“And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.” (Romans 6.18-19)
For me this is a reminder that just as we got deeper and deeper in sin over time, it will take time for us to become deeper and deeper (or more properly higher and higher) in holiness. Since we did not become totally depraved overnight we should not expect to become totally sinless and holy overnight. This process of becoming holy, what we call Theosis, is a gift of God for repentance but takes genuine effort on our part.
Our effort is what is blessed by God in our decision to obey His desire for us. We must choose to walk in the Light of Christ and be led out of darkness by His Light.
“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1.5-9)
“We have fellowship with one another,” is another way of expressing our intercommunion with each other and Christ within the Church. When we maintain our life within the Church of Christ, we walk in His light. When we depart from the Church we risk walking on our own and becoming lost in the darkness. The Church has been established by God to guide us on our journey toward holiness. The Church offers us tools established by Christ Himself with which the work of Theosis is accomplished.
Prayer, fasting and almsgiving are the three tools that shape our human life modeling our desires and actions after Christ. Prayer, fasting and almsgiving are used to re-train our bodies out of darkness and into the Light of Christ. But these tools are without meaning on our journey to holiness without the Eucharist – Holy Communion. Without Communion prayer is just words, fasting is just a diet and almsgiving is just a tax deduction.
Engage the journey to holiness and embrace Christ!
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