We must continually remind ourselves of the purpose
of life. We are not destined to happiness, nor to health,
but to holiness. Today we have far too many desires
and interests, and our lives are being consumed and
wasted by them. Many of them may be right, noble,
and good, and may later be fulfilled, but in the mean-
time God must cause their importance to us to
decrease. The only thing that truly matters is whether
a person will accept the God who will make him holy.
At all costs, a person must have the right relationship
with God.
Do I believe I need to be holy? Do I believe that God
can come into me and make me holy? If through your
preaching you convince me that I am unholy, I then
resent your preaching. The preaching of the gospel
awakens an intense resentment because it is
designed to reveal my unholiness, but it also awakens
an intense yearning and desire within me. God has
only one intended destiny for mankind— holiness. His
only goal is to produce saints. God is not some
eternal blessing-machine for people to use, and He
did not come to save us out of pity— He came to
save us because He created us to be holy. Atone-
ment through the Cross of Christ means that God
can put me back into perfect oneness with Himself
through the death of Jesus Christ, without a trace of
anything coming between us any longer.
Never tolerate, because of sympathy for yourself or
for others, any practice that is not in keeping with a
holy God. Holiness means absolute purity of your
walk before God, the words coming from your mouth,
and every thought in your mind— placing every detail
of your life under the scrutiny of God Himself.
Holiness is not simply what God gives me, but what
God has given me that is being exhibited in my life.