The Source of Rest

The purpose of this blog is to publish my thoughts, promote the kingdom of God and provide a place to express ideas.

Holiness; Motive Matters
By Joe and Sonya Machuta
This work is copyrighted © by Joe and Sonya Machuta April 15th 2005

You will find in our teaching and writing that the gospel of grace, which is justification by faith in the blood of Jesus and nothing else, is the focus of our message. We believe, like the apostles of the first century, that this is the gospel. But, like the apostles of the first century, we believe that the reason for the gospel was to develop a reconciled relationship between man and God, which would result in a transformation of the saint, into a life of increasing personal holiness. This is born out by Paul’s writing in Ephesians, at the very end of the discussion of the five-fold ministry. In fact, we believe that it is the purpose of the five-fold ministry.

Eph 4:22-24 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; (23) And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; (24) And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

Here is where motive comes into great importance. If the motive for personal holiness, by this we mean controlling the flesh, is to gain acceptability with God or to insure salvation, or for any other redemptive reason, then it is a law to observe and kills the spirit of the individual. This is precisely what is wrong with ninety-nine per cent of Christendom. Those who teach personal holiness as a mandate that one must perform strip it of its real purpose and make it null and void.

2Co 3:2-6 Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: (3) Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. (4) And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: (5) Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; (6) Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

The apostolic teaching is this; The gospel will transform the heart. One must rest completely in the gospel and the decreed salvation of God before they can begin to become an epistle written with the Spirit of the Living Christ. So then, we see here the proper motive for personal holiness. It is to be a witness, a living epistle of the glory of Christ Jesus. This can be the only motive.

Current church doctrine teaches that personal holiness is a form of fleshly obedience. It sees the bible as a rulebook. This is not the case. The scripture is the written revelation of the heart of God. The heart of God is revealed in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The heart of God is perhaps best stated in the following scripture:

2Co 5:18-21 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; (19) To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. (20) Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us; we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. (21) For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Therefore, after properly teaching the gospel, and bringing the saint into the Sabbath Rest of the redemption that was decreed by God, there is nothing wrong with encouraging the saint to begin to walk in holiness for the sake of their witness to the world. Keeping in mind, that bondage needs deliverance measures and failure needs continual forgiveness.

The absolute bottom line is this:

Heb 9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

We must insist that the saints realize, that the conscience can only be cleansed or purged, by leaning on, clinging too, and having settled confidence in the blood of Jesus.