Scripture says, “Be holy because I am holy.” (I Peter 1:16) Holy (without fault) means perfect; and with Him, in Him and Him in us, we can be holy. We must continually renew our minds to the Word.
Consider: I Corinthians 2:14-16: “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.”
Yes, God wants each born-again believer to have that same discernment of Christ. We are the temples of the Holy Spirit. My desire is to have Christ functionally-formed and living through each of us here on earth. Jesus, Himself tells us to go and do the things He did. Consider this: “For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.” (II Corinthians 4:11)
Do you desire this? I do. My mentor in Prison Ministry is still teaching me to think not as a prosecutor whose quest is to condemn, but as the Savior whose heart is to redeem. We must stop making excuses, taking the comfortable, convenient path of least resistance with little or no effort. That response often leads to failure.
I Peter 1:19-25 reminds us, when we pray, we call Him “Father”: “He judges all people by the same standard according to what each one has done… we are to spend the rest of our lives here on earth in reverence for Him… it was the costly sacrifice of Christ, like a lamb without defect or flaw… through Him we have believed in God, who raised Him from death and gave Him glory; and so our faith and hope are fixed on God… by our obedience to the truth we purify ourselves… and come to have a sincere love for other believers, and love one another earnestly with all our heart. For through the living eternal word of God… [we] have been born again as children of a parent who is immortal, not mortal… the word of the Lord remains forever.”
This is the Good News that He wants us to proclaim! He wants us to “grow up and be saved…” (I Peter 2:2) Each believer is “chosen by God as valuable. Come as living stones and let yourselves be used in building the spiritual temple, where you will serve as holy priests… But you are a chosen race, the King’s priests, the holy nation, God’s own people chosen to proclaim the wonderful acts of God. He called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” (I Peter 2:4-9)
One of the important steps is your submission to the words of Father God and the leading of the Holy Spirit to listen, meditate on His word and then, obey. “For the sake of the Lord, submit yourselves to (every) human authority: to the Emperor, who is supreme authority, and to governors, who have been appointed by him [the Emperor] to punish evildoers and to praise those who do good… God wants you to silence the ignorant talk of foolish people by the good things you do! Live as free people; do not, however, use your freedom to cover up any evil, but live as God’s slaves. Respect everyone, love other believers, honor God and respect the Emperor.” (I Peter 2:15-17) Only with daily renewal of our mind, Christ’s mind in us, can we duplicate His works and obey His word.Today, be made whole and continue on this journey realizing you have been chosen to serve Him… You, by grace, ARE the righteousness of Christ… He lives in each of us… the Holy Spirit, teaching, guiding and comforting us… as we daily renew our minds in the mind of Christ… “because God had decided on an even better plan for us. His plan [is] that only in company with us would we be made perfect.” (Hebrews 11:40)
