Day 22 of Illumination: Enlightenment should lead to holiness.

“But God’s truth stands firm like a foundation stone with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and “All who belong to the Lord must turn away from evil.” In a wealthy home some utensils are made of gold and silver, and some are made of wood and clay. The expensive utensils are used for special occasions, and the cheap ones are for everyday use. If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work.”

‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭2‬:‭19‬-‭21‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I have actually known people who taught that the more spiritually mature you are, the more sin you can handle. Now, they didn’t put it in those words; but what they do say is that the more spiritually mature person “understands” that what they do with their flesh does not affect the condition of their spirit. They basically take scriptures and distort them to ultimately say that if you aren’t convicted about something, then it is not wrong. Therefore, they contend that as you know more spiritually, you will be less convicted about things you do with your flesh. This, or any other teaching, that separates spiritual purity from pure living, is false.

“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭8‬-‭10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Whereas we know that our salvation is a gift from God and is not based on what we have or haven’t done, we also know that our salvation is just the beginning of a life lived for God. Therefore, our behavior should definitely reflect the newness of life we have received through Jesus Christ.

“God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin. Then each of you will control his own body and live in holiness and honor— not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and his ways. God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives. Therefore, anyone who refuses to live by these rules is not disobeying human teaching but is rejecting God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.”

‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭4‬:‭3‬-‭5‬, ‭7‬-‭8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Some people’s rejection of the concept of holiness is the result of a misunderstanding of what holiness is. Being holy means that you surrender your life—every part of it—to God‘s sacred usage. Additionally, you do those things, think those things, want those things, conducive to growth in the spirit.

In other places in our “25 Days of Illumination,” we have clearly shown that what we do is a reflection of where our heart is. If we look for excuses to sin, what does that indicate about the orientation of our heart?

In our opening scripture we see a discussion of the fact that vessels unprepared for special usage are not used for special uses. Our search for the deeper things of God should render us more inclined toward His righteousness and less inclined toward “worldliness.” Worldliness simply means that our lives are lived according to the world’s standards rather than according to God’s righteousness as manifested to us through His word.

Make no mistake, any “spiritual enlightenment” leading christians to live just like people in the world, is not enlightenment, but DECEPTION.

We light a twenty-second candle of illumination today by knowing this:

Enlightenment should lead to holiness.

#25daysofillumination