The Rules

Jesus leads us to Holiness.
Holiness does not lead us to Jesus.

I heard these two statements recently and thought they were jewels to store up. There is so much truth in both statements if fully digested and thought about. But I guess to do this you must understand what Holiness is:

Some people put Holiness in a religious category of very conservative beliefs from old-time full gospel churches. Other people might think it is referring to holy living. In my mind, I'm referring to both.

Holy living- is it....abiding by the Ten commandments... the Golden Rule...right living...etc? What else could we add to this? This is where the rules come in don't they? Don't do this and you shouldn't do that. Pray, read your Bible, and so forth.
This must be why the Bible tells us that the Law killeth, but the Spirit giveth Life.
This is also why I want to store forever these two statements in my heart.

Jesus leads us to Holiness.
He does. That is if it is Jesus who leads us there. Jesus represents everything we should be and nothing that we shouldn't. If we fall in love with Jesus then we will love His every way of living. Jesus is our way to God. He is the molder of our clay and the strength of our being. He knows exactly how to mold the clay and how much the clay can take. He is our propitiation. We are made free to show forth a beautiful work in progress by the Savior of our soul.

Holiness does not lead us to Jesus.
In our righteousness, we are as filthy rags to God. In our best we are but what without Jesus?
Nothing. Standards and the law are dead and a sacrifice in themselves. They bring grief in the long run because unless they are written in your heart by Christ himself, they are works of man that will perish.
One can be molded by man, but the clay will not tolerate but so much from someone besides the one who made it. Holiness ends where it began without the author- In a separate state from God. It can leave a heart in servitude instead of freedom from sin.


Oh, but to love God and His Righteousness! This is a product of those who have been redeemed.
The good that God produces as He burns up the chaff in one's heart comes after someone has been born again by His Spirit. It is the scent put forth by His very presence.

Rules are good because they bring things into order and set forth boundaries of safety and well-being. Standards that are biblical show us how much we truly need God. They show us sin for what it is and this is good. God's written Word is a beautiful story of what Holiness is and what it is not. God's Spirit is the one that sculpts this picture in our lives. He makes us living epistles to be read of all men.

Those kind of rules are indisputable.

I spent sometime reading in Romans the other night, and this verse stood out. It has been on my mind since then.

"But God commendeth his love toward us in that,
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

He showed His love for me while I was a sinner. It was underserved then and it is underserved now. The difference is that I now love Him. Can I say more?

I realize this is a serious sort of post. They are my thoughts. Thoughts that one day I may want to reread or that my children may want to read about. I want them to see that what we do, we should do because it has been revealed in our heart by God- not because a man is teaching it from the pulpit or because we have decided this to be a good thing. It is this kind of work within us that lasts for eternity and brings forth fruit that abounds.