![\"20130625_cultivatinghol4\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.blueletterbible.org\/blb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/06\/20130625_cultivatinghol4.jpg\")
<\/h2>\n<\/h2>\nBelievers are called to holy living. This is\u00a0the clear teaching of the Bible<\/a>.<\/p>\n Throughout this next blog series, we want to consider the question:<\/p>\n \u201cHow then does the believer cultivate holiness?\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n The first way is to\u00a0know and love Scripture<\/a>.<\/p>\n Second, we should consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to Christ<\/a>.<\/p>\n Third, we should repent daily<\/a>.<\/p>\n Pray and work in dependence upon God for holiness. No one but God is sufficient to bring clean out of unclean (Job 14:4). Hence, pray with David, \u201ccreate in me a clean heart, O God\u201d (Ps. 51:10).<\/p>\n And as you pray, work<\/em>.<\/p>\n The Heidelberg Catechism<\/a> (Question 116) points out that prayer and work belong together. They are like two oars, which when both are utilized, will keep a rowboat moving forward. If you use only one oar\u2014if you pray without working or you work without praying\u2014you will row in circles.<\/p>\n Both are central to the Christian life and faith; they are obligatory, not optional. Both originate with God and focus upon Him. Both are activated, often simultaneously, by the Spirit of God. Neither can survive without the other. Both are learned by experience and through spiritual battles. Neither is perfected in this life, but must be cultivated lifelong. The most prayerful often feel themselves to be not prayerful enough; the most holy often regard themselves as unholy.<\/p>\n Holiness and work are also closely related, especially the work of nurturing and persevering in personal discipline. Discipline takes time and effort. Paul exhorted Timothy, \u201ctrain yourself for godliness\u201d (1 Tim. 4:7). Holiness is not achieved sloppily or instantaneously. Holiness is a call to a disciplined life; it cannot live out what Dietrich Bonhoeffer called cheap grace<\/em>\u2014that is, grace which forgives without demanding repentance and obedience. Holiness is costly grace\u2014grace that cost God the blood of His Son, cost the Son His own life, and costs the believer daily mortification<\/a>. With Paul, he died daily (1 Cor. 15:31).<\/p>\n Gracious holiness calls for continual commitment, continual diligence, continual practice, and continual repentance. \u201cIf we sometimes through weakness fall into sin, we must not therefore despair of God\u2019s mercy, nor continue in sin, since we have an external covenant of grace with God.\u201d1<\/sup> Rather, resolve with Jonathan Edwards: \u201cNever to give over, nor in the least to slacken, my fight with my corruptions, however unsuccessful I may be.\u201d2<\/sup><\/p>\n These two things, fighting against sin and lack of success, appear contradictory, but they are not. Failing and becoming a failure are two different matters. The believer recognizes he will often fail. Luther said that the righteous man feels himself more often to be a \u201closer than a victor\u201d in the struggle against sin, \u201cfor the Lord lets him be tested and assailed to his utmost limits as gold is tested in a furnace.\u201d3<\/sup> This too is an important component of discipleship. The godly man will persevere even through his failures. Failure does not make him quit; it makes him repent the more earnestly and press on in the Spirit\u2019s strength.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity\u201d (Prov 24:16).<\/p>\n As John Owen wrote, \u201cGod works in us and with us, not against us or without us; so that his assistance is an encouragement as to the facilitating of the work, and no occasion of neglect as to the work itself.\u201d4<\/sup><\/p>\n Let us never forget that the God we love loves holiness. This is why the Father offers us affectionate, chastising discipline (Heb. 12:5-6, 10). Perhaps William Gurnall says it best: \u201cGod would not rub os hard if it were not to fetch out the dirty that is ingrained in our natures. God loves purity so well He had rather see a hole than spot in his child\u2019s garments.\u201d5<\/sup><\/p>\n So, pray and work, but remember: we are utterly dependent upon Him<\/em> in our prayers, and also in our work (Philippians 2:12-13).<\/p>\n 1. \u201cBaptism Form,\u201d in\u00a0The Psalter<\/i>\u00b8 126.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n 2. For Edwards\u2019s seventy resolutions to promote holiness made at nineteen years of age, see\u00a0The Works of Jonathan Edwards\u00a0<\/i>(1834; reprint, Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1974), 1:xx-xxii.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n 3. Luther: Lectures on Romans<\/i>, trans. And ed. William pauck (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1961), 189.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n 4. John Owen,\u00a0The Works of John Owen<\/i>, (1851; reprint, London: Banner of Truth Trust, 1967), 6:20.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n 5. Quoted in I.D.E. Thomas,\u00a0The Golden Treasury of Puritan Quotations<\/i>\u00a0(Chicago: Moody Press, 1975), 140.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Believers are called to holy living. This is\u00a0the clear teaching of the Bible. Throughout this next blog series, we want to consider the question: \u201cHow then does the believer cultivate holiness?\u201d The first way is to\u00a0know and love Scripture. Second, we should consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to Christ. Third, we should repent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":5858,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-misc","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.blueletterbible.org\/blb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.blueletterbible.org\/blb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.blueletterbible.org\/blb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.blueletterbible.org\/blb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.blueletterbible.org\/blb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5856"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.blueletterbible.org\/blb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5861,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.blueletterbible.org\/blb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5856\/revisions\/5861"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.blueletterbible.org\/blb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.blueletterbible.org\/blb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.blueletterbible.org\/blb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.blueletterbible.org\/blb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fourth, we cultivate holiness through prayer and work.<\/h2>\n
Holiness and prayer have much in common.<\/h3>\n
Holiness and work also have many ties.<\/h3>\n
When you fail, do not despair.<\/h3>\n
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