We said yesterday that the way God works in us to grow in holiness is through the means of grace. The first one we are going to talk about is prayer. Today, I’d like to share with you an extensive quote from the book because it is such a beautiful description of the gift of prayer. Tomorrow, we will talk about why it is so difficult to pray and how we should address that problem. “Strictly speaking, praying is not difficult to master, for even a child can ask, seek, and knock. Praying is not difficult to do, either, for it can be done without hands, eyes, or even words. The place for prayer is not difficult to find, for prayer can be done anywhere. Neither is it difficult to find time for prayer, for a prayer can be as short as a single cry.
Read MoreWe’ve been talking about using God’s promises to fight against sin. Today, we are starting the topic of using God’s promises for pursuing holiness. Fighting against sin is not the end in itself; its goal is to grow in holiness. The authors say, “One reason why Christians fail to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ is that they fail to understand the relationship between putting off sin and putting on righteousness” (p. 141). Consider Rom. 6:13: “Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.”
Read MoreToday, we want to talk about God’s promise to grant us obedience. “God has promised in His covenant to make us able to obey Him. Ezekiel 36:27 says, ‘And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules’ [ESV]. Though we cannot obey perfectly in this life because of our residual sin, God has promised to conform us to Christ’s image (Rom. 8:29) and thereby enable us to die more and more to sin and live more and more to righteousness” (p. 129).
Read MoreToday, let’s begin our reflection on using God’s promises in fighting sin. The first is God’s promise of the Holy Spirit. Many of you know Joel’s prophecy: “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit” (2:28-29). This promise was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came down upon the 120 disciples who were praying in the upper room. Why this gift of the Holy Spirit?
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