"Exalting Holiness" by Shane C. Montgomery

"For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified."
Romans 8:29-30 (KJV)


  We see from these two verses from Chapter 8 of Paul's letter to the believers in Rome that God has a plan for our lives, (His Elect) and this plan is to conform His adopted children into the imagine of Jesus Christ. 


 He does this through the indwelling of His Holy Spirit in our lives, His Spirit is truly a Comforter to us, He grows us in grace and in the knowledge of Him and in the knowledge of His Son.  We cannot conform into the imagine of Christ if we continue to know little about Him.  These two verses from Romans 8 are very special to me, for they remind me daily that I am to actively seek holiness.  



They remind me that I am growing in grace everyday, even on days that I feel that I am going backwards instead of forwards, even on these days God has not left us, rather He is maturing us by showing us the sins that yet remain within our hearts, and we cannot kill off these sins if He does not first bring them to the for front of our minds.  Even when we have days we struggle in sin, God is using this to conform us, to grow us, to make us just a little holier and He does this to prepare us for Holy Heaven, we cannot enter Heaven without first being made Holy, do not confuse this with Justification which is a done deal, a completed work, this is Sanctification, where God begins a work in us and continues a daily work in us until the day we die.



  I am often asked the question of "When was I saved?"  The answer I have to give is an honest one, "I do not know!"  I know when Christ called me forth from my slumbers in sin, but I cannot tell you the very day He saw me as Justified through the redeeming blood of my Savior Jesus Christ.  Only God can know these things, so all these brothers and sisters who wrote the date of their conversion in the back of their Bibles and bring this day up so proudly when they give testimonies to Christ, they do so out of ignorance of the Doctrines of Grace and of the Sovereignty of God who works in ways unknown to sinful man.  Let's just be glad He delivered us, has promised us eternal life and He is in the process of doing a good work in us and through Christ will complete this work.  We will someday finish our pilgrimage, we will be home at last, made Holy, residents in Heaven, singing praises and offering worship to our Holy God and Father.   Heaven then must be a holy place of worship where only those made Holy will enter, for why would a unholy man want to be in Heaven where he will continue to praise and worship, if a man hates church, he will truly hate Heaven!


  I ask therefore, what Paul asked in Romans 12, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice to God, Holy, Pleasing and Acceptable, everyday, every hour, every minute of your lives, for we are a set apart peoples, a Holy Nation unto the Lord and we must strive to be like Christ, Holy, Righteous, and Acceptable to God.  Let our lives sing the praises of Christ and let our lives be a testimony to the lost.  Let us show the love of Christ to this dieing world, let us read, study, pray, come together in public worship, in family worship and private worship, let us never forsake the worship of Holy God and let us always strive to be Holy.  Someday soon, we will all go home, we will all worship and sing praise, we will all know nothing but Joy and happiness, we will no longer have the lost amongst us, we will not be able to witness the wonders of Christ to the lost, for there will be no lost people in Heaven, only Holy, Righteous men and women of God.  So our time draws close to the end, everyday is one more day closer to leaving this world for the next, God's elect children remain uncalled out there in the world, waiting for you and me to share God's Word, to give them the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to awaken them from their slumbers in sin and to bring them into the fold of His sheep.  Please remember as you go back into this world this week, don't be simply a Sunday Christian, but be a Christian every day of the week, share Christ and preach the Word, we do not know whom His elect are or where they reside, we must remain faithful to our commission's, to preach the Gospel to every creature, and if our lives show the world nothing but what they already see in the world, then our lives are a lie and we do the Kingdom of God evil instead of good.  Let your lives then show Christ in all you do, grow in grace and strive for Holiness. 


Be Holy! 
Shane C. Montgomery