I have fought the good fight . . . (II Tim 3:7)
May I fight, O Lord, your fight — the fight for holiness.
Last week I discussed the fact that Christians are holy but mentioned as well that we still sin. Such talk may raise an eyebrow or two, for how exactly can holy people sin? Doesn’t holiness mean we don’t sin? To address this question, I want you to think of a bride at a wedding. When she says, “I do,” she becomes a wife, and her identity changes for the rest of her life. At the wedding, she may have become a wife at a particular moment, but after the wedding she will spend the rest of her life learning how to live as a wife. Living with a man is not easy, and this new wife will quickly discover that fact.
Something like this is true of the Christian life. I have been discussing the fact that in Christ we have a new identity and that new identity includes the fact that we are holy. We are the Bride of Christ, and Christ gave himself up for his bride “that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Eph 5:26-7). Christ has already cleansed us. He made his bride holy so that she might be his bride, for Christ will not marry into sin. This is our identity. But this new identity does not mean that we live a perfect life. We now enter into the hard part — living out our identity. Just as a wife spends a lifetime learning how to better live out her roles and responsibilities, so do we as Christians spend a lifetime learning how to better live out our identity in Christ. This means struggle. Living in holiness is not easy, and the new Christian will quickly discover that fact.
Therefore, we are holy, but we are becoming holy. The first part of that statement is a fact we must rest in. The second part is the application of that fact. The first part is done. Christ has procured our holiness for us. The second part is yet to be lived. The writer to the Hebrews put it this way: “For by a single offering he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified” (Heb 10:14). In other words, the people who are becoming holy have already been made holy. Because we have been made holy, God now calls us into a fight. It is fight for holiness.
What then, are some principles for this fight? Here are a couple for this week, and we will discuss others in future blogs.
1. Understand that apart from Christ you are fallen. You are a broken creature, bent toward sin. You are weak, but sin is strong. If you think you can simply overcome sin by being strong, you have already lost the battle. You are like a cocky eight-year-old who thinks he can play in the NBA today. You are an alcoholic who thinks he can overcome alcoholism himself. You will never defeat sin by taking it on yourself. You need Christ. Without Christ, you lose. In Christ, you have already overcome. The fight is too big for you. You will win the fight only by the grace of God.
We cannot wage the battle for holiness in our flesh. This is one of the biggest mistakes Christians make in their fight. They fight in the flesh and with their own strength. “Are you so foolish?” Paul said. “Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Gal 3:2) We understand that salvation is by grace through faith in the work of Christ, but we often then live as if sanctification is by our own good works. It is not. It, too, comes by grace through faith in the work of Christ.
This concept that we are weak doesn’t tell us so much how to fight; rather, it tells us how not to fight. But this lesson in how not to fight is crucial, for virtually everyone at some point tries to be holy in their own strength. In fact, most people have to beat their fists against the wall before they see that their efforts are futile in producing real holiness.
2. Rest in what God has done. You are not just forgiven from your sin; you are dead to it in Christ (Rom 6:1-11). Hold onto that fact. It may seem strange when you sin to think that you are dead to sin, but if your faith in Christ is real, then you are dead to sin. Period. Even when you may sin. Satan will use your sin against you to make you think that God’s Word is ridiculous. He will say, “How can you consider yourself dead to sin when you are so alive to sin?” He will want you to focus on your behavior and then use your behavior to make you doubt your identity. He wants your behavior to be the foundation for who you are. He does not want Christ or His Word to be the foundation for who you are. Satan wants your behavior to drive your identity. God wants your identity to drive your behavior. If you want to see holy behavior in your life, you must hold on to your identity in Christ. That identity is the work of Christ in you. Christ has made you part of his spotless bride (Eph 5:26-7). He has made you a son or daughter of God Almighty (Rom 8:12-17). In Christ, you are dead to sin but alive to God. In Christ, you are cleansed, holy, sanctified (I Cor 6:9; I Pet 2:9). In Christ you are a new creature (II Cor 5:17). In Christ you are seated in heavenly places (Eph2:6). All of these things are God’s work. If you want to live in holiness, then start believing what God has done. If you doubt these truths, you cripple your ability to walk in holiness, for you are doubting the very Word of God.
