Author Archives: Dan Lemburg

About Dan Lemburg

Hi I'm Dan, I'll update this bio info soon.

Choosing to be Devoted

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Godliness is devotion which is characterized by an attitude toward doing that which pleases God. Make no mistake about it: both devotion and attitude are choices made by an act of our will.

To be sure, this is what has been set before us as believers: to pursue a life pleasing to Him, or not to pursue it. Deciding whether or not to pursue intimacy with God has its rewards, and its consequences.

Ask any parent. Ask them what they value most: an adult child who desires to be close for the sake of relationship itself, or one who relates to them either from a sense of obligation or from a selfish fear that they might forfeit something of personal benefit. They’ll tell you! The parents love both children equally. But which do you think will receive more attention from the parent? Which deserves the richness of their full companionship and support?

God is like that. Because of His love, He doesn’t reject His children when they don’t show much interest in pursuing Him. And He doesn’t get much pleasure from those who pursue Him merely from a sense of compulsion or requirement. Just imagine, though, how thrilled He must be with those whose motives are pure—who want Him just because He’s Dad.

Choosing Holiness

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Attempting to gain acceptance with God by our own goodness merely results in dependence on law as the basis for our righteousness. But it goes without saying that earning our own way with God is at best an exercise in futility. For this reason, God, knowing the limitations of our flesh, resolved this issue once and for all by laying in us a foundation of holiness—His holiness. And only on such a foundation can a life pleasing to Him be built. It’s God’s exclusive platform for growth and transformation.

So we’ve got to get over the idea that being a Christian means having the power in and of ourselves to increase our holiness. Rather, this new life in Christ is all about God’s Spirit interacting with our own so that we are now capable of making godly choices. And godly choices is what cultivates the transformation of our character.

Given the fact that we can never gain God’s acceptance through our own efforts to become more holy, just what is our responsibility toward seeing that holiness (sanctification) comes to full fruition in our life? Well, obviously the duty to live our life in a manner pleasing to God is the first step. But what’s our next step—how do we to go about pursuing it?

Our mindset is the answer to this question. Paul exhorts believers to “set your minds on the things above,” and assures them that “the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.”(Colossians 1:1-3, Romans 8:6)  After all, that’s what godliness is: devotion which is characterized by an attitude toward doing that which pleases God. And make no mistake about it: both devotion and attitude are choices made by an act of our will.

God Expects Holiness

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Let’s look at another side of holiness. In a very real sense holy is also something we are exhorted to become(the goal and outcome of spiritual growth). Though a foundation of holiness has been laid in us by virtue of the fact that we are God’s possession, Paul makes it clear that something is still missing: “My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you.”(Galatians 4:19)

Time and again in his writings, Paul admonishes believers to live a holy life, always adamant that the sins of the flesh be forsaken. This can only mean that an effort is required on our part.(Romans 3:14, Ephesians 4:22-24, Galatians 5:16, 1 Timothy 6:11) So there’s no question that living a holy (sanctified) life is expected. And if expected, it must be thoroughly attainable (not the impossibility of being sin-free, but definitely that of being self-controlled).

We must be aware, though, that the term sanctification has taken on its own peculiar meaning by many in the church. It has come to be known as the process by which we become more holy as we are gradually able to rid our life of sin, thereby making ourselves more acceptable to God.

While on the surface this view certainly seems to have merit, it is nevertheless out of balance. Why? Because God has already accepted us! Still, doesn’t Scripture time and again instruct us to attempt to please God by walking out our faith in a manner worthy of Him? Yes it does; it’s the whole point of living a godly life.(Ephesians 4:1) But pleasing God with our life is something far different than trying to become acceptable to Him.

Excerpted from: Free from the Power of Sin: The Keys to Growing in God in Spite of Yourself

 

Holy Ones

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As God’s children, is holy something we are or something we must try to become? First and foremost, holy is what we are in Christ. On this point the testimony of Scripture is clear: “By this we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”(Hebrews 10:10,14) One source puts it this way: “Sanctification is thus the state predetermined by God for believers, into which in grace He calls them, and in which they begin their Christian course and so pursue it. Hence they are called saints.” By referring to believers as saints (holy ones) in his many letters, Paul isn’t addressing an elite class of Christians; he means all those who belong to Christ.(1Corinthians 1:2)

It’s also important to recognize that in Scripture holiness is often used right alongside the terms redemption, righteousness and justification. Sharing the same context not only means that these concepts are related, but that they coexist as a reality here and now in the believer’s life.(1 Corinthians 1:30)

Likewise, the term blameless is often used in conjunction with holy to unambiguously declare the believer’s unique position in Christ. Being blameless means being regarded as faultless or without blemish—essentially the same as being made righteous. Paul forcefully brings this idea home in Colossians 1:22: “yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach.”

Being justified (acquitted of sin) by God’s grace, we are now held blameless, and as a result set apart (made holy, sanctified) as His special possession. And this isn’t merely a hypothetical status or position—as it is often thought of. This is truly who we are in Christ!

Character the Goal

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Scripture makes it very clear that God is interested in something a whole lot deeper than the superficial change we tend to be most comfortable with. He wants to live His life in and through us, to bring us to a place of spiritual health and maturity where He can use our life to radically impact the world. And it’s impossible for Him to do this without first transforming our character through the renewing of our mind.

What does character have to do with it? Well, the definition of character largely answers that question. Character in the Greek means proof of genuineness, trustworthiness. It’s not surprising, then, to find it translated in at least one place as “proven character.”(Romans 5:3-4)

When the term character is used in Scripture, a great deal is revealed in regard to the condition of man’s heart. Character is that quality within which governs our response in any given instance or circumstance. It’s who we are at the deepest level of our being. In the end we always behave as our character dictates.

A weak character can’t help but succumb to temptation, sadly resulting in a never-ending cycle of bandaging up our sin, patch by cumbersome patch. But a character transformed through a life of godliness responds the very same way every time temptation surfaces: “Of course I won’t do that. That’s not who I am!” How would you rather live your life—on the verge of failure every time sin rears its ugly head, or benefiting from the much-needed help that godly moral fiber brings?

From Glory to Glory

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It can certainly be disheartening when we finally come to realize that our longed-for transformation doesn’t simply materialize overnight. When you stop to think about it, though, how could being transformed into God’s image be anything but a life-long process? This fact is clearly evident in mature and godly believers, in whose lives work still remains to be done.

Some use the term sanctification to describe this process (a much more accurate use of this word than thinking of it as earning our way toward becoming more righteous, and therefore more acceptable to God).

God has designed the process of transformation to take place in degrees over time. It’s what being changed from “glory to glory” means (2 Corinthians 3:17). And moving from one degree of change to the next makes it that much easier for transformation to progress the way God planned. That’s why we must guard against slipping back into sin when tempted. There’s not a person among us who is immune to falling into sin through the weakness of our flesh.

As we discussed earlier, sin stands at the head of a trail leading in the wrong direction. Once we’ve set ourselves on that badly chosen path, it takes some doing to get back to the place we were before heading there. Therefore, it’s always a good idea to stop and evaluate our progress, even though we may be convinced that we’re moving in the right direction.(2 Corinthians 10:13)  In so doing, we place ourselves in the advantageous position of taking every opportunity for God to continue His refining work.

Excerpted from: Free from the Power of Sin: The Keys to Growing in God in Spite of Yourself

Metamorphosis

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The miracle in the caterpillar’s cocoon is but a whisper of the dramatic unfolding of godly character—so foreign to our inherently self-willed nature—being fashioned in the human heart through the intervening power of God’s Spirit. Paul goes so far as to say we “are being transformed into [the Lord’s] image from glory to glory.”(2 Corinthians 3:17). What an incredible metamorphosis this must be! A mysterious process indeed; how can it even be possible? God knows!

Metamorphosis in our character is essentially the old self giving way to the new. Thinking back to what we’ve talked about regarding this issue of self-will, in Christ we now possess the power of choice in spite of our human condition. Being set free from the power of sin has set the stage to accomplish this.(Romans 6:6). Even though at times it may not feel like it, we have the power to choose to lay aside the old self by an act of our will, deciding instead to put on the new self.(Ephesians 4:22-24, Colossians 3:9-10). But where does that leave us when we fail to perform perfectly? What does such failure say about genuine transformation in our heart?

On Being Holy

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The Holy Spirit is not sedentary. He wants not merely to exist quietly within us, but to thrive. Because our spirit is firmly fastened to God, the incredible energy of His Spirit is now at work within, motivating us to move forward with Him.

A mounting desire to please God with our lives is the outcome we should expect from His indwelling presence. And as a part of this yearning to please Him comes an inherent sense that we are to be holy. Because God is holy, a godly life must be a holy life.

Let’s be realistic: how many of us could say with a shred of confidence that we are holy in all our attitudes and behavior, especially given the fact that God gives us something seemingly so impossible to live up to as: “you shall be holy, for I am holy.”(1 Peter 1:15-16)

Even though it’s hard to imagine that we could ever achieve such a measure of perfection, we can’t deny that Scripture ushers us toward that goal. So we often feel left with little alternative but to work for it. It’s not hard to understand why we see things this way, because it’s actually pretty common to think in terms of holiness being associated with what a person has achieved. Isn’t that how people of all religious stripes see it—the “Holy Man” as opposed to your everyday run-of-the-mill believer? Not only is this philosophy deeply ingrained in us through our general experience of life, but it’s also prevalent in the beliefs of our churches.

 

Separated from God?

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I’m sure we all realize that the true definition of the term Christian is “one who has been born again into living relationship with God.” Because this union is the result of God’s Spirit taking up residence within us, a rock-solid bond has been established with God—a relationship that cannot easily be broken.

But here a question arises: “As a Christian, does sin separate me from God?” It’s not unusual to hear this answered “yes.” We are often taught that sin causes a separation between us and God, creating a rift which can only be restored when we confess our sin to Him.(1 John 1:9) Therefore, moving forward with our life in God is possible only when our tie with Him can be reestablished through forgiveness.

Though this view certainly seems to have merit, it’s not actually the case. Frankly, sin does not separate a believer from God in any manner. Unquestionably, any sin displeases God and therefore can’t help but affect our relationship with Him, but it does not separate us from Him. If it did, it would mean that God would have to vacate our spirit each time we sin, and then come back once again when we repent.

This hardly seems practical, since it means that God would have to sever the very tie so utterly necessary to overcoming sin in the first place. It would mean cutting off the very resource essential to spiritual growth.

Excerpted from: Free from the Power of Sin: The Keys to Growing in God in Spite of Yourself

Run to God

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By its very nature, sin—especially hidden sin—just naturally opens wide the floodgates of guilt and shame. So we try to bury it, just like everyone else does, hoping that those around us will never discover who we really are.

Satan has used the tool of shame in countless Christians’ lives to drag them into a back-slidden condition where alienation from God becomes a way of life. Just think how being more open about our weaknesses would serve to cripple this strategy the devil so routinely exploits.(James 5:16)

Rather than allowing sin to drive us from God, we need to run headlong to God when we sin. This can be very difficult for us, though, because we’ve been taught throughout life to behave ourselves. And when we don’t, our conscience tells us we must clean up our act before we can ever go to God with the problem. After all, how else might we feel like we’re worthy enough to deserve His help? Though this assumption is entirely false, it’s very real to us all the same.

Excerpted from: Free from the Power of Sin: The Keys to Growing in God in Spite of Yourself