WALKING IN HOLINESS!

Every Christian intending to enter Heaven must walk in holiness while on earth.

We have learnt that (1) holiness is a state of spotlessness on your garment of righteousness. We have also seen that (2) every Christian is called unto a life of holiness (1 Thess. 4:7), because without holiness no one shall see the Lord (Heb.12:14). We have also seen that (3) every Christian is not only called unto a life of holiness, but also to perfect holiness in the fear of God (2 Cor. 7:1). In other words, every Christian is called to walk in holiness.

2 Corinthians 7:1 says, “Having therefore, these promises (which promises? 2 Cor. 6:16-18), dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of (1) the flesh and (2) spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”

What does it mean to perfect holiness? To perfect holiness is to maintain your holiness.

How? You maintain your holiness by ensuring that there is no spot or wrinkle on your garment of righteousness through the process of progressive sanctification.

The Bible says, “Let your garments always be white, and let your head lack no ointment” (Eccl. 9:8).

The question is: How then can one maintain his garment of righteousness? How can one ensure that his garment of righteousness is ALWAYS white? Just follow the following steps:

1. Quickly repent and get restored: If any stain happens to come on your garment of righteousness, quickly ask God for mercy, forgiveness and plead the blood of Jesus Christ (Isa. 1:18; 1 Jn. 1:9).

Colossians 1:14 says, ``In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins. ``

In Isaiah 1:18 God said, “Come now, and let us reason together, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”

In 1 John 1:9 Jesus said, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness.”

In Proverbs 28:13 God said, “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso (1) confesseth and (2) forsaketh them shall have mercy.”

“By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil” (Prov. 16:6).

In Isaiah 43:25 God said, “I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.”

2. You must guard your heart. Avoid situations that will defile your heart [subconscious mind]. You must stay away from situations that can stimulate you to think wrongly thereby providing easy occasions of sin.

Depart from iniquity and flee youthful lusts (1 Tim. 2:19-26). Joseph fled from youthful lust when Potiphar’s wife wanted to gun him down.

Don’t read bad novels. Don’t look at pornographic pictures. Don’t watch bad movies. Rather let your focus be on the Word of God (Isa 26:3; Prov. 4:20-22).

In Proverbs 4:23 the bible says, “Keep thy heart [subconscious mind] with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”

NKJV puts it this way, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.”

NIV puts it this way, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”

What does it mean to guard your heart? To guard your heart means to protect it against danger.

How do you protect your heart [subconscious mind]? You protect your mind by minding [watching] (1) what you see, and (2) what you hear.

The Psalmist said, “I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes...” (Ps. 101:3).

Examples:

a) The case of David and Beersheba,

b) The case of Samson and Delilah.

What you see or what you hear will determine the picture that will be painted in your mind. That very picture is what you will think about. What your think about will determine your feeling. How you feel will determine the decision you’ll take concerning the issue at stake. The decision you take will determine what you will do [your action]. Your action, if repeated a number of times, will become your habit. And a collection of your various habits is your character.

What you see is more dangerous than what you hear. Why? As regards what you hear, you will first of all have to imagine what it is in order to form the image in your subconscious mind. This requires energy. It is about this image that you’ll think. But as regards what you see, the image [picture] will be drawn immediately in your mind just as it is. You don’t need any extra energy to figure out what it is.

Except you guard your heart with all diligence, you’ll have so much information that is contrary to the Word of God. This kind of negative information will cause you to walk in the flesh instead of walking in the Spirit. The negative information will not allow you to see yourself the way God sees you. And unless you see yourself the way God sees you, it is impossible to walk in the Spirit. If you don’t walk in the Spirit, you cannot maintain your holiness.

How can one guard his heart? To effectively guard your heart you must diligently attend to the Word of God. The Word of God is the thought of God written down on the pages of the Scripture. When the very thoughts you have in your sub-conscious mind are replaced with the thoughts of God, then you can say that the mind of that person has been renewed. A renewed mind is a sound mind.

But you need to guard this mind diligently so that it does not get corrupted (Col. 3:16; 2 Tim. 2:15; Josh. 1:8; Ps. 1:1-3; Ps. 119:9; Ps 119:11).

In Colossians 3:16 the Bible says, “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in Psalms and Hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”

2 Timothy 2:15 says, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

In Joshua 1:8 God said, “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”

Psalm 1:1-3 says, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.  2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”

Psalm 119:9 says, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy Word.”

Psalm 119:11 says, “Thy Word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee.”

3. Renew your mind with the Word of God (Rom. 12:2; Eph. 4:23), and continually fill your mind with the Word of God (Col. 3:16; Isa. 26:3).

4. Meditate on the Word of God continually (Josh. 1:8; Ps. 1:1-3; Ps. 119:9, 11, 105, 130; Jn. 15:3).

You must put on the new man. Ephesians 4:24 says, “And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”

Colossians 3:10 says, “And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him:”

5. Cultivate spiritual thinking. You must ensure that you are the one in control of your thoughts. Intentionally occupy your mind with wholesome things (Phil 4:8). Spirit-controlled thinking or spiritual thinking can lift your thoughts, stabilize your emotions and bless your entire life.

In Philippians 4:8 the Scriptures give us a list of what we ought to be thinking about:

Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest [right], whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue [whatsoever is admirable], and if there be any praise [if anything is excellent or worth of praise], think [meditate] on such things.”

To think or meditate is to fix [focus] your thoughts on something. Think about what is true and honourable and right; things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise [NLT]. The word “think” means “to dwell upon,” “to meditate upon” or “to focus/fix your thoughts upon.”  Dwell, think, meditate or focus your thoughts on such things!

a) “Whatsoever is true,” that is, whatsoever is reliable, whatsoever agrees with fact. Truth is the opposite of lying and deception. You must never let your mind dwell on any piece of gossip you hear, because it may not be true [factual]. We must be ready to hear the other side of the story, and not hear only the one side. Ephesians says that we are to “guard our loins with the belt of truth.” We are to think about the truth. To think about the truth is to think about the Word of God and Christ. Both are called “the truth” (Jn 17:17; Jn 14:6).

Ephesians 4:16 says, “Guard your loins with truth.” Guard your loins with the Word of God. Meditate/think on the Word of God.

b) “Whatsoever things are honest” – that is whatever is earned or received by fair methods, not by cheating or falsehood [OBT or 419]. For most of us, it is not the big things that test our honesty, but the little things. We may never get to embezzle one billion Naira from the government purse but we have to guard against considering stealing towels from a motel, stealing biros from fellow students, borrowing something and never returning it back, accepting too much change from a store manager or fuel station. Satan tells you that “If you receive too much change from a petrol station that that is good because after all the people adjusted their meter; I’ll keep these extra coins as a sort of refund, you say.”

c) “Whatsoever things are just” – that is, things that are right and fair and impartial. It is right to give a customer a full measure when selling gari or rice in business. God hates false measure. It is right to expose doctrinal error and false teachings when presenting the Word of God. It is right to treat all your children alike. We must never plan in our thoughts to do anything that is unfair or partial.

d) “Whatsoever things are pure” – that is, free from any sort of defilement. Purity speaks especially about chastity in the area of sexual relationships. It is very hard in our society today to live through a single day without having your mind bombarded with thoughts of sex in some kind of distorted form.

Unclean thinking is enhanced by abbreviated dress, seductive pictures, pornography and dirty stories. For this reason, the follower of Christ does not attend movies, he carefully censors his reading materials, and he avoids participating in jokes that are not pure. Most television programmes and commercials are not acceptable to him.

Ephesians 5:4 says, “Let there be no filthiness (indecency), nor foolish (silly and corrupt) talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not convenient (fitting): but rather giving of thanks (to God).”

e) “Whatsoever things are lovely” – that is, things that are beautiful, winsome and pleasing. Christians should cultivate the traits of courtesy and pleasantness. He should avoid the snapped answer, the harsh reply, and the sarcastic response. It is not nice to see a husband who cannot answer the wife in a gentle tone. It is not nice [lovely] to see a child that challenges his/her parents. It is not nice to see a child of God that dresses in a way that drive people away from Christ instead of bringing people to Christ. It is not lovely to see children of God who refuse to be fully committed to Christ. It is not lovely to see children of God who don’t pay their tithes. Such things are not lovely.

The promises of God in His Word are lovely.

f) “Whatsoever things are of good report” – that is, things spoken with good will towards others; things which are the opposite of gossip, slander and the spreading of rumours. Courtesy to others, respect for parents, loyalty between husband and wife – these are always things “of good report.”

g) “If there be any virtue”: that is, any particular kind of goodness or excellence. For instance, our climate has the virtue of not being too hot at certain seasons of the year.

h) “If there be any praise”: that is, something worthy of praise.

6. Don’t miss fellowship:

Hebrews 10:25 says, Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

1 John 1:7`says, But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from ALL sin.

As long as you continue to do righteousness, your garment will remain unstained.

In Ecclesiastes 9:8 the Bible says, “Let your garments always be white [unstained; without spot or wrinkle], and let your head lack no oil.”

Following the above listed steps will guarantee that you’ll eventually enter Heaven. Walking in holiness is the surest way to enter Heaven.

Holiness will exalt you and position you to experience God’s best in every area of your life. You can make it! All it takes is making up your mind.

Watch out for the next edition of Good News from the Pulpit!

• Your friend: I. I. Madubunyi (Senior Pastor)                                    03.08.2019