Holy Living In An Unholy World Series

Is our Christianity a hobby we do whenever we have time for it? Or do we take our faith seriously? Is your Christianity something you do? Or is it who you are? We are called to holiness. Do we strive for holiness in our everyday lives?

1 Peter 1:15–16 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.”

Do we strive to be holy or do we excuse our behavior?

A church member criticized her pastor because he was preaching against sin in the lives of Christians. “After all,” she said, “sin in the life of a believer is different from sin in the lives of unsaved people.” “Yes,” replied the pastor, “it is worse.” [1]

We know as Christians we need to live a life of holiness, a life without sin. I was reading through 1 John chapters 2 and 3, John goes to great lengths stressing we need to live a sinless life. And I was faced with the question, “Is it my aim to live life without sin? Or is my aim to not sin very much?

As Christians, we ought to be motivated to holy living because of our love for God, in our deep sincere desire to please Him. But the world tugs at us and we find ourselves trying to please the world and trying to please God at the same time. We cannot have both ways.

James 4:4 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Especially in this world, a holy life will stand out. It will truly be counterculture. We are called to be different.

Hebrews 12:14-17

1 Thessalonians 4:1–8

The problem for most of American Christians is not persecution, though we are experiencing more that, but keeping pure and living holy lives in the midst of so much unholiness and un godliness all around us. What did Jesus say?

Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

So when we look into our hearts to see if we are pure, more times than not, we will justify ourselves with “At least I’m better than so and so,” or “at least I’m not like THOSE people." But where should we be looking?

Philippians 2:5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,

Anyone here obtained the complete attitude and mind of Jesus yet? But here we are. Jesus prays for those us who are His, and being His, we are not of this world yet we are in this world:

John 17:14b–16 … they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

The writer of Hebrews had in Chapter 12 explained how God chastens, disciplines, or otherwise corrects His children, and how we should make our paths straight in verse 13. He goes on and says:

Hebrews 12:14 Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.

As we strengthen our walk, we need to seek to live peaceable lives. Paul says that we are to pray for those in authority so we may live peaceable lives.

Romans 12:18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.

Peace is a mark of a Christian – inner peace and lives that make for peace. To live a holy life, we seek out peace where we live, we do not go out looking for a fight. Jesus said:

Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

And we are to "Pursue … and the sanctification.” Notice that little word “and,” we are to pursue peace AND sanctification. It is not either/or – it’s an “and.”

Sanctification means to make holy. That is not easily done in an unholy world. Understand there are three levels of holiness.

1. Positional holiness – We are made holy when we were saved. Jesus becomes our holiness to the Father.

2. Practical holiness – day by day, we often call this sanctification – the process God uses to make us holy. We are to strive to live holy every day.

3. Perfect holiness – which we all obtain in heaven when we are free from all sin.

Practical/day by day holiness is what is being refer to here. Without this pursuit of this holiness, how can we expect to see God’s power at work in our lives? How can we “see” God?