Pursuing Holiness – Cleaning Up
Every Christian is to pursue holiness. Every Christian is called to live a holy life. Every Christian is to strive to stay away from sin. Holiness is not an option. The Bible says:
“He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy." 1 Peter 1:15-16 (NKJV)
If you are a Christian – there is no exception to this call. This call is not just to pastors, Sunday School teachers or board members. This call is to every Christian no mater what your age. No matter what your gender. No matter what your educational or economic level. Every Christian is called to be holy.
Our call is based on the fact that God is HOLY.
"Be holy, for I am holy."
God wants us to be like Himself. God wants His children to be holy because He is holy. Many Christians adapt to the character and behavior pattern of the Christians around them. But God has called us – not to be like other Christians – He has called us to be like Himself.
What is God’s holiness?
God’s holiness is freedom from all SIN.
We say that a garment is clean when it is free from all dirt or spots. We say that gold is pure when all the dross has been refined from it. We say that an object it perfect when it has no flaw whatsoever in it. So too we should think about the holiness of God. The Bible talks about holiness when it says:
“Husbands, love your wives, just as also Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her, to make her holy, cleansing her in the washing of water by the word. He did this to present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but holy and blameless.” Ephesians 5:25-27 (HCSB)
Holiness is complete PURITY.
To be holy an object contains no spot, no wrinkle, no darkness, no flaw or defect.
First John one five says:
“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.” 1 John 1:5 (NKJV)
John is telling us that God has no darknes what so ever. He is absolutely pure. He is absolutely free of every defect. He has no blemishes. He character contains no faults. He is completely free of all sin. His thoughts and His actions are holy. Everything about Him is pure. Everything about Him is Holy.
By contrast consider our own lives. How our thoughts will wander from thinking on those things that are pure to thinking on those things that are not so pure. Someone has said that, “Every Christian is a walking civil war.” and rightly so. It is a constant battle for us as Christians to even think pure thoughts all the time. But this is not the case for God. God is holy and He has called us to be like Him.
God demands for us to do more than acknowledge His holiness. He says:
"BE holy, for I am holy." 1 Peter 1:16 (NKJV)
We are to strive to "BE holy". We are to pursue holiness. Why? Because He is holy and He wants us to be like Him.
The absolute holiness of God should be of great comfort and assurance to us. Why? Because if God is absolutely holy –
All of God’s actions toward us are always PURE AND JUST.
He can not be otherwise – because He is holy.
As a pastor I have heard people say, “God is so unfair. Why has He allowed this to happen to me?”
Folks let me say this and please listen carefully. God is not trying to be mean to you. He is not playing games with you to tease you. He wants the best for you. If you are going through a rough time right now it is not because God is wicked or mean. God’s character is holiness. God is holy and He wants you to be holy too.
This morning I want to give you four reasons why holiness is so important.
1. Holiness is important for FELLOWSHIP with God.
Look at Psalm 15 with me:
“Lord, who can dwell in Your tent? Who can live on Your holy mountain? The one who lives honestly, practices righteousness, and acknowledges the truth in his heart— who does not slander with his tongue, who does not harm his friend or discredit his neighbor, who despises the one rejected by the Lord, but honors those who fear the Lord, who keeps his word whatever the cost, who does not lend his money at interest or take a bribe against the innocent— the one who does these things will never be moved.” Psalms 15:1-5 (HCSB)
In verse one David asks the question, “Who can dwell in God’s tent?” The rest of the psalm is a response to that question. It can be summarized as “he who leads a holy life.”
This psalm gives practical applications of living a holy life. Being honest, not slandering people, honoring those who fear the Lord, keeping your word and watching over the innocent. All of these are characteristics of holiness.
God does not require a perfect, sinless life to have fellowship with Him, but He does require that we be serious about holiness. He wants us to take sin serious. We are to grieve over our sin instead of trying to justify it. We are to earnestly pursue holiness in our life.
Fellowship happens when two are in agreement. God hates sin - we should too. He hates our lustful thoughts. He hates our pride and jealousy. He hates our outbursts of temper. He hates our laziness. He hates sin. We need to hate it too.
If we want to have true fellowship with God we need to think about sin in the same manner He thinks about sin.
We must have a Godly MIND-SET.
We must think as God thinks. But we must also strive to do the things God wants us to do. He wants us to be pure. We must strive to understand the purity of God so that we can become pure. He is holy and He wants us to be holy too. We should be on God’s side - working with Him for our purity.
"Be holy, for I am holy." 1 Peter 1:16 (NKJV)
The second reason why holiness is important is:
2. Holiness is important for our own WELL-BEING.
God wants us to be holy because sin destroys us. The Bible says:
“The wages of sin is death.” Romans 6:23 (NKJV)
How many of you would eat rat poison? How many of you would drink Clorox bleach? None of us! We don’t want to kill ourselves. We want to live a healthy life. Guess what – God wants that for us too. He wants us to live a spiritually healthy life. That is why He disciplines us. Look at this passage from Hebrews from the Message Bible about discipline.
“It’s the child he loves that he disciplines; the child he embraces, he also corrects. God is educating you.” Hebrews 12:6-7 (MSG)
He corrects us because He loves us. He corrects us because He wants us to be pure and holy. He corrects us because we need it. We need to stop hurting ourselves. We need to stop killing ourselves. Sin will destroy us.
David knew the effects of unconfused sin in his life when he said:
“When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long.” Psalms 32:3 (NKJV)
Sin affected his life – even down to his bones.
Sin will kill us. God wants us to live. He is concerned about our well-being.
A third reason that holiness is important is:
3. Holiness is important for EFFECTIVE SERVICE to God.
Paul wrote to Timothy and said:
“If anyone purifies himself from these things (sin), he will be a special instrument, set apart, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.” 2 Timothy 2:21 (HCSB)
Holiness and usefulness are linked together. We can not be an effective servant if we are an unclean vessel. Paul goes on and instructs Timothy further in what holiness means.
“Flee from youthful passions, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. But reject foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they breed quarrels.” 2 Timothy 2:22-23 (HCSB)
Here again is some real practical advice on what it means to be holy. God wants us holy so that we can be effective. We can’t live in sin and expect that God will use an unclean vessel.
How many of you wash your dishes? All of you! None of us like eating on dirty plates. None of us like drinking out of a dirty glass. None of us like using a dirty fork. God wants clean vessels too. Clean vessels are important for effective service to God.
The fourth reason that holiness is important is:
4. Holiness is important for our ASSURANCE of salvation.
Holiness may not be an important fact at the moment of our salvation but it should become more and more important as we seek to become more and more like Christ. True faith will always show itself by its fruits. Jesus said;
“Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.” Matthew 7:17-20 (NKJV)
The working of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life is always evident by the fruit they bear.
A young woman went to share her new found faith in Christ with her father. She told her dad that she had trusted in Christ. Her father told her that he too had accepted Christ. He said he had been to a revival as a boy – and had accepted Christ at the age of ten. When the young woman was asked if her father had given any evidence of being a Christian her answer was “No”. Her dad was almost 60 and had never once given any evidence that he was a Christian. The Bible says, “Faith without works is dead.” James 2:17.
Everyone who professes to be a Christian should ask himself, “Is there evidence of holiness in my life? Do I desire and try to become more like Christ everyday? Does it bother me when I sin? Do I grieve over my lack of purity in my life? Do I seek God daily to get closer to Him and to be more like Him?” The Bible says;
“By their fruits you will know them.”
What fruit are you bearing today? Are you pursuing holiness? Are you striving to come clean?
