Hear the Word of God.
1 John 3, verses 4-10.
Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness.
Sin is lawlessness.
You know that He appeared, Jesus appeared, in order to take away sins.
And in Him there is no sin.
No one who abides in Him, Jesus, keeps on sinning.
No one who keeps on sinning has either seen Him or known Him.
Little children, let no one deceive you.
Whoever practices righteousness is righteous as He is righteous.
Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning.
The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in Him.
And He cannot keep on sinning because He's been born of God.
By this, it is evident who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil.
Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.
Hear the Word of God.
Imagine a new soap opera.
As the wind blows, Brittany has become pregnant.
And it could be one of three men.
Either Dirk, Stone, or Oscar.
A paternity test is called for.
They take a sample of the baby in Brittany's womb, and then they are able to take samples from Dirk, Stone, and Oscar.
And lo and behold, there is a DNA match.
The DNA doesn't lie.
So, next week, on the next As the Wind Blows, you will find out who is the paternal father of Brittany's baby.
A paternity test.
Our ongoing obedience to Jesus Christ is a kind of paternity test.
It reveals who we belong to.
Who we want to take after.
The evidence isn't DNA.
The evidence is in your ongoing habitual practice of righteousness.
Think of righteousness as practical holiness lived out in your attitudes and your actions.
1 John contains a series of three tests.
I've told you about these.
There's the belief test.
What you believe to be true about Jesus.
And then there's the love test.
Do you love those who Jesus has shed his blood for?
And then there is the obedience test.
The practice of righteousness.
Obeying God's commands.
Last week, we started in on an obedience test.
The test itself is from chapter 228 through 310.
And last week, I point you from 228 to 3.3
that John emphasizes the future appearing of Jesus.
And it is to fuel our present obedience to Christ.
And this morning, in verses 4 through 10 of chapter 3,
God's past work in Christ,
it invigorates our present obedience to Jesus.
The obedience test is actually a paternity test
that reveals who your father is.
Here's the big idea.
When you remember what God has done for you,
you will want to be like Jesus all the more.
When you remember, take to heart what God in Christ has done for you,
you will want to be like Jesus in his righteousness all the more.
So this morning, I've got seven remembrances for you.
We're going to make quick work of this.
So remember, when you remember what God has done for you in Christ,
you're going to be stirred.
Third, if you're a child of God,
it's going to stir you to want to obey God all the more.
First remembrance is remember what making a practice means.
If you look back at 1 John 3, 4 through 10,
let me see if you can actually hear the emphasis.
Everyone who makes a practice of sinning practices lawlessness.
If you look down at verse 6,
no one who abides in him keeps on sinning.
No one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or know him.
Verse 7, whoever practices righteousness is righteous.
Verse 8, whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil.
Look at verse 9, no one born of God makes a practice of sinning.
Verse 10, by this is evident who are the children of God
and who are the children of the devil.
Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God.
So what does this making a practice mean?
Well, the best way to think about it is think about an overall way of life.
Your lifestyle, your general trajectory of life.
And you've got two options.
Either your general trajectory of life is towards Jesus,
to follow him and to be like him and to obey him,
or it is to live for sin,
maybe tip your hat to Jesus once in a while,
but you're really living for yourself.
And what this is getting at is the habitual practice of your life.
John is not requiring sinful perfection of Christians here.
Do you know how I know that?
If you flip back into your Bible to 1 John 1, 9,
he's writing to Christians and he says,
if we confess our sins,
he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteous.
Now look at 2, 1 and 2.
My little children, I'm writing these things to you
so that you may not sin.
But if anyone does sin,
we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
He is the propitiation for our sins.
So when we read this making a practice
and see this repeated throughout our text,
what it's getting at is the way you typically live your life.
Let me just ask you two questions
and then point to a pastoral gray zone.
Here's another way you can approach this
because what's riding on this
is knowing if you're a child of God or not, right?
Here's another way to ask the question.
What is the outlier behavior of your life?
Is your normal course of life
to sin and to sin and to sin
with an occasional obedience thrown in,
really for what other people think,
but you continue to sin,
or is your normal course of life,
obey Jesus, do what I can,
occasionally sin, I confess it, repent, move on.
What's the outlier behavior?
What's norm?
What's the exception?
Here's another way to get at it.
What do you want?
What is the desire of your heart?
Do you desire the holiness and the righteousness
that adorn God in His presence,
that adorn the life of Jesus,
or do you just want to live a life for yourself?
Now, this opens up to the pastoral gray zone.
When a person professes to be a Christian,
and yet their overall trajectory of their life
is characterized by sinful attitudes and actions,
it's really confusing.
You know who it's confusing for?
It's confusing for the Christians and non-Christians
in relationship with that person,
and it's also confusing for the person,
because they know that they are professing something
that they're not living.
I happen to think that a Christian
who's professing to be a follower of Jesus,
who is living a life of disobedience,
is actually the most miserable people person on the planet.
And if you find yourself in that gray zone,
where you're saying,
I want to be a Christian, but man, I love sin,
you need to turn.
Turn from your sinning.
Turn from your idols.
Turn to the living Christ,
and confess Him as Lord,
and find life.
Remember, when John is speaking up here,
this making of practice,
he's talking about an ongoing, habitual way of life
that ends up revealing who you are.
When you remember what God has done for you,
you'll want to be like Christ all the more.
So let me remind you of the second thing.
Remember that sin is lawlessness.
In verse 4, sin is lawlessness.
And brothers and sisters,
it is far worse than you want to think it is.
Sin means missing the mark.
John Tippmann, this past fall,
showed me how to shoot a crossbow with its arrow.
It's called a bolt.
And I spent hours practicing shooting a crossbow
from different distances from the target.
I'm trying to get into the bullseye.
Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep.
Not once was it dead center.
I'm talking hours.
That's missing the mark.
And God calls all human beings everywhere,
and he holds every human being account
to be every day hitting the mark
of his righteousness, his holiness,
in your attitudes and your actions.
But as the scriptures say,
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Not one of us is righteous.
Not one of us hits the bullseye.
Did you notice in verse 4
how John equates sin with lawlessness?
Lawlessness is a rejection of God's good,
holy, loving rules.
We've seen two dramatic examples of that
over the last several months.
August, Jacob Blake is shot.
And then from within our city,
there is this small contingent of people
who just go lawless.
Hate, chaos, fear, destruction,
death, lawlessness.
But it also happened just over a week ago in D.C.
Another mob storms the U.S. Capitol building,
and it's lawlessness.
Hate, chaos, fear, destruction, death.
Now, if you feel like I haven't represented your group
or represented them poorly,
let me just bring this home a little bit.
If you're being honest with yourself,
you will see the same sin in lawlessness
in your own heart.
You know what you are capable of.
You know what happens in you.
You know the hate that can show up in your heart.
You know the potential of chaos-making you can do.
You know the fears.
You know the destruction you can bring about.
And you know the death in you.
You've had murderous thoughts.
Be honest.
The fact of the matter is,
we're not too far away from the lawless crowds.
And what you must remember is,
the sin and lawlessness are in complete opposition
to a holy, good, loving God
who gives His law for love and good.
Sin is worse than you think, brothers and sisters.
It's far worse than you think.
Especially when you realize it's in you.
Here's something I want to make sure
you're making the connection of.
Lawlessness is actually lovelessness.
Remember how Jesus, when He showed up
and He preached the Sermon on the Mount,
Matthew 5, 17, He said,
I didn't come to abolish the law,
but to fulfill the law and the prophets.
And then towards the end of Matthew, Matthew 22,
He's talking to this hotshot lawyer,
and He tells this lawyer
that all of the law and the prophets
depend on just two commandments.
You can sum up the whole Old Testament
with two commandments.
Love your God with everything you've got
and love your neighbor as yourself.
The law is fulfilled in love.
And Jesus embodied it.
Lawfulness, according to Jesus,
is obeying all that God commands
out of a wholehearted commitment
to God and your neighbor.
Sin and lawlessness is worse than you think.
It affects our actions and our attitudes.
It's a lovelessness towards God and our neighbor.
When you remember what God has done for you in Christ,
you're not going to want to do that.
So remember, three, who Jesus is.
In verses 5, 7, and 8,
we're told things about Jesus.
Remember, Jesus is the incarnate opposite
of sin and lawlessness.
He is the incarnate, the embodiment
of lawfulness manifest in love for God and others.
And Jesus did what no one else could do,
even for an hour.
Jesus obeyed all of God's commands
every moment of his life
out of an all-consuming,
all-governing love for God and his neighbor.
Did you notice in verse 5?
In him there is no sin.
Did you notice in verse 7?
He's the righteous one.
Did you notice in verse 8?
He's the son of God.
He's without sin.
He's full of holiness.
And he is fully God and fully man.
God incarnate.
And he's alive today.
What you must understand
is that as we're talking about
living lives of righteousness,
our source,
our standard,
our means,
and our end
is Jesus.
It's by his righteousness
imputed to us
the moment we believe
that we are righteous.
And he's the standard.
Jesus is the gold standard
of practical holiness.
We must learn to compare
and evaluate
our own attitudes and actions
to Jesus.
who do you think
is the standard
of the Christian life?
Pastors and elders?
To some extent,
as we emulate Jesus,
do you think you're the standard
of the Christian life?
Jesus is our gold standard
of practical holiness,
of lawfulness
manifest in love.
And we must be constantly
aligning ourselves
to Jesus.
That's the standard.
Aren't you glad
to see the invisible God
made known
throughout the Gospels?
We can see him.
He's not just the source,
standard,
he's the means.
We will grow
in practical,
everyday holiness
of attitude and action
as we abide in him.
See that in verse 6?
No one who abides in him
keeps on sinning.
This abiding,
it's a present tense verb
and what it's talking about
is this ongoing,
dependent,
life-giving relationship
we have with Jesus.
Remember,
he's the vine,
we're the branches.
If we abide in him
and he in us,
we will bear much fruit
but apart from him,
you'll be a jerk
and you'll be a jerk
as we depend on him,
who he is,
what he's done,
what he will do,
as we remember him,
what God has done
for us in him,
it's going to juice
your holiness.
It's going to give you
a desire
to want to be like him.
He's also our end.
The Greeks called it
telos.
He's our aim.
Our practice
of everyday holiness
is ultimately
not for us,
not to us,
oh Lord,
not to us,
but to your name
give glory.
I don't say no to sin
and yes to Jesus
so that you can pat me
on my back.
Look what I've done.
Our aim is Jesus.
It's for him.
It's for his glory.
This past week
I was talking to
a young lady
as I had filled out
a reference for her
and one of the questions
that we were talking about
was how do you grow
as a Christian
and her answer
was on the money.
Read my Bible
every day,
pray throughout the day,
share my faith.
She's legit.
I'm like,
amen.
Can you disciple me?
And then I asked her,
well what's the goal
of your growing
as a Christian?
You know what she said?
She paused.
Read my Bible
every day,
pray throughout the day,
share my faith.
That's the goal?
That's the goal
of your Bible reading
is to read your Bible?
It's the goal
of your praying
is to pray?
The goal of your
sharing your faith
is to share your faith?
I didn't say it like that to her.
I said the goal
is Jesus.
Romans 8, 29,
God is conforming us
to the image
of his son.
2 Corinthians 3, 18,
as we behold him
in the scriptures,
we are being transformed
from one degree of glory
to the next
and that's by the power
of the Holy Spirit,
the Lord,
our end game,
our telos
is Jesus.
And when you see that,
you remember that,
it makes you want
to live for him.
Point number four,
remember why Jesus came.
Are you feeling
a little adrift right now?
Are you feeling like,
well, you know what,
I'm kind of measuring
my works of righteousness
and my works of sin
like my practice?
I'm not really excited
about this.
Remember why Jesus appeared.
In verses five
and verse eight,
the word appeared
appears twice.
Last week,
John showed us
he appealed to the
future appearings
of the Lord Jesus Christ
to juice our present
obedience to Jesus.
And here,
John is appealing
to the
first
appearings
of Jesus.
Side note,
we live between
the appearings
of Jesus.
His first
appearing
inaugurated
the saving reign
of God
and his
second
appearing
will
consummate it.
bring it home.
And notice
how John ties
this
first
appearing
talked in
verse five
to purpose.
You know
that he
appeared
in order
to
take away
sins.
That's
a purpose
clause
in order
to take away
sins.
He appeared
the first time
to take
away
sins.
To take
away the
penalty
of sins
through his
death.
To bear
the wrath
of God
that was
intended
for you.
Remember,
did you hear me
when I said
he is our
propitiation?
Jesus was the
perfect sacrifice
that endured
all of God's
wrath in
its full
for any
sinner who
would come
and confess
him as
their Savior
and Lord.
He came
to take
away
sins
by his
death.
And not
just that,
he came
away to
take
not just
the penalty
of sin
but the
power
of sin.
He broke
it
when he
was raised
from the
dead.
He
demonstrated
that he
was victorious
and more
powerful
than sin,
death,
and the
devil.
And you've
been united
to Christ
in his
death and
resurrection,
therefore sin
has no
mastery over
you.
Romans 6,
1-14.
Do you know
what this
means?
There is
no
Christian,
genuine
Christian on
the face of
this planet
that can
ever claim
they are
helpless
to sin.
They've been
united to
Christ in his
death and
resurrection.
The Spirit
of God
indwells
them.
You think
he's not
powerful
enough?
And there's
more.
Jesus came
to take
away the
very presence
of sin.
His death
and resurrection
inaugurated a
sin eradication
campaign that
will be fulfilled
at his second
coming.
Jesus'
first appearing
was to
eradicate
sin and
sin.
Not to
spin off
a sin
toleration
campaign.
Not to
spin off
a sin
permissiveness
campaign.
Not to
spin off
a sin
excusing
campaign.
Not to
spin off
a presumption
on God's
grace
campaign.
So if your
habitual
practice right
now is to
preserve and
multiply sins,
you've got to
know you're
at cross
purposes with
the risen,
reigning,
and radiant
Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the
Son of God
in whom there's
no sin.
He is the
righteous one
and he
appeared in
order to
die for
sinful,
lawless,
unrighteous
folks like you
and me so
that we
could live in
the freedom
from the
penalty of sin,
the power
of sin
and one
day its
presence.
Remember in
verse 4 there
was this
equating of
sin and
lawlessness?
Well, between
verses 5 and
8 there's this
other kind of
soft parallel.
Jesus appeared
to take away
sins in
verse 5 and
in verse 8
Jesus appeared
to destroy the
works of the
devil.
Do you think
about your
sins as kind
of like the
works of the
devil of
lining up with
that guy?
The devil has
been sinning
from the
beginning and
yet Jesus,
there is no
sin in him.
He's the
righteous one.
So is your
ongoing practice,
your attitudes
and your actions
ongoingly,
are they
supporting the
love-driven
sin eradication
campaign of
Jesus?
or is it
supporting
unloving,
sin-promoting
works of the
devil?
Which team are
you playing
for?
Who's your
captain?
Uh, you
know,
it's pretty
close.
The devil,
Jesus,
I love sin,
righteousness,
I'd rather
laugh when the
sinners than
cry with the
saints.
Do you
remember what
happens to the
devil?
Revelation 20,
Jesus returns,
he cleans the
clock of the
hosts of the
devil,
and then the
devil is grabbed
and tossed into
the second death,
the lake of fire,
fire,
where,
and I quote,
he will be
tormented night
and day forever.
He came to
destroy the
works of the
devil.
There's no
comparison.
When you
remember what
God has done
for you in
Jesus, you
will want to
live for Jesus
all the more.
Remember who
you are.
In verses
8, 9, and
10, we have
this contrast.
Verses 7 and
8, there's this
contrast between
the children of
God who practice
righteousness and
the children of
the devil who
keep on sinning.
We see it in
verse 10.
By this, it is
evident who are
the children of
God and who are
the children of
the devil.
You've got this
contrast, and the
difference is
obedience, but it's
a deeper difference.
Do you know what
makes the difference
between a child of
God and a child of
the devil?
Look at verse 9.
No one born of
God makes a
practice of sinning
for God's seed
abides in him.
And he cannot
keep on sinning
because he has
been born of
God.
The difference
between a child
of God and a
child of the
devil is whether
or not someone
has God's seed
abiding in them.
So the question
becomes, what is
God's seed?
And classically,
option one is
God's seed is the
implanted word of
God, the gospel,
1 Peter 1, 22, 23,
and 25.
That's right on.
Or, option two,
this God's seed is
the Holy Spirit, of
whom we just saw
a reference to in
227, the anointing.
It's this same
writer, John,
recounts Jesus'
meeting with
Nicodemus in John
3.
Do you remember
this?
Nicodemus, how do I
be born?
I have to be born
again?
What?
And Jesus goes
on to explain the
agent of the new
birth, of
regeneration, of
being born again,
is the Holy Spirit.
Just as the wind
blows wherever it
wills, so does the
Spirit.
Titus 3, 4 speaks of
the regeneration of
the Spirit.
Galatians 4, Romans 5
speak of God's
Spirit indwelling
Christians bearing
witness to our
inner beings that we
are children of God,
God by which we call
out, Abba, Father.
And in both
contexts, it shows up
in the way you live
your life.
Galatians 5, Romans 8,
13, put to death
sin in you.
Well, I'm showing my
hand.
I lean towards this
being a reference,
God's seed to the
Holy Spirit.
But you know what?
We don't have to
decide between the two.
God's seed is God's
gracious, undeserved,
pouring out of the
Holy Spirit into a
sinner's heart that
inclines their heart to
God's Word to believe
and trust and obey.
God's seed is this
supernatural work of
God's grace that
transforms a child of
the devil into a
child of God.
We all used to be
children of the devil
following the course
of the Spirit of
this age.
Did you notice the
strong language in
3, 9?
We read, for God's
seed abides in him
and he cannot keep
on sinning.
If God's Spirit
indwells you, if the
third person of the
Trinity takes up
residence in you, he
will not allow you to
grow callous or casual
or comfortable with
the sin that Jesus
came to take away
and destroy.
Galatians 5, 16 and
17, walk by the
Spirit and you will
not carry out the
desires of the
flesh.
The desires of the
flesh are opposed to
the desires of the
Spirit.
Spirit opposes the
desires of the
flesh.
Why?
So that you do not
do the sinful things
you want to do.
How do you respond
to this?
If you're not a
Christian, if you're
hearing these words
and you're like,
that's not me, that's
a kindness, now you
can run to Jesus and
say, Jesus, I confess
you as my Savior and
Lord.
Give me the life in
you.
And he's going to call
you to follow him all
the days of your life.
It's a joy to follow
Jesus.
And if you're a
Christian and you are
within earshot of
these words and you're
becoming aware of the
sin in you that
opposes Christ,
that's good.
That's the Spirit of
God at work in you,
conforming you to the
image of Jesus.
And so what you do
is you confess it,
you repent of it,
and you enlist the
help of other
Christians to help you
live for Jesus.
You know what the
real test is?
The real test is this.
When you become aware
of your sin, how do
you respond?
Do you hide it?
Or do you bring it
into the light?
Confess it to the
Lord.
Find forgiveness in
Jesus again.
When you remember who
you are, what God has
done, that you are a
child of God, born of
the Spirit, to be made
like Jesus, it makes
you want to be like
Jesus.
Sixth, remember what the
evidence points to.
In verse 10 we read,
by this it is evident who
are the children of God
and who are the children
of the devil.
This is your life.
How you're conducting
your life.
It's the evidence.
It reveals whose child
you are.
God, child of God, or
child of the devil.
Who you are determines
how you live, and how you
live evidences who you
are.
For people who know both
me and my dad, Steve
Salvati, we regularly get
comments about how we share
his likeness.
I look like my dad.
Similar body frames and
head shapes.
I talk like my dad.
He's got some great words
that I like to use.
I laugh like my dad.
In fact, we share a lot of
the same humor.
I work like my dad.
My dad imparted to me a work
ethic.
I'm so grateful for him.
I recreate like my dad.
I cut loose in the same way
he cuts loose.
I've become like my father.
And when I'm around other
people who know both of us,
I regularly hear, you are
truly your father's son.
Some of it's DNA.
Some of it I've learned.
Some of it's not perfect.
But I welcome it.
I welcome the compliment.
I want to be like my dad.
I want to be more like my
heavenly father.
Just as the life of Jesus,
the righteous one, holiness
incarnate, evidenced the
unseen God who is holy,
our lives,
evidence,
our holy father too.
We want to be like him.
We want to strive after
holiness.
He wants us to share in his
holiness because he loves us
and wants good for us.
So, do you bear the family
likeness?
Are you becoming more like him?
Maybe you're a Christian and
you're discouraged.
You're more aware of your
sin than you are of God's
good work in you.
Imagine an 11-year-old boy
playing with a red yo-yo.
Many, many Christians think
of their following of Jesus
like the yo-yo.
They're more aware of when
they're on a downstroke of
disobedience and then they're
aware of their upstroke of
obedience and that's their
life.
But just imagine that 11-year-old
boy with a red yo-yo.
Up and down it goes.
But that 11-year-old starts
climbing a flight of stairs.
That yo-yo, even though it's
going up and down, is
ascending.
Many Christians are unaware of
the work of God in them,
slowly transforming them into
the image of Jesus because
they're more aware that they're
on a downstroke.
But lo and behold, every
Christian is fixed to the right
hand of God.
He will never let you go
even when you come to the end
of your rope.
This is reasons why we run in
packs, brothers and sisters.
When other Christians can speak
into your life and say, you've
made progress.
You're different than you were a
year ago.
You treasure Jesus more.
You obey Him more.
You're trying to multiply your life
for Him.
You are giving yourself and
belonging to one another.
When you realize, when you
remember what God has done for
you in Christ, it makes you
want to be like Christ all the
more and run with a pack of
people who are wanting to be
like Christ too.
The last remembrance.
Remember, do not be deceived.
Verse 7.
Little children, let no one
deceive you.
The devil's been around for a
long time and he's been sinning
from the beginning.
He's been deceiving from the
beginning.
Distorting the truth of God's
word.
Confusing what obedience is.
Don't be deceived into thinking
that your practice of
righteousness doesn't matter.
Don't be deceived.
Do you know who it matters to
most?
Your God.
Your Holy Father.
He says, be holy for I am
holy.
Jesus, this is how serious God
takes it.
Jesus died for you so that you
could live a holy life unto God.
We don't live holy lives unto God
in order to be saved.
We've been saved by God's grace
to live holy lives for the glory
of Jesus.
Don't be deceived into thinking
that your practice of righteousness
doesn't matter.
It matters to your God.
Don't be deceived into thinking
that what happens in private and
what happens in public are two
different domains.
That's a lie.
And here's how we know it.
From God's perspective, he sees
everything.
There are no domains from God's
sight.
There's nothing hiding.
You know that from Proverbs 15.3.
So if you think you're committing
secret sin, you're not.
God sees it plainly.
Don't be deceived into thinking
that settling for a nominal degree
of common righteousness is okay.
Many of us are looking around at
other people, other Christians,
and you're like, well, I'm better
than him.
Oh, man, only if I can be more
like that guy or that gal.
Sometimes we just all agree to a
common level of righteousness,
which is good enough.
Jesus is the source.
He's the standard.
He's the means.
And he is the telos of our
righteousness.
Paul said in Philippians 14,
I press on toward the goal for the
prize for the upward call of God in
Christ Jesus.
Paul said, for me to live is Christ.
Don't settle.
Don't settle for ordinary
righteousness.
your aim is Jesus.
And don't be deceived by the world.
Seriously, the world are those
unregenerate men and women who are
living lives in opposition to God.
The church are those blood-bought men
and women born of God's spirit who are
seeking to live lives of obedience.
Are you really going to take your
cues of how to live your life from
people who don't know God?
Don't be deceived.
If you're being called a prude because
you're taking God's word to heart,
forget about it.
Obey your Lord.
Don't give in.
Stop listening to them.
Tune your ear to your Jesus.
Make it your aim to please your God
above all.
But when you remember what God has done
for you in Christ,
you will want to live for Christ
all the more.
I've given you seven remembrances,
brothers and sisters.
Is the Holy Spirit doing a convicting
work in you this morning?
Welcome it.
Yes!
Make me like Jesus
in attitude and action.
I am making progress
up those stairs
of Christ-likeness
even when I am more aware
of my yo-yo being on a downstroke.
Do your work.
What God has done for us in Christ,
it compels us
to live lives of Christ-likeness
in present, ongoing,
decision after decision.
You will not regret that
when you stand before Him.
Let's pray.
God in heaven,
we ask by Your Spirit
that You would do a thorough work.
Cleanse Your house.
Purify us as You are pure.
Make us righteousness.
Give us a taste
for divine holiness.
Help us not to settle.
God, set us apart
from everyone else.
Make us the light
that we are.
Restore our saltiness.
Renew our brilliance
by the power of the Holy Spirit.
In the name of Jesus.
Amen.