The Essence – Partnership with God
I'm talking about being holy this week and it's important to note that holiness always comes out of a partnership with God. That's the essence of holiness.
Judy Huffman in her article, Practical Holiness, says this: “Consider the lawyer who signs on with a large law firm. She may work for years before being considered for partnership. She had to prove herself, do dirty work, put in long hours and then maybe she'll be invited in as a partner. Or maybe even after she's given her all to the firm, someone else will be chosen. She has no assurance that her hard work will pay off.”
And then Huffman says, “Contrast this with God's invitation, made while we still are sinners. In God's partnership, it's not about us or our hard work, rather it is because of who God is that we are invited. God's grace gives us a place at the table. “
Partnership with God
And so it is partnership with God that enables us to live holy lives. Again, people get this wrong, people think morality equals holiness. And of course moral living is a facet of holiness. But its essence is not following the rules. Its essence is being in relationship with Christ, being in partnership with God.
In fact, one of the great Bible pictures of the church is as God's bride. That marriage metaphor is so important because it reminds us that it's about relationship, it's about union with God.
Union with God
It's so easy for us to do the so-called Christian things, to tick “Christian” as our religion on census forms, to go to church every week and even participate in some way. And those are important things, but they're externals! And if they don't flow from an internal union with God, then we're fooling ourselves. And we're certainly not holy, as moral as we might be, we're certainly not holy.
Let's not just do the externals, but let's always be in union with God, relying on Him all throughout the day to be our close faithful friend and Saviour. And then flowing out of that union, the rest will fall into place.
Be holy is God is holy because you are so close to Him that you can hardly help it.
