This week’s reading in one our classes found me thirsty and left me quenched. One quote that I highlighted was “The foundation of sanctification is rooted not in humanity and their achievement of holiness, but in what God has done in Christ, and for us in union with Him.” The author, Sinclair Ferguson, depicts Christ as “our source and our model” for holiness. Not only do we find in Him our identity (righteous and free) but also we find in Him our blueprint for living (imitator and glorifier).
Ferguson’s depiction specifically of union with Christ I thought incredibly helpful in understanding holy living. Everything about who I am as a Christ-follower is defined by Jesus Himself. I have lived a perfect life - because He has. I have victory over death and sin - because He has. I no longer carry the weight and burden of guilt for my sin - because He has. All that I have, I have from Christ. All that I am, I am only through Christ. All that I will be, I will be in Christ. I am a free man “who has been brought from death to life” and the life that is lived within me is no longer mine but Christ’s.
The freedom, from not only death and sin, but from the slavery of having to accomplish holiness on my own is a liberating one. My moralistic, ‘good boy’ complex can sometimes plague and paralyze me. Christian culture, which unfortunately sometimes reinforces my misguided attempts toward holiness, weighs me down with inaccurate measures of what the standard of holiness is supposed to be. This week’s reading reminds me that the standard of holiness is Christ Himself. My responsibility to holy living, and how I view myself, is now not only as a sinner deserving of death but also a new creation living in grateful response for the life I have in Him.
