6)
Wherefore I put thee in
remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting
on of my hands.
7)
For God hath not given us
the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
8)
Be not thou therefore
ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou
partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;
9)
Who hath saved us, and
called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began,
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he Word of God is telling us that His calling is a call to "holiness." This is the requirement for anyone and everyone who would be saved. It is essential that man live this kind of life and be "set apart" to draw attention to the standard of God. One who is called of God is "set aside for (His) service" and therefore, must be willing to sacrifice worldly honors and pursuits that He might be glorified.
We find in scripture that many vessels
looked like temple vessels, but not all were consecrated to God's service. We
have scripture which illustrates the sanctity in which God holds that belonging
to Him. In the book of Daniel, we read about king Belshazzar (Nebuchadnezzar's grandson) preparing a feast
and daring to use temple vessels for wine—drinking. After falling into a
drunken stupor a mysterious disembodied hand appeared to the king and wrote: Mene, mene, tekel,
upharsin." It (loosely translated: "Thou
art weighed in the balances and found wanting and therefore, thy kingdom is
divided and given to the Medes and Persians. Furthermore, that very night, Belshazzar's life was required of him and Daniel was made
king.’’
In accepting salvation, we become the
property of the Lord, allowing Him to use us and move us as He will. Granted,
before salvation, we lived for what we felt was best for us. Too often, after
salvation, we will try to do the something, for in our eye-sight, there remains
nothing wrong with outlook. But, just as in the book of Daniel, there is a
price all must pay for defiling what belongs to God.
Actually, there is something terribly
wrong with the attitude above, for "selflessness" is the very
definition of salvation. In that Jesus was selfless, we have no options but to
be like-minded if we would be saved.
At all points, Satan is against us
being holy. One of the greatest ways that he fights us is by attempting to keep
us in and bound by sin—once he has convinced us to do it. You see, he appeals
that we say we are "though." In this way, he delivers a
"double-whammy we remain in sin and are "whipped" by him.
So, you see, the devil is wonderful at
furnishing us with excuses for our lack of holiness. Entering the picture is
the pastor, whose job, contrary to that many believe is not to bride us or con
us, convince us or beat us into doing right. His job is to inform us concerning
what is "proper" He is too so by preaching and teaching the truth—no
matter how few listen, no matter how lonely it gets.
We have come to learn that salvation is
defined by and necessities an "absence of
self." All one must do to wiliness this is to study the life of Jesus. His
was a selfless life and therefore, for us to a be
"Christian," for us to be "saved," we must live the same
lifestyle.
To live the successful, saved life, we
can look a t nothing in relationship to ourselves. If we want to, we can know
what every situation means in the eyes of God, for He will always
"show" the vision. But, if all that happens to us is dealt with in
relationship to us, we will be blind to the relationship that anything
has to the Lord.
Now that we have entered someone else's
life, we need to be concerned with that life. This means that our minds
must be off what is going on in our physical lives and refocused on our
spiritual lives. Many are looking for advancement in the
In that we are "called with an
holy calling, " it stands to reason that there
will be some "special" requirements placed upon us. Therefore, saying
some words such as the "Sinner's Prayer" could never save. You see,
involves "change" and mere natural words cannot bring this about. The
only thing that can do this is the acceptance Holy Ghost—with the
evidence of speaking in other tongues as the Spirit of God gives the utterance.
Contained within the Holy Ghost is all
the power of heaven and of earth. So, a "little thing" like sin is
not hard for Him to conquer. Why, then, do some "continue in sin"
after their conversion? It is definitely not the fault of the One who has given
His Spirit. Those who get the Holy Ghost and continue to sin
do just that they "get" Him as opposed to submitting to Him.
Too many of the people of God go "without"
because of failing to appropriate to themselves the blessings of God. We are
doing ourselves and others a disservice when we constantly "wait"
on that which God has already done. Not only do we need to take His blessings,
we also need t take Him out of the future and put Him into the present—the
place for which He direct that He might occupy.