HOLINESS

 
February 16, 2022                                       HOLINESS
2 Corinthians 7:1 “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”
Romans 6:22 “But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.”
1 Peter 1:15-16 “But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves in all your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
To some, the word holiness has somewhat of a bad connotation; if someone claims to be holy, then some think of them as looking down on others. Many believes would never claim to be holy. Yet, in spite of the objections to the word holiness and the hesitancy to embrace the idea of being holy, we cannot ignore the clear calling of many scriptures for us to be holy. To make sure we understand, we are not justified before God by our good works; we are made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ-nothing else; also, we cannot live holy lives apart from the working of the Holy Spirit in us. With that being said, there is an indisputable calling from God for us be ‘holy in all our conduct.’ As believers, we are not to focus on ourselves being sinners who are saved, but rather, we were sinners who have been saved and made new. (As believers, we can sin, but we do so by choice-the power of sin has been broken.) The key is that because God is holy and we belong to Him, we too are to be holy like our Father. To be holy in all our behavior requires that we understand that we can walk according to the Spirit; and when we walk according to the Spirit, our behavior is holy and we do not sin; when we choose to walk according to our flesh, our behavior is not holy. Our mindset should be that “we are perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” Our most basic desire in life should be to live in a way that pleases the Lord because we love Him-not to earn His love and acceptance. The scriptures were given to us by God as instructions for living; simply said, we are to do and to believe what the word says. As we go about life day by day, we will face choices-do we walk by the flesh, or by the Spirit. We will at times hear our flesh telling us to do one thing, and the Spirit saying not to do it-that is the time when we must choose to lay aside whatever it is that would not please the Lord, and follow the leading of the Spirit. “But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to distinguish between good and evil.” Hebrews 5:14. So, let us not be hearers only of God’s word, but doers. Today, may we practice what we read in the scriptures.
Romans 12:1 “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
Blessings,
Buddy