Bible Studies

Why Christians Should Not Pray to Be Made Holy and Righteous

by Michael Edwards 
12/30/18
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Christians pray and sing songs all the time to be made a new creation, to be sanctified, made righteous, made holy and perfected. I know because I have done it. But this should not be so. Why? Because, if our faith is in Christ, we are already sanctified, holy, righteous and perfected by the blood of Christ.

I accept that in Christ I am:

Greatly loved by God - Ephesians 2:4 - Forgiven of all my sins - Ephesians 1:7

Free from the law of sin and death - Romans 8:2 - Righteous - Rom 5:19

Complete - Colossians 2:10 NASB - Justified - 1 Corinthians 6:11

Sanctified - Hebrews 10:10 NASB - Holy and without blame - Ephesians 1:4

Perfected - Hebrews 10:14 NASB

When we sing songs and pray, asking for what we already have, God may be scratching His head and thinking, Have you read my word?

We are called to walk by faith and not by sight. What we see in the mirror is not what God sees in the Spirit. Everything God says about the finished work listed in the above verses, and much more, is already finished from God’s perspective. This is why He calls us to walk by faith in His word, in the Spirit and not by sight in the flesh. When we agree with what God tells us is already done, we move into the realm of the Spirit, we begin to walk by faith in the Spirit, by the Spirit. This is what God wants for us in this life. This is where living works are done for our living God. Believing that all of the above is finished is the armor of God the Bible talks about. This is where we reign in life having great victory over the enemy in this life just like Joshua and Caleb did when they finally were able to go into the promised land. They had always wanted to walk by faith and not by sight. They wanted to go into the promised land 40 years earlier and always saw God’s promises as bigger than any obstacle in the promised land. The problem was that the vast majority of Jews walked by sight instead of faith and were terrified of what they saw.

If we are asking for God to sanctify us, make us holy and righteous, we are unaware of the verses I have just listed and many others or willfully living in denial of the truth of God’s word and walking by sight and not faith. If we are praying to be made holy and righteous, we are doing so because of what we see with our eyes in the mirror, in our flesh. This leads us to live in the flesh, trying to fix the flesh by the flesh, which will never work. The Bible is clear; the flesh will never defeat the flesh. God tells us the flesh has been crucified with Christ and is dead. He already sees it as dead, condemned by sin, never redeemed. God did not perfect our flesh, nor can we. He circumcised it from our born again and perfected Spirit. We can only have victory by agreeing with what God says is true. When we agree with God, we walk in the Spirit by faith and the fruits of the Spirit transform (metamorphosis) us as the Spirit rises above our dead flesh in this life.

From God’s perspective, when we pray for Him to make us holy and righteous, we are asking God to do something that His word tells us is already done. God tells us that trying to do what has already been done is a dead work. Can you see why Satan wants believers to do dead works? Trying to clean ourselves when we have already been cleansed, sanctified, made holy and righteous by the blood of Christ, born again and perfected in the Spirit, sealed by the Holy Spirit never to be considered unholy again.

But what about David in Psalm 51?

Hide Your face from my sins And blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit. Psalm 51:9-12 NAS

As Christians we often quote and sing the words in Psalm 51, asking God to blot out our sins, create in us a clean heart, save us again and never leave us as David did before the cross, under the Old Covenant law of Moses.

But God does not contradict Himself and we are not living under the Old Covenant law of Moses, before the cross like David. We are living after the cross exclusively under the New Covenant that has totally replaced the Old Covenant. 

And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood. Luke 22:20 NAS

Confusion and contradiction abound if we mix the two in error, they cancel each other out and we fall from grace as works cancel out grace, making it of no effect.

You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. Gal 5:4 NAS

We are living in the time that David dreamed and prophesied was coming.

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity… David in Psalm 32:1-2a ESV

“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.” Quote of David in Rom 4:7-8 ESV

We are living under the New Covenant and all of the work is finished just like David prophesied and Jesus stated.  High priests in the Old Testament never sat down in the Holy of Holies. But Jesus, our high priest is in the real Holy of Holies, seated at the right hand of the Father, signifying the work is finished.

All of the things that David cries out for in Psalm 51 are complete. Our Spirit is born again, sanctified, holy, righteous, complete and perfected. We have God’s word on it. Transformation (metamorphosis - supernatural change) on the outside happens, rises to the surface and overcomes our flesh when we believe God’s word 1,000 percent.

In Christ - Our Sins Have Been Forgiven, Forgotten and Blotted Out

"for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." Jer 31:34NAS

"FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR INIQUITIES, AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE." Heb 8:12 NAS

"AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE." Heb 10:17 NAS

"I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, And I will not remember your sins. Isa 43:25 NAS

As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:12 NAS

"I have wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloud And your sins like a heavy mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you." Isa 44:22 NAS

In Christ - We Have Been Given A New Heart and Spirit

"Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. Eze 36:26 NAS

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 2 Cor 5:17 NAS

being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. 2 Cor 3:3 NAS

In Christ - God Will Never Leave or Forsake Us - Even When We Fail, He Remains Faithful

"I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU," Heb 13:5b NAS

If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. 2 Tim 2:13 NAS

But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom 8:37-39 NAS

In Christ – We Have Salvation

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16 NAS

But Why I Am Still Such a Wretch?

I get it; you want to look more like Jesus. You are very sincere and want people to see Christ in you. The first step is to admit that what you have tried to do so far has not worked. It may work for a little while and you may look like the perfect Christian for a bit, but it always fails because we cannot manufacture the fruits of the Spirit by the flesh. Besides, the burden of trying to manufacture the fruits of the Spirit by the flesh leads to pride, self-righteousness and judgment of others who we see living freely under grace, acting un-Christian compared to our temporary manufactured goodness. I have been there and know all about it. The hypocrites who were prideful and self-righteousness were the only sinners Jesus was angry at when He was here, remember the Pharisee’s

The Exterior Transformation We Seek Can Only Be Done by God - A Supernatural Transformation - Metamorphosis as Defined in the Greek in the New Testament

God’s way to transformation, defined in the New Testament Greek as metamorphosis, is a supernatural transformation into the image of Christ. This cannot be accomplished by the flesh through works or law keeping as most try to do and many churches teach.

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed  (metamorphosis) into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. 2 Cor 3:18 NAS

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed (metamorphosis) by the renewing of your mind (right believing that leads to right living), so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Rom 12:2 NAS (emphasis mine)

Metamorphosis is supernatural and what we see when a caterpillar turns into a butterfly by the hand of God. It can only be accomplished by God, it is a supernatural act that happens as we abide in Christ by faith. It happens when a Christian believes God’s word 1,000 percent in these areas especially. Keep your eyes on the finished work of Christ and renew your mind to these truths and transformation (metamorphosis) will happen effortlessly. 

I accept that in Christ I am:

Greatly loved by God - Ephesians 2:4 - Forgiven of all my sins - Ephesians 1:7

Free from the law of sin and death - Romans 8:2 - Righteous - Rom 5:19

Complete - Colossians 2:10 NASB - Justified - 1 Corinthians 6:11

Sanctified - Hebrews 10:10 NASB - Holy and without blame - Ephesians 1:4

Perfected - Hebrews 10:14 NASB

This is what God already sees in us but they are not visible by sight in the flesh. They are believed by faith. God has said these are true so we agree, we believe, we say amen. The believer must walk by faith in God’s word, in the Spirit and no longer by sight in the flesh.

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Cor 4:18 NIV

Anything not of faith is sin.

whatever is not from faith is sin. Rom 14:23b NAS

When we abide in Christ by walking in faith in these truths, the fruits of the Spirit, the antidote for all sin and wretchedness is supernaturally produced.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Gal 5:22-23 NAS

As we continually renew our mind and focus on Christ and His obedience, His finished work and who we are in Him, these fruits dominate our life here as the wretch in us fades off into obscurity.

This is God’s way to overcome sin and bring what already is in our born again and perfected Spirit to the surface for all to see, God’s holiness, love, kindness, peace, gentleness and self-control. It starts with believing the truth; it is already in you. Your Spirit is sanctified, holy, righteous, complete and perfected. If you stop focusing on your flesh and trying to police it by the law  (the law is not of faith - Gal 3:12) and instead focus on who you are in the Spirit by faith, these truths will naturally rise to the surface and shine like a bright light on the outside for all to see. 

Stop focusing on the Old Creation you once were and focus totally on the new creation God clearly states you are right now in Christ. Whatever you focus on grows and will take precedence in your life. Study the New Covenant exclusively for a year. Read the book of Hebrews once a month or more and listen to and do New Covenant studies only for the year. Boast in your weakness and the cross of Christ crucified like Paul and the power of Christ will rest upon you. This is how your life will be transformed (metamorphosis) into the image of Christ for all to see.

More New Covenant Studies that Apply:

I Am a New Creation IN CHRIST

Why Don't I look Like a New Creation in Christ in the Mirror?

I Am Holy, I Am Sanctified, I Am Perfected

Sanctified or Not?

God Said a Believer Can Never be Considered Unholy

Christians are on The Highway of Holiness, Be Holy, Because I Am Holy is a Prophecy

Believers are Never Called Sinners in the New Testament

Jesus Never Called a Believer a Hypocrite,

Many more New Covenant Bible Studies HERE. Jesus poured out His blood for the New Covenant of grace and truth, replacing the Old Covenant law of Moses. Believers are exclusively under the New Covenant, the last will and testament of Jesus that began after the cross. 

And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood. Luke 22:20