First Blog Post: First Forgiveness Then Holiness 

Welcome! If you are reading this, thank you for joining me on this new adventure. I hope you can grab a cup of coffee or tea and join me as I follow where I sense Holy Spirit is leading me. That last sentence may be throwing you off if you do not call yourself a Christian, which is someone who follows after Jesus Christ just as His disciples followed Him when He walked this earth over 2,000 years ago. If you are a Christian, you know you are on your own straight and narrow path. Regardless if you are or are not a Christian, my prayer is that you would find my words pointing you to His Word.  

On the morning of Sept 26, 2024, I woke up with the word forgiveness on my mind. I almost immediately sensed that should be the topic of my first blog. Why? After thinking over the connection this is what came to mind: I can’t start talking about holiness without talking about forgiveness first. If holiness is all about being set apart in overall character with Christlike standards, then I must address that we, as Christians, cannot pursue holiness (the godly character of Jesus) without addressing our first need of forgiveness of our sin. BUT this is assuming we know we are sinners who need of a Savior. If you’re reading this and don’t think you have committed any sin in your life, then the rest of what I will say will seem as though It doesn’t apply to you, nevertheless, I encourage you to keep reading.  

In the Bible we learn that there is a standard for Christlike character that Christians are called to walk out. Just do a word search for verses that have the word “walk” in it and you will catch on quickly what to do and what not to do. In fact, the Bible says in Romans 3:23, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (NLT). If anyone thinks they are excluded from that verse, let me point out two words, “everyone” and “all”. I’ll also point out that in the original Greek, the word for “all” is “pas” (G3956 if you care to look it up). Pas means “all, the whole, every kind of.” Therefore, all mankind, the whole earth, every kind of person has fallen short of God’s glorious standard of living. I am no exception, and you are no exception even if you do not have a Christian Worldview. For those of you who do not have a Christian Worldview, you may be wondering what exactly is “sin”? Going back to the Greek in the above verse, “sin” (G264 hamartano) is to “miss the mark, hence make a mistake, commit a sin against God.” God’s standards are all throughout the Bible but you may be most familiar with the Ten Commandments found in Exodus chapter twenty. The first commandment is “Do not have other gods besides Me” (verse 3). So if you have given anything more time of day than Christ himself (career, sports, hobby, relationship, etc.), you have another “god”. If you read through them, the first four commandments deal with our relationship with God and the last six have to deal with our relationship with other people. If you have ever stolen something, you have sinned. If you have ever given a false testimony (lied about someone), you have sinned. The list goes on. A genuine Christian has no problem admitting their previous sinful ways because they know their sins have been forgiven. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord” (NLT). Another word for wages is payment so it may be easier to read it as, “the payment for sin is death.” So that means if we live a life of sin, living below God’s glorious standard, the end result is death.  

What do we do with this revelation? It’s quite simple. Let’s look at the second part of that verse in Romans. The first half tells us the problem but the second half offers a solution. Jesus. God made a way for forgiveness of sin to be made possible by sending His Son Jesus to die for us: a perfect person without spot or blemish to take upon the sin of the world . Only the true God can do such a thing. If death is the result of sin, eternal life is the result of those who have been forgiven because of Jesus’ death on the cross. Hebrews 9:22 says, “…For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness” (NLT). Second Corinthians 5:21 sums it up clearly, “He made Christ who knew no sin to [judicially] be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we would become the righteousness of God [that is, we would be made acceptable to Him and placed in a right relationship with Him by His gracious lovingkindness]” (AMP). Jesus alone offers forgiveness of sins because He died to make it happen. I heard Pastor Bill Johnson say something like this- If Jesus Christ is NOT the only way to heaven (see John 14:6), then God the Father was cruel to let Jesus die the horrific death He did. The Christian Worldview is unmatched by any other. No other leader of any other religion or philosophy claimed to be deity. And spoiler alert: no other worldview offers forgiveness of sin.  

How does one receive forgiveness of sin? This answer is also simple. Repent. After Peter gives a sermon about Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, it says, “When they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles: ‘Brothers, what must we do?’ ‘Repent.’ Peter said to them, ‘and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus the Messiah for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:37-39, HCSB). “Repent” in the Greek means to “to change one’s mind or purpose.” To repent is to change your mind about how you thought you should be living your life and then purpose your life to live for the Lord moving forward. Romans 10:9 unpacks it this way: “…if you acknowledge and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord [recognizing His power, authority, and majesty as God], and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (AMP). “Confess” in the Greek means “to speak the same, to agree.” It’s clear that for us to move forward living a life for Christ, we need to agree with what the Bible says about sin so that we may be saved (receive salvation). Saved from what? Eternal death which is eternity separated from God. Our mortal life will one day cease to be as we know it. For those who receive God’s free gift of eternal life (aka salvation), eternal life awaits for all eternity. For those who willfully reject God’s gift, eternal death. But as for me and my house, we will worship the Lord. And I pray your house (family) chooses the same.  

Now that we’ve discussed what sin is and why we desperately need a Savior, let me begin the journey of wooing you to live like Christ, to live holy. When I finally made the move to start this blog, I knew pretty quickly what I wanted it to be about- holiness. The goal wasn’t to be legalistic about being holy because anyone who has read the Old Testament and also Jesus’ words to the Pharisee’s in the New Testament, legalism doesn’t work. Jesus exposed the Pharisees (religious teachers) hypocrisy when he said, “These people honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me” (Matthew 15:8, HCSB). Therefore, the goal is to be so in awe of the unconditional love God has for us by sending His Son Jesus to die for our sins that we can’t help but want to pursue Him and be obedient to His Word (the Bible). When I genuinely understood the depth of my sin, it broke my heart to know God’s redemption had been made available and I had rejected it for so long. How can anyone reject a love so grand, so infinite, so unfathomable?  

Once you begin reading the Bible you will see both the Old Testament and the New Testament discussing the topic of holiness. Here are a few:  

• Exodus 19:5-6 AMP – Now therefore, if you will in fact obey My voice and keep My covenant (agreement), then you shall be My own special possession and treasure from among all peoples [of the world], for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation [set apart for My purpose].’ These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites.  

• Leviticus 10:3NKJV – By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; And before all the people I must be glorified. 

• 1 Chronicles 16:29 NKJV – Give to the LORD the glory due His name; Bring an offering, and come before Him. Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness! 

• Psalm 29:2 NKJV – Give unto the LORD the glory due to His name; Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. 

• Psalm 96:9 NKJV – Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth. 

• 1 Corinthians 3:14-16 AMP – [Live] as obedient children [of God]; do not be conformed to the evil desires which governed you in your ignorance [before you knew the requirements and transforming power of the good news regarding salvation]. But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves in all your conduct [be set apart from the world by your godly character and moral courage]; because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY (set apart), FOR I AM HOLY.”  

• Ephesians 1:4 NLT – Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 

• Colossians 1:21 HCSB – Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds because of your evil actions. But now He has reconciled you by His physical body through His death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before Him 
• Hebrews 12:14 NLT – Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. 

• 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 NLT – God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin. Then each of you will control his own body and live in holiness and honor—not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and his ways.       
• 1 Peter 1:29 AMP – But you are a chosen, race a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, A [special] people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies [the wonderful deeds and virtues and perfections] of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.  

By no means is this an exhaustive list but hopefully this is a start for you to see that the Bible is clear of its stance on holiness. As Christians, we are called to be holy because Christ is holy. You may wonder exactly what that looks like and I will go into that practically in the next post and the next post and the post after that. In this blog, I will be sharing what living a holy life, set apart for the Lord looks like as a wife, as a homeschool mom, and as a volunteer in my local church.  

I decided to call my blog The Beauty of Holiness which is founded upon Psalm 29:2 in the New King James Version, “Give unto the LORD the glory due to His name; Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.” I also love it in the Amplified: “Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His name; Worship the LORD in the beauty and majesty of His holiness [as the creator and source of holiness].” It’s just so rich! To live for Christ is to worship Him in the beauty of holiness! While partnering with the Holy Spirit, I want to woo you into living a Christian life that is truly set apart from the rest of the unbelieving world. I want to offer encouragement and hope on how to practically live holy now on this side of eternity because it will be effortless when we are united with Christ. Join me on this adventure as we pursue holiness together and attract many to Christ. Let’s be holy. Let’s be set apart.  

I end with a quote by the beloved C.S. Lewis who compels us to pursue holiness as Christians: “How little people know who think that holiness is dull. When one meets the real thing… it is irresistible.”