Dear Church,

Colossians 1:13 says “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.”  As believers we are delivered people, literally meaning called out or freed from the dominion or rule of darkness (sin) into the kingdom of Jesus.  God has given every Christian the possibility to be free from the dominion of sin and walk in holiness.

This is where real peace, joy and communion with God can be experienced. A Christian living in disobedience lives a life devoid of joy, peace and communion with God.  He is always unsettled, stressed and starved of sustaining joy.  So, to experience these, we must make some choices. We must choose to forsake sin (which is the dominion we were delivered from) not only because it is defeating us, but because it grieves the heart of our Holy God. We must choose to count on the reality that we are dead to sin, freed from its control over our lives, and that we can actually say no to sin with the power and presence of the Holy Spirit living in us. This makes it important that we must make a conscious choice to accept our responsibility to pursue holiness in our lives.

Remember, holiness does not happen by default, we put in effort.  God has given all we need to attain holiness in Him.  In reality the choice is ours, every believer who has the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is conscious about the sin he/she commits and walks into it fully aware of what they are doing.  Remember, the privilege, the decision and the responsibility to live holy lives pleasing to God is ours.  If we make this decision we will experience the Joy, peace and communion which Christ has promised to those who walk in obedience to him.

Be Encouraged,
Mathews