Holiness – God’s first priority [cont’d]
“Be holy as I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:16; Lev 11:44, 45)
How do you counsel young Christians about growing in holiness?
First, I explain to them that if they have been saved through Christ they are already positionally holy in Him and so what they must now do is live out what they already are in Christ. I remind them that the Holy Spirit has provided the means to do that and then I outline to them what those means are.
I always begin by reminding them of the importance of the regular reading of Scripture. It’s important to have a regular diet of Bible-reading each day. Further, I would encourage them to undertake a detailed study of the Bible. It’s important for them to engage with the text in a serious way. For example, if the person was reading from Proverbs I would tell him to read one proverb at a time and pray over it in order to understand and apply it. On the other hand, if he was reading from one of the major prophets like Ezekiel, I would counsel him to read a couple of chapters at a time.
I would also probably offer him a couple of good commentaries as guides. I’d encourage him to meditate upon the text and then pray over it. I would certainly encourage him to memorise the Bible as well.
I would certainly be encouraging him to fellowship with God’s people and to talk about spiritual things with other young people. Of course, that would mean that he would come to church regularly and apply to become a member. I would also help him to listen to sermons, to make notes on them, to meditate over them and then to pray over what he learns. I would help him to see how the Holy Spirit uses the preaching to really strengthen his spiritual life.
The other thing I would do would be to remind him of the importance of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper to strengthen his faith. As Robert Bruce, the Scottish preacher, once said, “we don’t get a different Christ and different form of grace in the sacrament but sometimes we get Christ better”. The Lord’s Supper is another means of grace that complements the sermon. Calvin made the point that in the sacraments God is just coming a step lower than in the sermon to show us in a visible way His love to us.
– Dr Joel Beeke, Australian Presbyterian, July 2006