Personal Holiness!
Reading: 1 Peter 1v15-16
Modern day television programs have taught us the wrong way to deal with relationships,…how to deal with our money,…what we should and should not value,…and how to evaluate what is right or wrong.
In other words,…our culture is becoming more and more a mirror image of what is seen on the television screens.
However,…we as Christians have been called by God to become more like Christ,…not like the people we see on TV.
In fact,…God actually commands us to become more like Him in 1 Peter 1v15-16,
“But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, "You must be holy because I am holy.” (NLT).
In other words,…God wants us first to be holy,...and then to act holy.
Yet there are many temptations and almost irresistible sensual enticements standing between us and our goal of personal holiness.
It’s not easy,…but God says it s attainable,…because if God commands us to do something,…then its possible to do it in the power of His Holy Spirit.
God doesn’t expect you and I to do it in our strength.
God’s grace and His Holy Spirit will be there to assist us and to give us the power to accomplish His will for our lives to live holy lives.
…yet many people are not living holy lives because they have never resolved in their hearts to obey God’s command.
That’s why A.W Tozer once said, “The reason why many are still troubled, still seeking, still making little forward progress, is because they have not yet come to the end of themselves…”.
…but lets not beat around the bush - it will cost you much to achieve God’s goal
of holiness!
I want you to imagine the following scene.
You’re going for the most important job interview of your life.
You’re nervous,…because in just a couple of moments,…you are going to walk through that door and have one of the most important job interviews of your life.
In your hand you’re holding your all-important CV,…and in the other hand,…you’re holding onto some of your best work samples.
The interview seems to be going well,…until the vice president of the company asks you to write down three or four words that best describes who you are as a person - outside of work.
To your total surprise,…he pulls out a few files of letters written to him by your family and some of your best friends,…describing what kind of a person you are.
He had asked them the same question about you.
Now,…for a moment,…think about what your closest friends and family would have said about you in only three or four words?
“Would any of them have described you by the word HOLY?”
“Would they have even thought about that word?”
The word “Holy” seems to be such a foreign word these days,…isn’t it?
I’m sure if we went into the streets and asked people, “What does the word HOLY mean to you?,…you will hear all sorts of wonderful things.
They will say the word Holy reminds them of a man in a long robe with a beard and a somber look.
They will say that the word Holy reminds them of people living in isolation.
Strange that the world always associated Holy with an outward appearance,…isn’t it?
Yet God says its an inward thing.
Holiness is first of all an inward thing,…not an outward thing.
Holiness originates in the heart.
Question is though, “Do you think you would ever be described as HOLY?”
“Do you think that you would ever be able to get to that place in your life where people will describe you as HOLY?”.
I want you to remember,…that its God’s will for your life to be holy,…not just the other person sitting next to you,…but you!
…so what does the “holy” actually then mean?
Well,…it means to “separate”.
When something is separated,…it is separated from something,…as well as separated to something else.
In other words,…holiness means being separated from living a sinful life and separated to living a Godly life in Christ!
It means then that God wants you to become a separated individual.
That’s why God commands us to do the following in 2 Corinthians 6v17-18, “Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the LORD. Don't touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you. And I will be your Father, and you will be My sons and daughters, says the LORD Almighty.” (NLT).
In other words,…it says there,…that since you now belong to God and He resides in you by His Holy Spirit,…move away from unholy things in life.
Its interesting to note,…that some of this verse originates in the Old Testament from
Isaiah 3v11.
The people of God were in captivity in Babylon and God called His people to return to their homeland where the Temple of God was.
…and Babylon stood for everything that was apposed to God.
Babylon symbolized everything that was proud and arrogant and wicked.
In the same way then,…before we came to Christ,… symbolically,…we were also living in Babylon,…but Christ has brought us home,…and he’s commanding us to separate ourselves from all sin,…and the remain separated unto God alone.
For the Israelites,…the fact of their being received by God and recognized as His children,…depended on their coming out from the world and influence of Babylon!
In other words,…don’t have anything to do to with sin that corrupts your soul.
Stay away from it,…walk away from it,…don’t even desire it in your mind!
…if we don’t,…then God cannot welcome us.
…so you and I tonight have to come before God and present ourselves to Him.
…and I hope and trust that this short series on holiness will be one of the greatest markers in your life.
I hope it will be the time that you can look back on your lifeline one day and say,…
“That’s when I decided to become holy”.
May this be a defining moment in our lives.
May this be the time when you can look back and say, “That was the time in my life when I really decided to be sold out to God, and stopped playing church, and started serving God with my whole heart”.
What’s It Going To Cost You?
Well,…everything!
Charles Spurgeon said, “If you desire Christ for a perpetual guest, give Him all the keys of your heart; let not one cabinet be locked up from Him; give Him the range of every room and the key of every chamber”.
That’s what its going to cost you,…total surrender to God’s will for your life!
In other words,…if you don’t choose Christ above everything and everyone else,…then you cannot become a full-grown disciple of Jesus.
In fact,…Jesus said its impossible to become His disciple if you don’t choose Him above everyone and everything else in life.
Its impossible!
God doesn’t just want part of your heart,…He doesn’t just want some of your devotion,…He wants all of it!
…and so holiness starts in the heart,...not with external things,…not with rules and regulations,…but with the heart and dedication to the will of God for your life!
Here’s how Jesus describes it for us in Matthew 16v24, “If any of you wants to be My follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow Me.” (NLT).
…and right here is the first key of you want to become holy, “If any of you wants to be [desire to be] My follower”.
You see,…without a desire to come after Jesus,…you will never pay the price He asks of you!
…and once you make your desire clear to God,…then the second key is to, “turn from your selfish ways”.
In other words,…it means that you totally surrender to God’s will, His affections, His desire for your life.
It means that you always seek, not your own happiness,…but you’re willing to renounce it all and lay down your life also, if its required.
…and once you’ve done that,…you move to the third key, “take up your cross, and follow Me” (NLT).
“to carry the cross” is a figurative expression explaining that you must endure whatever is burdensome, whatever is trying, or is considered disgraceful, in following Christ.
It consists simply in doing your Godly duty,…irrespective of what the world thinks of you or may say about you.
Listen!,…the cross was a symbol of death for Christ,…and so it is for us as well!
It means dying to ourselves and nailing everything to the cross in order to become holy.
…and while carrying your cross,…you must expect that it will sometimes be something burdensome,…it will disgraceful,…it will sometimes be punishment,…it will sometimes be painful,…it will sometimes be shameful to stand on the side of Christ.
Some days you will sink under the burden of carrying your cross,…but that’s the price for holiness.
“Are you willing to pay that price?”.
“Are you willing to be ridiculed for Christ?”.
“Are you willing to be slandered because you preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ?”.
“Are you willing that people tell lies about you because you are a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?”.
“Are you willing to carry the pain in your body because of Christ’s calling on your life?”.
“Are you willing to be disgraced in front of your family and friends because of Christ?”.
“Are you willing to take unjust punishment for your allegiance with Christ?”.
“Are you willing to give up on all sin in your life?”
“Are you willing to pay this price to become Holy?”
“Are you willing now to make that decision to pursue personal holiness?”
No matter how unholy you might have been up until now,…you can make a new beginning tonight,…by putting off the old and putting on the new!
…and perhaps the best place to start tonight is to pray and tell God of your honest desire to become a holy man,…to become a holy woman.
“Will you do that?”
“Are you ready to submit to His will for your life to be holy?” (let people pray now!).
Oswald Chambers once made the most remarkable comment, “The destined end of man is not happiness, not health, but holiness. God’s one aim is the production of saints. He is not an eternal blessing machine for men; he did not come to save men out of pity; he came to save men because he had created them to be holy”.
That’s’ why God command us to do the following in 1 Peter 1v15-16, “But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, "You must be holy because I am holy.” (NLT).
In other words,…God has saved us to become holy and to get yourself involved His moral perfection.
When Christ saved you,…He made you righteous and pronounced you “not guilty”.
…and now that you have been saved unto God,…God wants you to behave as perfectly as possible as He does.
…and the process by which He pronounced you righteous and by which your peace was made with God,…is called justification,…and justification means that God pardons you and forgives you your sins as you believe in Him.
In other words,…God is the One who has pronounced you not guilty of your sins and has accepted you on the basis that you have come to Him by faith in Christ Jesus.
Here’s what God says about it in Romans 5v1, “Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.” (NLT).
However,…God did more than just justify you.
He did more than just declare you right with God,…He also sanctifies you.
In other words,…not being content with only declaring your righteousness,…God also began sharing His holiness with you.
…and here’s what’s so great about that,…that God has set you apart for His own
exclusive use!
…and in addition to that,…God began a process in you to fit you for His divine use for His glory here on earth.
…and God does this by way of the Holy Spirit in you.
Yet what started out so well with us all,…- now if we look at our lives-…is not so good anymore.
We have failed to be holy people.
We have failed to realize,…that our sinful lives and God’s holiness can never sit around the same table.
God can never comprise His holiness to accommodate our sinfulness!
…so how do we fix it?
“How do we become holy men and woman of God?”
God says this in Hebrews 12v14, “Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.” (NLT).
Two parts to this restoration.
There is my part,…and there is God’s part.
Some people might say that it is totally up to God to make us holy,…and we just have a passive role to play.
Some people say I just have to give up control and make no further contribution.
I don’t think so!
I don’t think we have a passive role to play.
I believe we have an active part to play as well.
Yes,…we must totally yield our lives to God,…but we must continue praying and studying the Bible, and have fellowship with other believers and attempt not to sin.
In the following verses we can see both our involvement and God’s involvement in becoming holy men and women.
God says in Philippians 2v12-13 says, “Dear friends,…Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him.” (NLT).
Here we have it.
We have a responsibility to work out our salvation by ourselves,…while on the other side, God is the One from whom this holiness derives.
…and here’s lies one of the greatest mysteries of all time,…the mystery of the interaction between your will and God’s will for your life.
…but don’t make any mistake.
We mustn’t claim too much credit for this process in our lives,…because without God our efforts are futile.
No good thing can come from our sinful hearts.
Its God’s Holy Spirit that helps us.
How Do Achieve This Holiness?
Well,…a few things,…and I certainly cannot cover them all tonight.
1. Acknowledge That Its Your Duty To Be Holy.
God does not suggest we become holy,…He actually commands it,…period!
If you want to see the glory of God working in your life,…then it requires holiness.
Its you duty as believer in Christ Jesus to become like Him in all things.
2. You Must Imitate God Whom You Worship.
In other words,…your character must be formed and shaped in accordance with God’s character.
You must practice only what God approves of in the Bible.
You need to love what He loves,…and hate what He hates.
3. Cut Yourself Off From All Sinful Pleasures and Desires.
Here’s what God commands us to do in Titus 2v11-14, “For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed.” (NLT).
Restrain yourself from sinning.
Walk away from friendships that drag you into sin.
Disengage yourself from the things that will hinder you from becoming holy!
4. Be Vigilant Against All Spiritual Dangers.
Be on the lookout for pleasures and people and desires that will pose a spiritual threat to your holiness.
Be aware of the fact that the devil will resist you if you seek to become a holy man or woman.
Be aware that the devil is walking around like a roaring lion,…seeking who he may devour and take with him into Hell.
Conclusion.
Holiness is of the utmost importance in our lives.
In fact,…holiness is actually the true health of a believer in Christ,…-anything else is ugliness and cripples the state of the soul!
You cannot even impress people with the Christ in you,…if your own life seems no different from anyone else’s,…if there’s no separation there from sin and separation unto God.
Holiness brings you that credibility to witness.
“Is your heart healthy tonight?”
