Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he… has raised up a horn of salvation for us… that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. (Luke 1:68,69,74-75, ESV)
The Way of Jesus—that is, the way to eternity, as we considered yesterday—is the Way of Holiness.
You may ask how this can be. The way to salvation comes by the grace of God in his Son, Jesus the Messiah. Holiness, however, suggests a determined attention to what is right, then willfully adhering to that righteousness.
You may again ask how this can be. Isn’t God the holy one? How can we walk in a way that is denied by our very sinfulness? Yes, we have read, “Be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:44, reiterated in 1 Peter 1:16), but this does not rest well with us, that we might even attempt to accomplish holiness.
Golfers understand this. We watch the best in the world hit shots in competition on stupidly difficult golf courses, and we recognize that we could never reach their level of play—even though they are not perfect! How then can we be expected as those wanting to serve God to do so in the way he has served us: pure in motive, righteous in action, glorious in outcome? These are the hallmarks of holiness; they are not the hallmarks of sinful men and women trying their best to overcome their own unbelief.
We can take a significant hint from the song of Zechariah sung upon the birth of his son, John the Baptist, and recorded in the first chapter of Luke’s Gospel. Here is the progression:
CHOSEN => SAVED => DELIVERED => SERVING
Our power for serving in holiness is not our own. In fact, Zechariah’s song understands that it is fear of God’s wrath that keeps us from holiness and righteousness. Not until this fear is gone can we take steps along the Way of Holiness, which is the path we walk on our way to eternity.
So how is this fear removed? How might we make any attempt to serve God in a manner he accepts? Only through the work of Christ. Because we have been chosen by God for his love and redemption, he has sent Jesus to save us from the eternal consequences of our sin. By Christ’s death that salvation was bought. We were then delivered from our enemies, the greatest of which is death. Here again, it is through the work of Christ—by his resurrection—that the deliverance has been accomplished.
With fear of judgment and death eradicated, we can “make every effort” to do what is right (2 Peter 1:5-7). It’s true that we will not always hit the mark of perfection. But we will be walking on the Way of Holiness all the same, our eyes set on the end which has no end. Christ has placed us on the path to eternity. We stay there by following him.
—
Jeff Hopper
August 28, 2014
Copyright 2014 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.