I am holy

 With a blog title like this it sounds like I am bragging.  I want to be clear I am not.  I am not even suggesting that I am living without sin in my life.  In fact, 1 John makes it clear that if I say that I am deceiving myself.  And yet, the statement remains and is true.  I am holy.  When God sees me, he does not see my own holiness, but instead the holiness of Christ.  And because I am united to Christ, when God looks at me and sees the holiness of Christ - He sees me as holy.  I am holy in the sight of God.  What a glorious truth this is because of the work of Jesus Christ.

It is sometimes hard to keep this in proper tension.  On the one hand - if I think of myself totally in my flesh I will see myself as totally unholy - and even the good things I do are but filthy rags.  I am to come to God in humility and recognize that all the forgiveness He gives me has nothing to do with me deserving an ounce of it.  On the other hand, if I think of the holiness of Christ in me and therefore do not care what I do and make no effort to live as who Christ has made me, I will not honor God and not show reverence for the Christ who died for me to make me holy.  

And so I must recognize that I am holy and yet strive to be holy.  This is because I am waiting to be fully made who I truly am in this moment!  What a glorious thought!