The Holiness Gap

 A great read in light of my sermon on Sunday entitled, "Family Values" (Part A)

Lord bless you,

Pastor Mike Houser (Senior Pastor)

By Michael Youssef, Ph.D.



With God’s help, we can join Paul and combat the god of the age that he warns us about in 2 Corinthians 4:4.

The god of this age conceals itself with various disguises, but there are two common worldviews that present themselves in our culture. Self-improvement movements like Unitarianism teach that Christ is the ideal, perfect man—which we can also be if we obtain a higher self. Knowledge-seeking movements like Scientology teach that if we know enough, we can survive forever. Both philosophies promote the same lie about salvation: that there is something we can do to bring us closer to God.

Like most lies, these philosophies are based on twisted Truth. The Truth is that there is a large gulf between man and God that only Christ can bridge. But we stand in need of absolute and total rescue—not better thinking.

Read Ephesians 1:3-8. God chose to bridge the gap between our sinfulness and His holiness by spilling Jesus’ blood in payment for our sins. Because Christ paid the price for our forgiveness, God can declare us “holy and blameless in his sight” if we choose to turn from our sin and run to Him (Ephesians 1:4). Jesus mended the holiness gap. No higher learning or knowledge is needed.

Holiness can only be given by One who is holy. It has to be imparted—it cannot be earned. Since we are not holy, the only way we can ever become holy is for a holy God to reach down and bring us up to His level, imparting His holiness to us. This is exactly what God did in Jesus. This gap-mending offering of forgiveness is a free, undeserved gift, but it must be accepted. And there is no other way to accept it than through Jesus.

We cannot rid ourselves of sin by knowing enough or by trying to be the best we can be. Those are the chains of the spirit of the age. When you encounter people who practice these philosophies, listen for the way they are attempting to bridge the gap they feel between themselves and God. Then, as the Holy Spirit guides you and gives you words, explain God’s heart to them. Share that the gulf has already been mended. Christ did it all—and all they must do is turn to Him.



Prayer: Lord, thank You for mending the holiness gap so that I can have fellowship with You. Thank you for setting me free with Your Truth, and show me how to share this Truth with others. Amen.

“
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).