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But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” (Acts 7:55-56)
Stephen saw the majestic glory of God and Jesus standing at His Father’s right hand.
Four times the writer of Hebrews says that Jesus completed all of His work and “sat down“ (Hebrews 1:3, 8:1, 10:12, 12:2). Jesus Himself affirms that sitting at His Father’s right hand was the designated place of the Victorious One (Revelation 3:21).
Yet, Stephen sees Him standing at the right hand of the throne.
The Majesty of Heaven stood!
Perhaps the words of Stephen sounded so much like His own, that Jesus stood to listen to him (v. 60; Luke 23:34).
Perhaps the death of this saint was so precious that Jesus stood to welcome himhome (Psalm 116:15).
Perhaps Stephen lived and died so victoriously that Jesus stood so He could give him a place on His throne—
To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with My Father on His throne. (Revelation 3:21)
Jesus has prepared a place for me where He is in heavenly realms (John 14:3; Ephesians 1:20, 2:6). He longs to welcome me into His happiness forever and ever (Matthew 25:21, 23).
I want to live every moment with my mind and heart on Jesus—with my thoughts and my eyes on Him. I want to run my race so well (Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 12:2), that even if my “finish line” is as gruesome as Stephen’s or Paul’s or Jesus’ that I will cross that line into the waiting arms of my Savior’s royal welcome!
How about you? It is possible to live and run and die in a way that you, too, will receive your royal welcome.
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Years ago, I read a book by Tim Elmore called Artificial Maturity. The premise of his book is that youth have access to so much information that they can sound informed and educated, but because they don’t know what to do with all that knowledge, they remain unprepared to handle the situations they face each day.
If we’re not careful, we Christians can be described as artificially mature. We know what the Bible says, we can quote a lot of passages, but if we don’t know how to actually apply that knowledge in our everyday lives, we are immature.
So we have to do something. One of the things we have to do is use our brain. God wants us to be fully engaged so that we can love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. So there needs to be a recognition of what we don’t know so that we can know how to apply what we know.
We don’t know what we don’t know until we know someone who knows something we don’t know (Romans 7:7).
But once we know that we don’t know, we have a choice: (1) Seek knowledge so we can know what we don’t know, or (2) Seek someone who can help us both know what we don’t know and know how to apply what we’ve learned. The Holy Spirit is that Someone (John 16:14-15).
We’ve already looked at one word for know in 2 Peter 1:2—epignosis is how to apply what we know. Remember the progression (vv. 2-5). The word for knowledge in v. 5 is gnosis: this is moral wisdom. So gnosis is having the knowledge; epignosis is how to apply that knowledge.
When we perceive the goodness—the gentlemanliness—of Jesus and we see ourselves in comparison, it makes us want to: (1) throw in the towel, (2) try to improve ourselves (which will ultimately make us want to throw in the towel), or (3) submit to the Spirit’s sanctification process.
God loves to help those who admit that cannot help themselves. In 1 Peter 5:5, Peter quotes Solomon, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” God stands back from those who say, “I know how to do this myself,” but He rushes in to help those who say, “I know I need to change, but I don’t know how” of “I need wisdom to apply what I know.”
“There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, ‘All right, then, have it your way.’” —C.S. Lewis
So we make every effort to add goodness to our faith, we make every effort to add knowledge to our goodness, and we make every effort to add self-control to our knowledge.
Self-control literally means “with strength.” Knowledge without strong self-control can be dangerous—just like a curvy road without guardrails.
In Titus 2:12, Paul ties together a sound mind with sober behavior. So it appears that self-control starts in the mind that is taking in new knowledge. Remember that knowledge is Spirit-breathed, so the strength of self-control must also be His strength. My strength fails, but God’s strength sustain me (Isaiah 40:29-31; 41:10, 13). I can know that…
God’s strength is my assurance in spiritual battles—Ephesians 6:10
His strength gives me longsuffering patience and joy—Colossians 1:11
The same strength Jesus used is given to us—Hebrews 2:14, 18
My knowledge won’t help unless it’s Spirit-illuminated. My self-control won’t stand unless it’s Spirit-empowered.
Our “make every effort” is to ask, receive, and apply. And then do that again, and again, and again with the Holy Spirit’s illumination and empowerment.
Check out all of the other messages in this series by clicking here.
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My wife was a cheerleader in high school, so she taught me to appreciate some of the finer points of the integrated movements and stunts that the sideline cheerleaders performed at each game. But it wasn’t until our daughter moved from her first sideline cheer season to her first competitive cheer season that I really took notice. Competitive cheer is cheerleading on a whole different level—the stunts and tumbling runs, the coordinated movements, the precise way the words of the cheer are punctuated by the claps, stomps, and jumps of the cheerleaders is quite impressive!
In many ways, the relationship of the three Persons of the Godhead are much like a coordinated dance. Which part of the Trinity you may see at any one moment is based on your viewpoint, as you can quickly see the other Persons of the Trinity at the exact same moment. The Father revealing Himself in the Son; the Son sending the Holy Spirit to be in us; the Spirit drawing people to the Father through the Son. Each Person of the Godhead revealing and promoting and glorifying each Other!
It’s absolutely awesome! And yet what is even more astounding to me is that we are invited to participate in this Spiritual Dance (see John 7:33, 14:16-17, 16:14-15, 17:20-21).
Peter says we are a part of this dance; actually he calls it more of a chorus. The word “add” in 2 Peter 1:5 is the Greek word epichorego. The root word (chorego) sounds like “chorus.” But it really means to be a chorus leader who supplies everything for the dance/chorus. As v. 3 tells us, “His diving power has given us everything we need” to participate in this Spiritual Dance.
As we have already seen, Jesus has provided everything we need except for our effort—our diligence to learn this dance and become more proficient in it. The idea of adding is really implied throughout these next verses. We could read vv. 5-7 like this—
“Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and [add] to [your] goodness, knowledge; and [add] to [your] knowledge, self-control; and [add] to [your] self-control, perseverance; and [add] to [your] perseverance, godliness; and [add] to [your] godliness, mutual affection; and [add] to [your] mutual affection, love.”
The supply of these virtues is not ours, but the “every effort” to ask, receive, and apply is ours. I cannot supply myself. But faith from God allows me to access the One full of grace (remember what we saw in John 1:16).
Our Father already knows what we have need of (Matthew 6:8), so we could ask something like, “Where is my goodness lacking?” And when the Holy Spirit reveals that to us, we can then ask our Savior—Who is full and overflowing with goodness—to impart to us what we need.
So my “every effort” is not supplying what I lack but asking to be supplied what I lack. The only thing keeping me less than full of any of these virtues is my lack of effort to ask and then apply what I am supplied.
The Holy Spirit imparts faith to us to believe for salvation. Then there is a faith we must “make every effort” to strengthen. This is the faith on full display in Hebrews 11.
Faith is:
conviction of the truth revealed in the Bible
believing that what God calls us to do, He will also empower us to do
being convinced that Jesus is our Example
trusting the Holy Spirit to conform us to this image of Jesus—to reveal Christlikeness in us
The first virtue Peter lists—the first virtue that our faith believes God to form in us—is goodness. This is moral excellence (NLT), good character (MSG), and virtue—excellence, resolution, Christian energy (AMPC).
Since Peter uses the same word to describe Jesus in v. 3 (His own glory and goodness), people around us should see our growth as Christian gentlemen or gentlewomen.
Remember that 2 Peter is written to saints about their interaction with other saints. Being around other faith-filled gentlemen and gentlewomen is an excellent training ground for all of us. It matters how we speak to each other. It matters that we treat each other chivalrously and with good manners. It matters that we are kind and polite to each other.
Because when we take this gentlemanly or gentlewomanly behavior into the world, it gets noticed. So make every effort to develop the goodness of Jesus in your life. Let this community of saints be the place where your training takes place.
Check out all of the other sermons in this series from 2 Peter by clicking here.
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I worked for my friend’s Dad on his lawn service for a few summers. This was a side business for him, and we worked with normal push mowers. The first stop of the early morning was always a challenge to get the mower started. I’d pull on that ripcord and listen to the engine sputter and then stop. Then I’d give it another pull, and perhaps it would run just a bit longer. Eventually the flywheel would keep on spinning, the engine would roar to life, and I could get to work.
Question: which pull started the mower? I really needed all of the pulls, didn’t I? In other words, I had to put in some effort in order to get the mower to work. Then I could actually be productive in my work.
Last week we talked about the dual blessings Peter says that God wants to send us—grace and peace. Notice that Peter longs for us to know these in abundance. Not just a small sampling, but overflowing blessings—sort of like my lawnmower that is running at full speed.
2 Peter 1:3 tells us it is “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our KNOWLEDGE of Him Who called us by His own glory and goodness.”
Remember that Greek word means our personal, intimate, experiential knowledge of Jesus. God allows us to know Him intimately (Jeremiah 29:13-14a). Notice it is “His divine power [that] has given us EVERYTHING we need for a godly life.”
“Divine power” literally means God’s power—Theois dynamis. This is the power which Jesus promised in Acts 1:8. Then His followers were able to live like Jesus, as we see in Acts 3:12; 4:7, 33.
But Jesus is the One Who got this started for us. HIS divine power has given us everything we need for A GODLY LIFE.
“Godly life is two words in Greek: “life” and “godliness.” The word for life is zoe. This is everlasting life that is deeper and richer than biological or psychological life. And the word for godliness is eusebia, which is the reverence, respect, and holy fear that gives evidence of one’s assured relationship with God through Jesus.
Check out two other translations of this verse.
The AMPC says: For His divine power has bestowed upon us all things that are requisite and suited to life and godliness, through the full personal knowledge of Him….
And The Message paraphrase says: Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God.
Here’s the power cycle for saints of God. The more intimately I know Jesus, the more the Holy Spirit’s dynamis power is unleashed in my life. The more His power flows through me, the more godly I can live. The more godly I live, the more I grow in intimacy with Jesus!
This is a flywheel that can really start spinning! Look at some of the blessings in the next few verses:
Participating in Christ’s divine nature—becoming more and more Christlike (v. 4a). The Greek word is defined as a way of feeling and acting which by long habit has become more and more natural to me.
Escaping the corruption in the world (v. 4b).
Becoming increasingly effective and productive in your knowledge—that’s the word epignosis again—of Jesus (v. 8).
I had to put the effort in to get the mower’s flywheel spinning so that I could actually do my job.
Peter says, Jesus got this poem cycle started so that I could be productive for Him. Peter introduces a phrase that we are going to see three more times in this letter: Make every effort (v. 5).
We are not saved by good works, but we are saved in order to do good works.
Jesus was empowered to do good works (see Luke 4:18-19 and Acts 10:38), and Jesus calls us to live the same way with the same anointing (John 20:21-22; Acts 4:30-31).
The cycle of power and godliness and greater intimacy is for you. Make every effort to keep it spinning so that you can bring more glory to God by increasing your capacity to be a blessing to those around you.
Please check out the other messages in the Friends of the Faith series by clicking here.
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Remember that Peter’s first letter was to instruct Christians how to interact with non-Christians, but his second letter is about Christians interacting within the community of faith. It’s a precious faith that we share with precious friends. Our dear friends encourage us to think wholesomely, have informed perseverance, remain pure, and stay on guard until the very end.
You can sense Peter’s longing for his dear friends of the faith to grasp this. He even says in this letter that it is his second letter to keep reminding the saints about the richness in Jesus, and he says as long as he has breath in his lungs he will keep on reminding us (2 Peter 1:12-15).
Peter uses an almost identical greeting in both letters: “Grace and peace be yours in abundance” (1 Peter 1:2; 2 Peter 1:2). This sentiment of linking grace and peace was almost universal, with all but five New Testament books greeting their audiences with the dual blessing of grace and peace.
Let’s talk about these dual blessings.
James Thayer defines this Greek word for peace: “According to a conception distinctly peculiar to Christianity, the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is.”
This means that Christians who have put their faith in Jesus as their Savior have peace with God (Romans 5:1), and that peace guards our hearts against all fear (Philippians 4:7).
The other blessing in Peter’s greeting is grace (see also Romans 5:2). This is—quite simply and quite profoundly—God’s favor toward us. God’s grace is unearned by our efforts, undeserved despite our sins, and unending for all eternity. And it comes coming in wave after wave (see John 1:16; I especially like it in the AMPC).
Peter’s greeting in his second letter adds a phrase from his first letter: “…through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” It’s fitting that this is in his second letter, showing he is still growing in his knowledge of Jesus.
We don’t get more grace and peace through knowledge, but we realize and can apply more grace and peace through this growing knowledge. The tap of God’s blessing is already open full—no more can come out. As we grow in the knowledge of this, we find it increasingly precious and valuable.
The Greek word for knowledge here is epignosis. This is knowledge through personal experience.
I once worked with a man who was a retired Air Force officer. Before flying one mission, he walked into the flight control building—a huge hanger-like structure—where dozens and dozens of personnel sat staring at screens to forecast the weather.
Lou asked a private for the forecast: “Sir, you have clear skies and excellent visibility for your mission,” he dutifully reported.
“Private,” Lou shouted, “on your feet!” The young man snapped to attention. “Follow me,” Lou ordered and began marching toward the door of the hanger. When they got there, Lou ordered the private to open the door, step outside, close the door behind him, and not to re-enter the hanger for 60 seconds.
One minute later that private stepped back inside and stood before Lou dripping wet. “Now, private,” Lou demanded, “what is my weather forecast.”
“It looks like rain, sir,” the young private reported.
Epignosis is not book knowledge about Jesus, but personal, intimate, experiential knowledge of Jesus. That Air Force meteorologist only knew about weather from his radar screen, but once he got drenched outside, he knew of the weather conditions from personal experience.
Peter says this epignosis is ours (2 Peter 1:3-5).
There’s only one thing that keeps us from growing in our knowledge of God’s abundant grace and peace: Complacency. In v. 5, Peter says we are to “make every effort.”
It’s not our effort that brings God’s grace, but it is our effort that allows us to know His grace—to know Jesus personally. Notice the progression:
(v. 3) Christ’s divine power has give us everything we need by His own glory and goodness
(v. 4a) Through these gracious gifts He has given us His great and precious promises
(v. 4b) Through His promises we can participate in His divine nature
(v. 5) For this very reason, we are to bring our best effort, our diligent interest, and our total attention
Peter concludes his letter exactly as he starts it: Keep growing in your epignosis (3:18).
The more you grow in epignosis, the more intimate knowledge you will have to encourage your dear friends of the faith—
And we know that the Son of God has come, and He has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and He is eternal life. (1 John 5:20 NLT)
Then like Paul, we can pray for ourselves and for our dear friends for a continual growing in this intimate knowledge of Jesus (see Ephesians 1:15-19).
Check out the other messages in this series from 2 Peter called Friends of the Faith.
Many people claiming to be a savior of the Jewish people had come on the scene earlier.
We see the Jewish leadership asking John the Baptizer if he was “the one” they had been expecting (John 1:19-23). In the Book of Acts, Gamaliel reminds the Sanhedrin of all of the previous men who had claimed to be the deliverer and had utterly failed in their attempts (see Acts 5:34-37).
Undoubtedly, the shepherds had heard many stories as they sat around their campfires at night. So notice that the angel clarifies that this is not just another story, but the fulfillment of the promises of the advent of THE Messiah. Jesus wasn’t just another so-called savior, but He was “THE Messiah, THE Lord.”
Jesus Himself would say of Himself, “I am THE way, THEtruth, and THE life” (John 14:6).
He is THE ONE AND ONLY!
Only Jesus is the Alpha and Omega (Revelation 1:8).
Only Jesus holds the keys of death and Hell (Revelation 1:18).
Only Jesus fulfills every prophetic promise (Hebrews 1:1-2; 2 Peter 1:19-20).
All confusion is removed when we look to Jesus.
All doubts are satisfied in Him.
All uncertainty is made certain by Who He is, what He did, what He is still doing, and what He will soon complete!
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There is a confidence and joy in knowing how things will turn out, in having “the inside scoop” that others don’t have.
In my book Shepherd Leadership, I tell the story of the time when I was working as the executive director of a camp and conference center. I was breaking down boxes at the recycle dumpster when a guest approached me, not knowing I was the director. I was able to help her because I knew who to talk to, where the supplies were, and how things worked around the facilities. I knew what I knew, but our guest was a little surprised that I knew what I knew.
We see this in the life of David as he became king of Israel and as his leadership expanded.
David was first anointed king over merely the tribe of Judah, but his influence began to expand (2 Samuel 3:1). It wasn’t just fear of his military power, but people genuinely liked him and saw that he had the best in mind for them (3:36), until eventually all of the tribes of Israel saw David as their king (5:1-3). His reign as king saw him continuing to grow in his strength, wisdom, and influence (14:18-20).
David was unquestionably established as the king—the leader God had chosen. Seeing David reigning as king brings us to the next Royal Psalm (Psalm 97).
The statement that “the LORD reigns” (v. 1) is widely accepted. For instance, the foundational document of the United States of America opens with the words, “The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America … We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.”
The fact that we exist presupposes a starting point. It would appear that the starting point is something or someone with unimaginable power. Even atheists call the beginning of our universe “a singularity” with unimaginable power to bring all of this into being. The fact that our universe is so well ordered makes the case for an Intelligence behind the unimaginable power. This intelligent, awesome power is described in Psalm 97:2-6.
Jesus is the One the biblical writers identify as this intelligent, awesome power (John 1:1-4; Colossians 1:15-17). Jesus even identifies Himself as being this One (Revelation 1:8, 18). Because Jesus holds the keys, He has the final word on our eternal existence. His desire is that all would come to know Him as their King and Savior (John 3:16-17).
When our sins are forgiven, we have no fear of God’s punishment (Psalm 97:7-12).
Those who oppose this worldview can be quite intimidating at times. Peter tells us, “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened” (1 Peter 3:14).
For now, in America, we don’t face bodily threats of violence (although that day may come). The threats Christians face today are being mocked for outdated or out-of-touch beliefs, being canceled because our stance is bigoted and hateful, or simply being pressured to compromise just a little bit on what we believe.
To emphasize his point, Peter quotes words from King David in Psalm 34. David’s words in this psalm sound a lot like the tone of Psalm 97. Notice especially Psalm 34:1-2, 15-22 where David assures us that King Jesus gets the final word, the decisive word, and the best word!
Someday every knee will bow to Him and every tongue will confess that He is God (Revelation 20:11-15). Knowing this should give Christians an incredible sense of security, especially in the presence of those who doubt, deny, or mock.
So when atheists, agnostics, and skeptics want to attack your belief in an all-loving, all-powerful God Who says the only way to avoid His final judgment is to place our faith in the work Jesus did on the Cross, let’s be careful in our response. We don’t have to fight them—we should instead respond with love. Peter went on to say that our response to their attacks would be our testimony (1 Peter 3:14-17).
Like David, let us extol the LORD at all times (even when under attack). Like the Royal Psalm, let us rejoice in the LORD and praise His holy name. Let us never forget Who gets the final word, the decisive word, and the best word!
If you’ve missed any of the other messages about the Royal Psalms, check out our series All Hail King Jesusby clicking here.
For this is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16 NLT)
God’s Son became flesh and blood so that we could have the ultimate Gift of life forever in His presence.
Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could He die, and only by dying could He break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. (Hebrews 2:14 NLT)
Being freed from sin, God calls us His children!
See how very much our Father loves us, for He calls us His children, and that is what we are! (1 John 3:1 NLT)
As our Father, He knows all that His children need before we even ask Him in prayer.
Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask Him! Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may Your name be kept holy. (Matthew 6:8-9 NLT)
“Let this be the one thing our heart desires—that in everything the will of God be done in us and by us, as it is done in heaven.” —Andrew Murray
Our Father’s good gifts provide all that we need to do His will.
Now may the God of peace—who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with His blood—may He equip you with all you need for doing His will. May He produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to Him. All glory to Him forever and ever! Amen. (Hebrews 13:20-21 NLT)
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Think about this: How do your favorite books end? How about the ending of your favorite movies?
I love listening to old-time radio shows, and I can quote the endings because they are all identical.
In the Bible, how do the epistles end? Most end with the author passing along his greetings, speaking a doxology like, “The Lord be with you,” or even a simple “Amen.”
Now listen to the last two verses of the Book of James: My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back,remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins (5:19-20).
James is a general epistle—not written to a particular congregation—so it was intended to be read to saints everywhere. The same is true for the Gospels:
Matthew: Jesus commissions His followers to go into all the world and preach the Gospel and then He promises, “I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).
Mark: “Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere” (Mark 16:20).
Luke-Acts: “And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God” (Luke 24:53); they were baptized in the Holy Spirit and more saints went out preaching (Acts 2); Paul “proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance!” (Acts 28:31).
John: “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written” (John 21:25). The implication, I believe, is that we are to do this as well—“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in Me will do the works I have been doing and they will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12).
So James writes instructions to the saints in this same posture of an ongoing work. He writes his epistle as a cycle—
He ends with”brothers and sisters” (Greek: adelphos in 5:19-20), and starts with adelphos (1:2),
He ends with a call to prayer (5:13-15), and opens with a call to prayer (1:5-7).
He ends with a call to patience in trouble (5:7-11), and he begins teaching saints about trials (1:2-4).
He ends with encouragement of how maturing saints can triumph over difficult situations (5:16), and he opens with the word of encouragement that our difficult situations serve to mature us (1:12).
In between these bookends is fabulous counsel for daily living: Dealing with temptation, learning from the Word, watching our words, letting our day deeds reflect our faith, growing in wisdom, and seizing each day for God’s glory.
There is no finish line for me while God still has me on earth. If I’m still here, He’s still working on me so that He can work through me. We start our Christian journey justified—a one-time event where we’ve been made just as if we had never sinned. We end out journey when we are glorified—a one-time event when we arrive in Heaven. But along the journey we are being sanctified—an going process (that I like to call saint-ification) the whole time we’re on earth.
Throughout this sanctification process, we are continually growing. See Psalm 92:12-14—
The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon, planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God.They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green.
If you’re still breathing, you should still be…
…maturing through trials
…bearing increasingly more fruit
…useful for the Kingdom
…invaluable to the Body of Christ
So take a deep breath.
If you’re still breathing, God still has a plan for you. Don’t worry about the finish line (God will take care of that), but keep learning, growing, and serving all the way to the end.
“‘Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth’ [John 17:17]. The great objective of God’s Word is to make us holy. No diligence or success in Bible study will really profit us unless it makes us more humble and holy. In our use of Holy Scripture, this must be our main objective. The reason there is often so much Bible reading with so little real result in a Christlike character is that ‘…salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth’ (2 Thessalonians 2:13) is not truly desired. …
“It is God Himself who alone can make us holy by His Word. The Word, separate from God and His direct operation, cannot accomplish anything in us. The Word is an instrument: God Himself must use it. God is the only holy One. He alone can make holy. The unspeakable value of God’s Word is that it is God’s means of holiness.
“The terrible mistake of many people is that they forget that God alone can use it and make it effective. It is not enough that I have access to the office of a physician. I need for him to prescribe a cure. Without him, my use of his medicines could be fatal. This was true of the scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day. They made their boast in God’s law. They delighted in their study of Scripture and yet remained unsanctified. The Word did not sanctify them, because they did not seek for this in the Word and did not yield to God to do it for them [John 5:39-40]. …
“‘There is none holy as the Lord…’ (1 Samuel 2:2). All holiness is His, and He makes things holy by His holy presence. The tabernacle and temple were not holy in virtue of cleansing, separation, or an indwelling God. His taking possession made them holy. God makes us holy through His Word, bringing Christ and the Holy Spirit into us. The Father can only do this as we wait before Him and in deep dependence and full surrender give ourselves up to Him. When we pray by faith, ‘Sanctify [me] through Thy truth; Thy word is truth,’ our knowledge of God’s Word will truly make us holy.” —Andrew Murray
But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” (Acts 7:55-56) 
