We are 100 percent responsible for the pursuit of holiness, but at the same time we are 100 percent dependent upon the Holy Spirit to enable us in that pursuit. The pursuit of holiness is not a pull-yourself-up-by-your-own-bootstraps approach to the Christian life.
Biblical community is first of all the sharing of a common life in Christ.
Some days we may be more acutely conscious of our sinfulness and hence more aware of our need of His grace, but there is never a day when we can stand before Him on our own two feet of performance, when we are worthy enough to deserve His blessing.
We might say God’s wrath is His justice in action, rendering to everyone his just due, which, because of our sin is always judgment.
The opposite of retaliation is to entrust ourselves to God, who judges justly.
Because peace is a fruit of the Spirit, we are dependent upon the Spirit’s work in our lives to produce the desire and the means to pursue peace. But we are also responsible to use the means He has given us and to take all practical steps to attain both peace within and peace with others.
Which of us, then, does not offend frequently with our tongue? The real problem, however, is not our tongues but our hearts.
Introspection can easily become the tool of Satan, who is called the accuser. One of his chief weapons is discouragement. He knows that if he can make us discouraged and dispirited we will not fight the battle for holiness.
May we be as severe with ourselves over our own subtle sins as we are with the vile sins we condemn in others.
It is our response to our circumstances rather than the degree of difficulty that determines whether or not we are discontent.
We fail to see the gospel as the solution to our greatest problem-our guilt, condemnation, and alienation from God. Beyond that, we fail to see it as the basis of our day-to-day acceptance with Him. As a result, many believers live in spiritual poverty.
God never wastes pain. He always uses it to accomplish his purpose. And his purpose is for his glory and our good. Therefore we can trust him when our hearts are aching or our bodies are racked with pain.
True joy comes only from God and He shares this joy with those who walk in fellowship with Him.
Our very worst days are never beyond the reach of God’s grace.
Only when we’re thoroughly convinced that the Christian life is entirely of grace are we able to serve God out of a grateful and loving heart.
We take what we think are the tools of spiritual transformation into our own hands and try to sculpt ourselves into robust Christlike specimens. But spiritual transformation is primarily the work of the Holy Spirit. He is the Master Sculptor.
Truth is we must plant and we must water if we are to make progress with our children in holiness but only the Holy Spirit can change our children more and more into the likeness of Jesus. Our problem is we tend to depend upon our planting and watering rather than the Lord.
There is no point in praying for victory over temptation if we are not willing to make a commitment to say no to it.
A son or daughter in any human family is either born to or adopted by the parents. By definition, a child can’t be both. But with God we’re both born of Him and adopted by Him.
The pursuit of holiness is a joint venture between God and the Christian. No one can attain any degree of holiness without God working in his life, but just as surely no one will attain it without effort on his own part.