Along the path of holiness...

Good Friday, 06 April 2007

I am in a caravan at the Vine Hall School near Battle (hidden by the trees in the bottom right of the aerial photograph!) Tracey has returned to St Mary Cray to lead Good Friday services, the girls are busy in Junior Adventure Camp and I am all alone.

It seems a good time to consider again the demands of holiness. I have decided to go through Allister Smith’s ‘Made whole’. He splits holiness into 6 sections.

Section 1 – Conversion

You can’t be holy unless you are converted. Smith says to do so is like trying to swim without getting into the water. I was converted on Sunday May 8th 1994. I was filled with the Spirit the following Tuesday. These experiences changed my life beyond all recognition. Shortly after my own conversion and spirit baptism Tracey was also transformed. The change in our own lives impacted dramatically on our Corps at Strood. We entered into the most productive period of our lives to date and the ‘Strood refreshing’ saw many people get saved and we witnessed real miracles. So I can tick off box number one on Smith’s list – in spite all of that has happened I am certain that Christ lives within my heart and that I am born again.

Section 2 – Craving

Smith says that we must really want holiness before God will bestow it. We have to want it above and beyond anything else. Smith explains that if there are things in our lives which demand more time than that devoted to the search for holiness then we obviously don’t want it enough. Certainly God has given me a hunger for holiness and this hunger has increased over the last few years – especially over the last few months. However, I still sometimes choose to sit down and do a crossword rather than seek the blessing. I must set aside all doubtful uses of time until I am secure in the knowledge that I am truly set apart – then holiness will determine how I spend my hours.

Section 3 – Confession

I have confessed my sins to God and he has forgiven me. I have made a full and frank confession of my sins. I have sought to make redress where I can. I have not allowed my sin, through confession, to pull other people down. The burden of my sin is mine and my confession has been to God alone. It has been specific and not general – there has been much sin in my life – looking at the Ten Commandments there is only one which I have not broken! My life has been steeped in sin and the cost has been enormous. However, God’s word says: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Section 4 – Consecration

“This consecration, or yielding, includes all that we have and are. All must be laid on the altar, even the dearest and the best.”

There are issues in my life that need to addressed in regard to consecration. Last year at Roots I drew up a personal holiness manifesto – I have no doubt that this manifesto came from God but I haven’t kept the resolutions within it. The manifesto can be found here.

When the manifesto was published in the Journal of Aggressive Christianity, Issue 43, June 2006 – July 2006 I added the following comments “These are resolutions not regulations and as such are about purpose and motive rather than legality. Sometimes obedience to God may require me to break them; sometimes I may be allowed to enjoy times of God-ordained celebration when to keep them would be self-righteous and exclusive. They are simply a framework within which I believe my witness will be more effective and my limited resources better utilised.”

I can now see, one year on, that the manifesto was a result of God’s call to consecration and I want to endorse them again today. The truth is that it only takes 50p to keep a small child alive and therefore every 50 pence spent on non-essentials is murder (which means I’ve broken all the commandments) – incidentally as I’m writing this the following Keith Green song has just started playing:

“I find it hard to turn away a billion starving people, But what can one do I’ve heard you say – “You can't save someone’s life" – I want to save a life today!”

In order to tick this box “all my days and all my hours, all my will and all my powers, all the passion of my soul – not a fragment but the whole shall be thine dear Lord” must be a literal and clearly visible commitment. God by your grace I give you everything.

Section 5 – Claiming

Smith says “The step of claiming is an important one. Some linger so long on the verge of blessing. They confess their sins many times, and yield their all to the Lord; but they fail to take the simple step of faith.”

I think I fail to claim because it is easier to doubt the completeness of my cooperation with God than to expect a blessing. However, at this moment in time my confession and consecration is in line with God’s revelation and therefore I do claim the blessing of a clean heart. I ask God to fill me and use me exactly as he wills. As stated above “I am a resource in God's hand made freely available for him to spend as he wishes. I give myself totally and without any reservation to God and the Salvation War.” Having, to the best of my knowledge complied with all the terms I claim the conditional blessing of holiness.

Section 6 – Continuing

At this moment in time I am fully forgiven, fully clean, fully surrendered and therefore fully saved! This blog (among other things) is a record of my holiness journey and will reveal my willingness to continue along the path that God is unveiling before me. One thing is certain – I have no desire to go back – I have wasted enough time and money and I don’t want to waste a second or a penny more.

I am now going to pray and read again the Easter story and then by his grace 'trust and obey'.