Holiness or holy means to be consecrated, dedicated, separated, and sacred. It is the opposite of common, profane, obscene, and defiled. Throughout the bible God is described as holy and as such He is separated from sin and all things common, evil and wicked. God's nature is holy and He requires His children to possess the same nature that He has. A child is determined to be the offspring of his/her father by the fact that he/she shares their father's DNA. In the natural the father can look at his child and see characteristics of his nature in his child. There are certain characteristics and behaviors that the father can see in his child that he too possesses. The same is true in the spiritual. God requires that we all go through a rebirth. Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:7, "So don't be surprised when I say, you must be born again" [NLT]. We must be born again, through the Spirit of God and it is through that spiritual rebirth that we become the children of God and take on His nature. God as our heavenly father desires to see characteristics of His nature in us and as a holy God He desires to see holiness in us.
The first mention of the word holy in scripture is found in Exodus 3:5 when God told Moses, "do not come any closer. Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground" [NIV]. The place of God's presence at that moment was holy ground meaning that it was sacred and undefiled; consecrated or separated unto God and in order for Moses to tread there he had to take off that which was common (his shoes). In order to make contact with the holy, Moses had to discard and separate himself from that which God deemed as unclean and common or unconsecrated; in this case, Moses' shoes.
God has called us to holy living if we proclaim Him as our father and Jesus as our Lord and savior. In order to walk in this calling of holiness we must take some things off; we must discard those aspects of our nature that are unclean, defiled, profane, and wicked and morally impure. Just as Moses had to discard his shoes to approach a holy God who had called upon him; we too must separate ourselves unto a holy God. I Peter 1:16 reads, "be ye holy for I am holy" [KJV]. God is saying if you profess to be my offspring; if you really are my children then your nature should be as mine, which is holy. We must strive to be holy; desire to be holy; and be conscientious about being holy. In verse 15 of I Peter 1, Peter says, "he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation" [KJV]. This word, conversation, that Peter uses means behavior or conduct. Therefore, we are to be holy in every manner of of our conduct and behavior. It is a matter of daily living. Holiness must be a characteristic of our very nature that shows forth through our daily manner of living and conduct. It is not a matter of word in that we say that we are holy, but a matter of conduct and behavior that speaks for itself. Our conduct and behavior will speak for us regardless of what we say. This is why we have to be ever so careful how we conduct ourselves because when we say we are a child of God and then our manner of living is contrary to that declaration, people are left with a testimony about our lives that does not speak of holiness. It is in these times that people cannot hear what we are trying to tell them about God because our lives are speaking louder than our words. God desires to not only have a relationship with us, but to work through us to be a witness to those who are lost who have rejected him or have not heard his gospel message. God cannot use us as an effective witness if we don't understand that He has called us to a life of holy living. Believe it or not, the world does not want to come into churches that have a secular feel and look about it. When the world (the lost) comes to the church they are coming because they desire an encounter with the holiness of God. They desire that which is clean and undefiled; an encounter with the holy. They should be able to encounter the holy nature of God through their encounter with you if you are truly His child.
I Thessalonians 4:7 tells us that "For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life" [NIV]. I Peter 1:13-14 tells us, "therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance" [NIV]. We are called to be holy with a sober or morally alert and circumspect mind. To live in obedience to God and not allow ourselves to be conformed to the evil desires of this world that once governed us before we were children of God when we did not know the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ or understand the principles of God's word. Instead of turning back into a life of sin or conforming to the world system that once governed your thoughts and actions, you are now called to a life of holy living.
The first mention of the word holy in scripture is found in Exodus 3:5 when God told Moses, "do not come any closer. Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground" [NIV]. The place of God's presence at that moment was holy ground meaning that it was sacred and undefiled; consecrated or separated unto God and in order for Moses to tread there he had to take off that which was common (his shoes). In order to make contact with the holy, Moses had to discard and separate himself from that which God deemed as unclean and common or unconsecrated; in this case, Moses' shoes.
God has called us to holy living if we proclaim Him as our father and Jesus as our Lord and savior. In order to walk in this calling of holiness we must take some things off; we must discard those aspects of our nature that are unclean, defiled, profane, and wicked and morally impure. Just as Moses had to discard his shoes to approach a holy God who had called upon him; we too must separate ourselves unto a holy God. I Peter 1:16 reads, "be ye holy for I am holy" [KJV]. God is saying if you profess to be my offspring; if you really are my children then your nature should be as mine, which is holy. We must strive to be holy; desire to be holy; and be conscientious about being holy. In verse 15 of I Peter 1, Peter says, "he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation" [KJV]. This word, conversation, that Peter uses means behavior or conduct. Therefore, we are to be holy in every manner of of our conduct and behavior. It is a matter of daily living. Holiness must be a characteristic of our very nature that shows forth through our daily manner of living and conduct. It is not a matter of word in that we say that we are holy, but a matter of conduct and behavior that speaks for itself. Our conduct and behavior will speak for us regardless of what we say. This is why we have to be ever so careful how we conduct ourselves because when we say we are a child of God and then our manner of living is contrary to that declaration, people are left with a testimony about our lives that does not speak of holiness. It is in these times that people cannot hear what we are trying to tell them about God because our lives are speaking louder than our words. God desires to not only have a relationship with us, but to work through us to be a witness to those who are lost who have rejected him or have not heard his gospel message. God cannot use us as an effective witness if we don't understand that He has called us to a life of holy living. Believe it or not, the world does not want to come into churches that have a secular feel and look about it. When the world (the lost) comes to the church they are coming because they desire an encounter with the holiness of God. They desire that which is clean and undefiled; an encounter with the holy. They should be able to encounter the holy nature of God through their encounter with you if you are truly His child.
I Thessalonians 4:7 tells us that "For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life" [NIV]. I Peter 1:13-14 tells us, "therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance" [NIV]. We are called to be holy with a sober or morally alert and circumspect mind. To live in obedience to God and not allow ourselves to be conformed to the evil desires of this world that once governed us before we were children of God when we did not know the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ or understand the principles of God's word. Instead of turning back into a life of sin or conforming to the world system that once governed your thoughts and actions, you are now called to a life of holy living.
To leave a response to this message: A Call to Holy Living. I thought that I would wait until I went to church on Sunday and post a comment then. Come on now let's be honest, isn't it true that we put on our best holiness for church on
ReplyDeleteSunday, or whatever day we go to worship.
Ok then if you are not going to be honest with yourself, let me just be honest with me and maybe the truth will set me free. So let
me just step out a minute, if you dont agree with this, its ok. We all have to work out our own souls salvation. Living holy is not really something that we can do. If so, then it would be us living in our own self righteousness.
Because only God is holy, only God is righteous, for us to live righteous and holy, it would require the holines of God to be lived out
through us. This is done as we present our bodies unto God, (Rom 12:1) so that the spirit of Christ may dwell in and through us by faith and by the power of the Holy Spirit. Remember the purchase. please read (1Cor 6:19-20).
Whose are you?
As we allow the Spirit to reproof us, guide and correct us, are we able to be more Christ-like, and that takes humility and brokeness,
and a love for others. The more that we are in the presence of God, the creator of all things, the more our behavior and character are improved and we reflect His character (the fruit of the Spirit Gal 5:22-23) in our daily lives. Isn't that awesome.
Thanks again Dr Bailey for this blog on holy living. Any comments to this response are appreciated. K/S
Hi Kingdom Seeker. It's good to hear from you again. I agree with you that it is when we live a committed life to Christ that we are able to live holy as God has commanded us to. I think that it is important for people to understand that it is not impossible for us to do what God says we are to do. If it were impossible, He would not ask or command us to do it. I don't believe that God would require us to do something that we have no power to do. That said, it is possible for us to live holy as Jesus did. To know how to do this we must look at how Jesus did it. He did it by submitting himself to God, the father. Jesus sought God's will above his own. Jesus consulted with God on the various issues that arose in his life. Jesus stayed focused on his God given purpose for living. Jesus thought of others above himself. Jesus did not allow himself to be distracted by the lack of understanding of others. Bottom line, Jesus existed to do God's will and while he was exposed to all of the distractions and trappings that we are today, he lived a yielded life to God.
ReplyDelete- Dr. Bailey