What does the Bible say about holiness?
Today I would like to look at what the Bible
says about holiness.
Anyone and everyone who ever really and
truly serve the Lord had to live in holiness.
Holiness like all things in people's lives are
choices that we have to make we either
choose to live a life of holiness or not.
God will not make us or forces to live the life
of holiness he desires us to.
But remember why we do it also brings us
to a closer relationship with God.
Many people today say that they cannot live the life of holiness God expects them to.
And this statement is farther from the truth than you could ever imagine.
Yes people can live the life of holiness God wants them to.
God has a set of guidelines we need to apply inside of our lives and they are found in the Bible.
What makes serving God so difficult is not the rules that God places down its one mankind tries to place their ideas of what and how a Christian should live.
God did not make it so difficult to walk in or to live the life of holiness that it is impossible for us to do this.
God wants us to succeed in every area of our lives and that includes living the life of holiness.
We have to understand number one is that it is God's will for us to walk in holiness.
Our whole lives should be a reflection of his we are created in his image.
If we look in the book of Leviticus chapter 11:45 this is what it says:
For I am the Lord, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, to be your God; thus you shall be holy for I am holy.'"
God does expect us to live like he is and that is holy.
God has commanded us that we should live the life of holiness like we are supposed to and according to his word.
And you might say well it's too hard to live that way in this world today.
But understand this there is nothing new to God, God new exactly what was going to be happening in this world today he realizes this world we live in is a very sinful world and always has been.
But nevertheless what happens in the world does not dictate what happens inside of your own life.
What dictates what happens in your life and how your life is lived is you.
We have to remember God has called us out of this world to live in holiness as we should.
If you look at what it says here in the book of first Peter Chapter 1:15 through 16 look at what it says
15. but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior;
16. because it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy."
notice in verse 15 it says that like the holy one who called you we have been called by God to be like him and to live in holiness.
And I know this seems like such an old-fashioned idea but remember this the Bible does tell us that God is the same yesterday today and forever if God doesn't change why should we?
So many Christians today are not standing up for holiness because they are afraid of the ridicule that they will have to put up with.
Yes there is a certain amount of ridicule the people have to put up with as Christians but remember this Didn't Jesus have to put up with ridicule as an example to us while he was walking among us on this planet?
Living in holiness and sanctification is a choice that only you can decide to do with inside of your life
nobody can force you into it it has to be a free will decision.
Holiness is the one thing that all Christians should be striving for within side of their lives with everything that they have.
The book of Deuteronomy 18:13 encourages us to become the best that we can be let's take a look and see what the book of Deuteronomy has to tell us.
Deuteronomy 18:13 Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God.
Now before you say nobody can be perfect I want you to remember who wrote this Bible and his name was God.
Let's take a look and see what the Bible means by perfect:
The WordPerfect means to be blameless in your life.
People if God thinks you can be perfect or blameless in your life this is something that is possible
think about this for a minute what is God really asking of us?
In other words God does not want us to be able to be blamed for sin in our lives.
In other words he doesn't want us to sin.
And what is sin this is what the dictionary says that sin is transgression of divine law
In other words living a life that is not pleasing to God all God has ever tried to do is give man kind
a better life but in order for us to have a better life people we need to work with God.
We cannot do and live any way that we want our lives have got to make a complete turnaround
and we need to learn how to live in holiness even in a unholy world.
Remember what it says in the book of Romans Chapter 6:12 through 14
12. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts,
13. and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
14. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace.
This is some really godly advice to everybody that is willing to listen to it
it says what therefore do not let sin reign in other words rule have power over your body.
In verse 13 it says we are not to allow our bodies to become corrupt with sin
and it continues on in verse 14 say that sin has no power or have any authority in your life.
We have to remember if we allow sin or unrighteousness to dictate inside of our lives it will lead us to destruction.
The book of Hebrews warns us shows us in Chapter 12 verse 14 what sin will do to us in our future.
Hebrews 12:14 Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.
Now in the book of Hebrews is speaking of sanctification that also means in holiness.
This is what the dictionary says about sanctification: to make holy; ( or ) set apart as sacred.
Our lives are sacred to God we should separate ourselves and living a holy life our lives should be sacred because we are the vessels of God we are a special people to God set apart we have to remember the Bible does tell us that we need to separate ourselves from the world.
Remember Christianity is not all about you it is all about what God wants from you.
True Christians follow the will of God and the will of God is for us to live in holiness as his sacred vessels set apart from this world.
We may have to live here in this world but we do not have to become like this world.
Remember without holiness we will never see the Lord in other words if we do not live in holiness down here we will not be prepared to live in holiness in heaven.
Only those who are prepared and separated from this world and from sin will go and be able to enter into the kingdom of God.
Is a little sin really worth a eternity in hell?
