Weds. with Words: Hole in Our Holiness cont'd

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Our women's small group got a little derailed over the holidays so we haven't read much more of Kevin DeYoung's The Hole in Our Holiness.  I pulled some quotes from it a while back and thought I would return to it this week.  Despite the time lapse - I think my reading was at just the right time.  The chapter we read is Be Who You Are.  The theme here is that Christ in us is a reality.  It is similar to Andrew Kern's focus on the fact that we have ALL things in Christ. 

We must always remember that union with Christ is possible because of the Son's descent to earth, not because of our ascent into heaven.  The basis of our union with Christ is Christ's union with us in the incarnation.  Christian spirituality does not rest on mysticism; it rests in a Mediator.  

Holiness is not ultimately about living up to a moral standard.  It's about living in Christ and living out of our real, vital union with him. 

 If I had to summarize New Testament ethics in one sentence, here's how I would put it be who you are. .. But the "you" he's talking about is the "you" that you are by grace, not by nature. . . God doesn't say, "Relax, you were born this way."  But he does say, "Good news, you were reborn another way." 

 The Christian life still entails obedience.  It still involves a fight.  But it's a fight we will win. 

Your position, right now, objectively and factually is as a holy, beloved child of God, dead to sin, alive to righteousness, and seated in my holy heaven - now live like it." 

So go forth and live into God's promises for you this week!