How to serve for the glory of God, and how not to sin for the glory of God. This is the encapsulation of the life of one who has been born-again.
“And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” (Matt. 22:39)
This, along with the verse previous to it, is what all the Law and the prophets hang on, but we are not under the Law, yet to fulfill the Law of Christ we are to follow Galatians 6:2.
“Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”
In these three verses we are told, in a manner, how our lives are to be lived for the glory of God, but not how to keep ourselves holy, how not to sin. By loving the Almighty with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, by loving our neighbor as ourselves, and bearing the burdens of our brothers and sisters in Christ our actions, words and deeds reveal that service of love, we are recognized by those in the world as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ to the glory of God.
“Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” (Matt. 7:20)
But none of these speak of how to keep ourselves unspotted from the world, how not to sin.
You will meet many people in this life who fulfill everything written here so far, some are truly saved by grace through faith, others only profess Him with their lips, sin, their own personal sins, are not first and foremost in their minds, being holy, denying themselves the pleasures of the flesh is not part of serving to them, it is an addendum, an added trait that to them is implied, not commanded, and so by nature, they place levels upon sin.
The murderer is worse than the backbiter, the rapist is far worse than the one who does not control their tongue, and the action of sin is far worse in their thoughts than the thought of sin. They perform services for the glory of the Most High, but their hearts are far from Him.
Being sanctified is, in part, being trained how not to sin, it is a transforming of the mind, it is being taught how not only to hinder our old sinful nature, but how to kill it.
“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” (Gal. 2:20)
“Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.” (Romans 12:9)
Sin is evil, you must get this notion out of your head that all evil comes from Satan, we do not need his influences to sin, we were born in sin, it is in our nature to rebel against Him who gave us life. We are not modified when we are born-again, we are re-created, yet that old nature is not destroyed, we are responsible, we are to submit to the will of God with effort, and that effort is not just in serving for His glory, but in not sinning while we do so.
“And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” (Eph. 4:24)
“Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” (Eph. 6:11)
My friends, sanctification is offered, not forced upon us, our free will, no different than our old nature, does not die when we are born-again. If you are in essence the same person you were when you believe you were saved, you are not saved, if your heart does not break with the thoughts of sin against the Lord Jesus Christ, if you perform services to Him yet sin willingly, by your own design, and if the sins of this world do not cause grief, frustrations and even hatred for all sin within you, then your salvation is not only in question, but doubtful.
Many hearts that are far from Him sit in the pews every Sunday, they perform all the requirements of service, yet their hearts are still stone, sin is incremental in their minds, and as long as they do not cross over some imaginary line, as long as only minor sins are enacted in their lives, they believe that God will understand.
Holiness is more than serving, it is hating sin.
