[But among you there must not be even a hint] … of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.
Summary: Paul sets the goal for the Christian life impossibly high. Yet, he seems to expect that God’s people are capable of becoming a “holy people.” Fortunately, what is impossible for man is possible for God.
Today’s meditation is about greed, the last of Paul’s three things to avoid. Paul says God wants those who love him to act a certain way. More than just acting a certain way, God wants us to be free of any hint of these three things anyplace within us.
Instead of being sexually immoral, God wants us to be sexually moral. The same goes for impurity; God wants us to be pure. The last of the three is greed. Instead, God wants us to be generous.
When Paul says there should not be a “hint” of these things in God’s people, he is stating a fact. God’s people are holy. They are set apart for God. But how many of us who claim to be believers achieve the level of purity that Paul calls for?
Frankly, what Paul is asking for is impossible. At least for an ordinary human. Who controls their innermost thoughts? Who is capable of screening their sexual impulses before they occur? Which of us, on our own, can claim to have never coveted something that belonged to someone else, no matter how small?
Paul’s statement is a matter of fact because it is true. If we are to honor God and properly thank him for the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ, we need to behave in a way befitting the gift. But like an orphan child who has never had enough to eat, it is hard to keep our hands from filling our pockets with everything we can reach on God’s banquet table.
So how do we become God’s holy people?
Paul’s words describe the end product of a process called sanctification (2 Thessalonians 2:13). Through belief in the truth and the work of the Holy Spirit in us, we are transformed into the holy people God desires us to be.
The process begins when we believe. John 3:16 explains:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
But Paul is not content with this. He keeps pushing us with his words, insisting that we act like God’s people instead of acting like the people we were when we first believed.
This begs the question, “Can we believe in Jesus and not be changed?”
John does not present the Gospel as a conditional offer. He doesn’t say we will be saved if we believe and do certain things. Paul himself argues stridently on the importance of faith and against any reliance on works of the flesh. Jesus says, “whoever believes in him shall … have eternal life.”
So then, the question becomes, “Does believing in Jesus change us?” The answer, I believe, is yes.
Application: Believe in Jesus!
Food for Thought: What are some ways we can speed up the process of sanctification?
What are some ways we can speed up the process of sanctification?
Have you ever played “Jenga?” Little rectangular blocks that start with three at the base, then three stacked on top turned 90 degrees, continue stacking in alternating pattern until you make a tower. Then each person removes a block and places it on top. As you remove a block and place it on top the center of gravity shifts and stabilizes. The key to Jenga is to look for the center of gravity. People lose at Jenga because they don’t look at the center of gravity from all four sides. Sanctification is a bit like Jenga except the blocks are replaced with new blocks. In this metaphor, the blocks are our thoughts and desires. Sanctification “Jenga” requires one to offer their blocks first. A willingness to have it removed in exchange for one Jesus wants in their life, and where Jesus wants it. Trusting that Jesus is moving their center of gravity, and shaping them into a stable structure.
I think when we try and move the blocks ourselves we fail because, we are not the Creator, and we do not understand our own center of gravity, or how to look at it from all sides. Also, where do the new blocks come from? They have to be placed in our hearts ready for use. Reading God’s Word, praying and meditating on it, that places the new blocks in our hearts.
A lot of words to say, I don’t believe we can “speed up” sanctification. I do believe we can prepare ourselves for it. Read God’s Word, pray for understanding, submit your life, thoughts and desires to Jesus, trust that He knows what blocks to remove and when.
Romans 12:2 ESV Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Psalm 37:4 ESV
Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Psalm 139:23-24 ESV
Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!
Isaiah 55:8 ESV For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
I would like to share a praise this morning. Yesterday my 5-year old accepted Jesus into his heart and was baptized at church summer camp! 5 is a young age, but I trust that Jesus will guide me in watering that seed. I praise Jesus this morning for His grace and love, and for the path He has set before myself and my family.
Chris,
Congratulations on your 5-year-old accepting the Lord! It sounds young, but Jesus says we all have to be like a small child in order to enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:3). We would all do well to emulate your son’s faith.
About the Jenga metaphor …
I have to say that I like it! And, it makes me smile. 🙂 My sense is that there are other applications like trying to push too hard might cause a spiritual “crash.”
Thanks!
08-04-2023, What are some ways we can speed up the process of sanctification?
To sanctify an object means to wash, cleanse, consecrate or set it aside for a special purpose.
Christians become increasingly sanctified over time. This process of Christians becoming more loving, kind, humble, self-controlled and more holy comes over time. Like a child growing up into adulthood.Sanctification is God’s supernatural work, as believers acquire new habits, practices and thoughts. A process which is begun and sustained by the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 2:8, 3:20, Galatians 3:1–3; 5,16–18, 5:22–26,1 Peter 2:2
In my case, God called me to physically separate myself from all that would hinder my growth as a new believer. I needed a massive amount of immediate, intensive care.
I bought my own house, and moved away from all that was worldly without telling any of my associates where I was going. I bought a bible, found a church, left the TV off, purchased scripture put to music records which I played constantly. Joined a men only intensive bible study group and spent every day of the next five years in isolation, working, studying and applying Gods word under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
What was totally foreign to me began to make since, I gained a trust in our God and found myself applying the truths in His word to my life as He gave me the power to day by day live my life in His will. Forty-Six years have passed, and today my wife and I continue with studies and application of His truths as we look forward to the day we will kneel before Him and be fully Sanctified, and join the many believers, eternally serveing God as He desires.
Proverbs 13:20 says this: “He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.”
Ron,
I’ve never personally known anyone else who has taken the dramatic steps you took in turning to God. I know that it was life-changing for you.
In some respects, all believers have to follow that path and leave something of our past behind. Yet, Jesus doesn’t take us out of the world. We are left here like “sheep among wolves” (Matthew 10:16).
As you point out, no matter where we are, Jesus comes to us and starts a “process which is begun and sustained by the Holy Spirit.”
Amen!
There are some children born to couples who resent the fact that they survived the birth. They never become a family unit and the child enters the military at the age of seventeen.
They become members of the Marine Corp, see many they call friends as they die or are committed to medical facilities because they cannot cope with what they have experienced.
These survivors have excellent leadership skills and excel in the business world, but live surrounded by a foot thick armored wall which protects them from any and all human emotions we are sometimes called love. They simply consider all close relationships to be a threat to their existent.
God knows these people and in His time calls them to Himself for extensive exposure to His truths in preparation for service in His forces against evil in this world. You don’t hear of many, but they are around, being used by God to reach out to others of their own kind in His Love.
Takes all kinds Brother!
I am thankful we have a God who can penetrate “foot thick armor” like a hot knife through soft butter…
… and loves us enough to want to.
🙂
For a child to grow they need nourishment. Our nourishment comes through interacting with God’s word, interacting with God through prayer, worship, and the Holy Spirit, interacting with each other in fellowship and service, interacting with the world through evangelism and mission, etc. But our growth happens when our faith is active and not dormant.
For a muscle to increase it needs to be used. In that way, our faith is like a muscle.
Thanks Rich!
I don’t want to “muscle in” on your metaphor here, but — Oh well, yes I do. 🙂
You are right! The exercise of faith in this life is unique. When we are with the Lord we will be “like the angels” (Matthew 22:30). We will have no need of faith because we will be able to see “face to face” (1 Corinthians 13:12). While we are here in this life we live as no other being in all of creation, we live by faith or in opposition to God.
When we live by faith, God is faithful and is with us. Each opportunity to respond in faith is the exercise you allude to.
Romans 1: 17
Excellent verse!
“For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.'”