Tony
Scriptures:
Leviticus 11:44
Revelation 15:4
1 Corinthians 6:11
Philippians 2:12
1 John 3:2
Romans 5:12-21
“For I am the Lord Your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves and you shall be holy, for I am holy.” (Leviticus 11:44)
When God declares that He is Holy I wonder what other words come into your mind? Perhaps, ‘whole’, ‘complete’, ‘perfect’, ‘pure’, ‘sinless’, ‘set apart’, to choose a few. The Holiness of God is amazing and we shall spend much of our time in Heaven praising and worshipping God because He is Holy (Revelation 15:4). The problem for us comes when we read in Scripture that God expects us to be holy. To be a ‘set apart’ people. This means:
We are not to live as the world around us lives.
We are ‘set apart’ to be living out God’s will in our lives
We’re set apart to be witnesses to those who do not yet know Jesus as
Lord of their lives.
However, when we try to be holy, set apart to do God’s will, we discover we cannot live like this without help. This comes in two parts. Firstly we need to be made clean and holy to begin our Christian life. In 1 Corinthians 6:11 we read, “You were washed; you were sanctified (made holy); you were justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of God.”
When we receive Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, God sees us as holy and acceptable. This is possible through the finished work of Christ on Calvary, but then secondly we must work out our holiness as part of our life and witness.
Just as Jesus made possible this total change in our status before God, so Holy Spirit will help and guide us as we work out our own salvation in fear and trembling. (Philippians 2:12). I find it helpful to confess my failures in holy living to the Lord each day, and to ask His Spirit of Holiness to fill me anew.
Our holiness is never going to be absolute like the Holiness of God. We will always be finite people. As God sees our continuing desire to be holy and hears our heartfelt confession of failure, Holy Spirit will help us to grow in holiness .
Our adoption as God’s children allows us to become Godly people (1 John 3:2)
The atoning death of Jesus, the Holy One, makes possible the growth in holiness in all who claim its benefits by faith. We can be growing in our standing with God as well as our conduct toward others. (Romans 5:12-21).
Here are some words from a song I love to sing.
When I look into Your holiness,
When I gaze into Your loveliness,
When all things that surround
Become shadows in the light of You.
I worship You, I worship You,
The reason I live, is to worship You.
Prayer: Father God, thank You for sending Jesus. Holy Spirit help us to spend time in worship, focussing on Jesus and growing more like Him day by day. Thank You that He is our perfect example, and thank You, Holy Spirit, for being our Helper. Amen