"Kept Holding On"

"Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee." (Psalms 86:2)  At first read, you might wonder what it means for David to use the word "holy" as a term to describe who or what he is before God; but taken in the context of what he is believing, just the fact that he believes God is who He is, and that God does have the power to pardon his sins, then he can actually lift up holy hands to his God and declare himself a faithful servant. Was he always faithful? Not so much at being holy and righteous; but at holding onto God and counting on God to show mercy, he was better than most. To put it mildly, to be saved from the fires of hell, one must be found holy and without sin. I know that the general public, and even many that call themselves Christians, don't subscribe to that belief; nor do they believe that there is an actual hell that has eternal fire and brimstone. Personally, I choose to not take that chance. I make sure to ask God for forgiveness every morning and night; even during the day, when I realize that I have committed a sin. If you actually believe that Jesus was telling the truth about hell, then you can't take any chances with sin. Take what was spoken by Paul in that closing Scripture yesterday, his point of receiving the Holy Spirit, is not just a test for having been born again, it's also the proof of holiness. It's like this: all through the Old Testament every servant or prophet of God was gifted by God's Spirit coming upon them; it was a sign that they were in line with God's purposes and doing His will. In this New Testament period, we that have been born again receive the Holy Spirit within us, which is a sign that we are not just in the perfect will of God, but we are children of God, born of His Spirit. The only way that this is made possible, is by believing in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior; there is no other way to be born of the Spirit, than to be washed in the blood of Jesus Christ. I guess another way you could look at it, is to consider who God is, and if the Holy Spirit is God, then in order for Him to dwell within us, we must be holy; it is only the blood of Jesus that qualifies us as a holy dwelling place for God's Spirit...
"So it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it. For the Scriptures say that God told Pharaoh, "I have appointed you for the very purpose of displaying my power in you and to spread my fame throughout the earth." So you see, God chooses to show mercy to some, and he chooses to harden the hearts of others so they refuse to listen. Well then, you might say, "Why does God blame people for not responding? Haven't they simply done what he makes them do?" No, don't say that. Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, "Why have you made me like this?" When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn't he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw garbage into? In the same way, even though God has the right to show his anger and power, he is very patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are destined for destruction. He does this to make the riches of his glory shine even brighter on those to whom he shows mercy, who were prepared in advance for glory. And we are among those whom he selected, both the Jews and from the Gentiles." (Romans 9:16-24) NLT