Impossible Christianity - Holiness Without Misery - Molly Ratliff

“For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.” 1 John 5:3The lie- A Christian life of holiness is burdensome and boringThe truth- A Christian life of holiness is what we were made for and its good!True holiness is living our life as God, our creator, intended. Holiness is our set apart design. This design is what we were made for, and it is good!Holy: to be set apart, consecrated, dedicatedHoliness: the state of being set apart for God“2 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’s seat.3 But don’t do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4 They tie up heavy, burdensome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.” Matthew 23:2-4“28 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest….30 My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28,30A Christian life of holiness simply means we have been set apart by God for his purposes“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation.” 1 Peter 2:9“27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God, He created him male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:27-28We were created for holiness because we have been set apart from all other creations.Holiness is not a burden of our Christianity. Holiness is the freedom to become what God created us to be.Holiness is the environment we were created to thrive in. It is the pathway to truly live.“ I have come that you have life and life abundantly” John 10:10.“In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Psalms 16:11“My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.” John 15:11“8 The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there he put man who he had formed.9 And…the Lord God made every tree grow that was pleasant…and good…” Genesis 2:8-9“God’s holiness is essential to his nature and fundamental to His being. His holiness is what makes him good, and loving, and kind, and faithful. Without holiness, God wouldn’t be beautiful, and so because of it, He is eternally attractive. Think about the opposite of it being present in Him and you may see my point. If He were sovereign, but wicked, with no inner righteousness to restrain His hand, I wouldn’t be surprised if the world was no more. If He had all power without love, our refusal to love Him back would result in cosmic abuse or maybe a million more floods with no rainbow to promise His relent. If He were an unholy God, what would salvation even mean? What is deliverance to a self-centered “savior”? Thankfully, our God is incomprehensibly holy and therefore completely beautiful in all of His ways and works. This is why we are invited to worship Him as such, and in so doing, we become just as beautiful as He is. Holiness is not an aspect of God; holy is who He is through and through” – Jackie Hill Perry“The veiling of his glory was the real marvel. The Divine restraint which prohibited the illumination of his sacred humanity.”- Joseph S. Excel“When God decides to make something, He does it not to fill a void but to give opportunity for all that He is to be known by another.” – Jackie Hill Perry“He who called you is holy, you also be holy…” 1 Peter 1:15We experience the Christian life of holiness as boring and burdensome, when we think we can be holy apart from God.“24 Put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” Ephesians 4:24“ We all, with an unveiled face (this is the gospel: the veil was torn at the cross), beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord (his image in us) are being transformed into the same image (holiness) from glory to glory just as by the Spirit of the Lord (not apart from God).”  2 Corinthians 3:18We were created for a life of holiness that is good, by beholding His holiness!“We have come to behold the beauty of his holiness, and by beholding it, we became as lovely as He is.” – Jackie Hill Perry