As I was praying and preparing to write to you this month, I heard very clearly in my heart the Lord say, “I am calling my people into position!” It was heard clearly, boldly, and strongly. The church must rise and step into the position purchased by the blood of Jesus those many years ago. I believe that we are living in the greatest and most exciting times the church has ever seen.
I want to begin by asking you a question. What makes anything holy? By answering this question, we can step into the place that God has prepared and is inviting us into at this time.
2 Timothy 3:1-2 (NKJV) gives some insight into what makes us holy. It reads, “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,” For one to be unholy, one must first be holy. There is an all-out demonic campaign against mankind to usher in the full-on push for the antichrist to take over. The devil is in full stride to accomplish his will. The Bible calls this campaign “darkness”. (Isaiah 60:1-2)
The music artist Sam Smith has a song called Unholy. It’s as if the enemy is literally placing the banner of his slogan right out in the open. No concealing or cover up, but arrogantly waving his mission for all to see. Some would say, “I know, the world is literally falling apart.” But I say, “The world is falling into position!” We are seeing the things God predicted in His word play out exactly as He foretold by His Spirit.
Why am I stating these things? Because God is calling His church, His body, into position. For the Body of Christ to push back, and resist steadfast in the faith against this darkness. We must take a posture and position of those who know God and His word, not secondhand, but intimately know Him so that we can walk and live in His standard. Isaiah 59:19b says, “When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.” We are that standard!
1 Peter 1:13-16 (TPT) says, “So then, prepare your hearts and minds for action! Stay alert and fix your hope firmly on the marvelous grace that is coming to you. For when Jesus Christ is unveiled, a greater measure of grace will be released to you. As God’s obedient children, never again shape your lives by the desires that you followed when you didn’t know better. Instead, shape your lives to become like the Holy One who called you. For Scripture says: “You are to be holy, because I am holy.” We must remember that any time God gives a command to “Be” something He always provides the ability and resources to accomplish the command. Self-effort is the enemy to God’s eternal agenda.
There must be mind-renewal and an understanding of true holiness because religion has tried to place a demand on the church to become something through actions and conduct. Holiness is the umbrella that our lives are lived out of and from that exemplifies God’s standard. Most of the time when holiness is talked about it gets tossed to the side as it is perceived as a burden and an unachievable goal. Some may say, “Holy is what I’ll be when I get to heaven, but in the nasty here and now it is impossible as I just make too many mistakes and just can’t seem to stop some of my bad habits.” This thought process is the reason I am writing this letter as this distorted understanding of true holiness restrains the church from operating at the level that God provides.
Holiness is not merely our actions, as religion would teach, holiness is what we absorb and manifest as we live our lives in and from God’s presence. It is a mockery to make conduct and moral actions the focus of holiness because conduct is the fruit of holiness and not the source. Holiness is not and can never be achieved; it must be received.
Ephesians 1:4 reads, “Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” Wow! Read that again. Jesus is our holiness. (1 Corinthians 1:30) The call or invitation God has placed to all, is the unveiling and revelation in and through Jesus Christ. When God calls you to be holy, it is God saying, “I have nothing better to offer you, so I offer Myself.” To be holy is to be God-like. It is the invitation into the very Presence of God to live in His truth. We have been seated with Christ in heavenly places, the very throne of grace where seraphim cry, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of host; the whole earth is full of His glory!”
I want to conclude by giving you three things that true holiness produces.
1. Holiness produces the rest of God. The first time “Holy” is used in the Bible is in Genesis 2:3, “Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it (The ESV says, “…and made it holy…”) because in it (the seventh day of sanctification) He rested from all His work which God had created and made.” Holiness is sanctification or being set apart or made holy. This is accomplished in Christ not so we can be insulated or isolated from the world, but so we can be filled as carriers of His divine presence to infiltrate the kingdom of darkness bringing liberty to all mankind. As we enter the rest of God, the finished work of Jesus, we become partakers of His holiness. I don’t work to be holy, I rest in His finished work, therefore I am holy.
2. Holiness is the result of the presence of God. When Moses experienced the burning bush in Exodus 3:1-8 it was in verse 5 God said, “…Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” This is the second time “Holy” is used in the scriptures. The ground in and of itself was not holy, just as you and I are not holy, in and of ourselves. What made the ground holy was that God had come near and occupied it. It is the proximity and residency of the Holy Spirit that makes us holy in Christ.
But why remove the sandals? Because sandals represent the tools that aid the flesh to navigate in this world and accomplish its will and do its work. In standing on holy ground all this must be put off. Ephesians 4:24 says, “And that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.”
3. Holiness clarifies and magnifies the voice of God. In Exodus 25:17-22, God gives Moses instructions on how to build the ark of the covenant. The mercy seat is a huge part of the holiness of God. In verse 22 it reads, “And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel.” Notice that God desires to spend time with you and speak with you, and not by you accomplishing the to-do list, but from where Christ’s blood was spilled, satisfying His justice. When we become sin-conscience we will always run from God and His presence. We alienate ourselves and disqualify any notion of a relationship with God as we feel we don’t belong. This mentality is what causes us to draw back and become silent Christians, defeated and ineffective for the kingdom of God.
I know His voice because as He is, so am I in this world. I am His and He is mine. I have been made one with Him. God has revealed His nature as “I am holy.” (Leviticus 9:2) He has commanded you to be as He is, holy. (1 Peter 1:16) But then He says, “You are like Me, in Christ.” (1 Corinthians 1:2 ESV) When we stop striving to be holy and simply accept that we have been made holy, we will take our place and begin to operate at the level that He has destined for us to live in.