more weakened and mortified,4 and they more and more quickened and strengthened in all saving graces,5 to the practice of all true holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.6 ”

(1) Acts 20:32; Rom. 6:5–6 , (2) John 17:17; Eph. 3:16–19; 1 Thess. 5:21–23, (3) Rom. 6:14 (4) Gal. 5:24, (5) Col. 1:11, 6 2 Cor. 7:1; Heb. 12:14

The one who saves us is the one who sanctifies us and makes us holy. Without Christ, we cannot be made holy; without mercy and grace, we cannot grow in sanctification. Paul tells us of holiness and sanctification in 1Thessalonians 4:3-7, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgresses and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.” So, where do we go with this idea? We are saved by God, who calls us to be holy. We then repent and believe. The same thing we tell others when we evangelize.

One of the things that gets mixed up is that God makes us holy, and as a result, we strive to be holy like Him. The confusion comes in when this idea is reversed. You may ask a Christian what makes them a Christian, and they begin to give you a litany of things they used to do but no longer do “because they love God.” Then they tell you everything they do “because they love God.” Then you will hear, “This is what makes me holy.” This view of holiness is entirely backward. First, God changes this pile of dirt and rags into a child of God (a miracle itself). This change is supernatural. God makes us holy, so we turn from our sins and begin to do as God tells us to do so that we may become more holy like Him. He has separated us unto Him. It is like saying, “Because I wear this wedding ring, I am married.” No, this is not accurate. “Because I am married, I wear this wedding ring to symbolize my devotion, my being set apart for one person.” This verbalization is correct. The ring is a symbol, not the reason.

Holiness is not something we do to be set apart by God. We do things because God set us apart for His glory. We wrongfully come up with these lists of things we do and don’t do so that God may set us apart from others. When, in fact, it is God who has chosen us, adopted us, and elected us to be set apart for Him. In response, we strive to be holy, carrying out our devotion to and glorification of God. We cannot do anything to set ourselves apart for God. We cannot save ourselves. We cannot sanctify ourselves. God sets us apart and sets us on the road to sanctification. As we grow with Him over time, as our understanding of God and how He wants us to live grows, we become more and more sanctified through His grace and mercy. Our holiness is a gift from God. Our holiness begins with God, and it ends with God. We pursue our holiness because God has given it to us. He doesn’t give us our holiness because we pursue it.

Grace, mercy, and holiness are all intertwined. If it were not for grace and mercy, we would never be able to be forgiven for our sins. We would hit a brick wall on our road to sanctification, unable to move past our sins. We increase our holiness as we begin to sin less. Through grace and forgiveness, we become more holy.

God and His sovereignty have orchestrated everything in your life. God has given you a new heart, the gift of salvation, the gift of redemption, the gift of sanctification, and the gift of holiness. Glorify God for all the things He has given you through His grace.

Peace and Grace!