A life pleasing to God
The Bible teaches us very clearly that as Christians, we must aim to live a life that is pleasing to God. We were not saved to live for our own pleasures; we were saved to live for the One who died for us and rose from the dead so that we could have life.
Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:9 that “we make it our aim to please Him.”
The Christian life is not an aimless pursuit with no purpose. When we live our Christian lives as we should, we live it with purpose which means we need to focus our attention on what really matters.
Let me use the illustration of an archer to demonstrate what it means to take aim. An archer prepares his bow and arrow, and then, sets his eye on his target. When he does this, he focuses his vision to that small target he is aiming for. The archer doesn’t use peripheral vision – looking at everything else that surrounds the target. The archer is not interested in the mountains in the background, or other things that are on either side of the target. He narrows his focus to that target he wants to hit.
Likewise, to live a life with purpose, we need to focus our energy. None of us can be good faithful Christians if we have no purpose, no intent to please God. To please God, we have to have an active pursuit of knowing Him, knowing what pleases Him, and knowing what doesn’t please Him. We won’t find those things out by chance; we have to have that desire to know Him.
The Bible says that we are to “try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:1), it also says that we are “to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him” (Colossians 1:10) and in 1 Thessalonians 4:1 we read
“Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more.”
Paul urges the Thessalonian believers to walk in a way that pleases God. Even if they are doing this, he is urging them to do it more and more. No matter where you are in your Christian life, no matter what level of maturity you have reached, God urges you, urges all of us, appeals to us, to commit ourselves to the active pursuit of knowing Him and pleasing Him.
What is God’s will for my life?
A question that a lot of people ask, is what is God’s will for my life? You can find the answer in 1 Thessalonians 4:3a:
“this is the will of God for you: your sanctification.” (1 Thessalonians 4:3a)
That is a clear message! God said to His people under the Old Covenant, and He says the same thing to those under the New Covenant in Christ “Be Holy, for I am Holy.” That is God’s purpose for us.
Through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, we are made holy, we are set apart, and purchased through the precious blood of Christ to be His. So in one sense, we are already holy. But in another sense, we must continue to grow in holiness. This is not an optional extra for the Christian life. It is a must, and our continual growth in holiness gives evidence of a true work of conversion in our lives. As the Bible teaches
“Pursue….holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” (Hebrews 12:14)
In 1 Thessalonians 4, the context of Paul’s statement that the will of God is our sanctification was that he was teaching the believers in Thessalonica what holiness for a Christian means in very practical terms, in terms of sexual purity.
“For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives His Holy Spirit to you” (1 Thessalonians 2:7-8).
God sets the standard for our personal holiness, not the world.
- C. Ryle’s classical book ‘Holiness‘ (1879) has some wonderful Biblical teaching about our need for personal holiness. I am still reading through it, but have really enjoyed what I have read so far. Here are two quotes from this book written over 120 years ago that are still true today:
“It has long been my sorrowful conviction that the standard of daily life among professing Christians in this country has been gradually falling. I am afraid that Christ-like charity, kindness, good-temper, unselfishness, meekness, gentleness, good-nature, self-denial, zeal to do good, and separation from the world, are far less appreciated than they ought to be, and than they used to be in the days of our fathers…..
…There has been of late years a lower standard of personal holiness among believers than there used to be in the days of our fathers. The whole result is that the Spirit is grieved! And the matter calls for much humiliation and searching of heart….”
As we continue to be locked down during the COVID-19 crisis, it is a good time for reading good books on personal holiness.
Three books I recommend are:
|
‘Holiness: Its nature, hindrances, difficulties, and roots’ by J. C. Ryle |
 |
– ‘The Pursuit of Holiness’ by Jerry Bridges. |
 |
– ‘The Gospel’s Power and Message’ by Paul Washer. |
David Toma