The Struggle to Be Holy
Romans 7:14-25
Living the Christian life involves facing both conflict and struggle. You cannot live the Christian life without being confronted with such. Because of these struggles, there are those who would say that it’s impossible to live the Christian life and simply give up and quit. Some professed believers don’t really care whether or not there is any difference in their life: as long as they’re saved that is all that matters. Then there are those who have a genuine desire to live a life that is pleasing to God but become discouraged when they aren’t where they want to be. This morning I want you to see God’s call for us to be holy, the obstacles to being holy, and the path of holiness.
I. The Call to Be Holy
A. 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
B. 1 Peter 1:15-16 "But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy. in all manner of conversation… Be ye holy, for I am holy."
C. When God saved you He saved you to become His holy people to shine as reflections of Him in a world lost in darkness. -
• 1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light”
• A holy life will make the deepest impression. Lighthouses blow no horns, they just shine. - D. L. Moody
D. Holiness means to be separated
• 2 Corinthians 6:14-17 “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people. Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”
E. Holiness means to be pure, without blemish, without the stain of sin.
• 1 Timothy 5:22 “Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men's sins: keep thyself pure.”
• A clergyman once asked the poor children before him, "What is holiness?" Thereupon a poor little boy in tattered rags, jumped up and said, "Please, your reverence, it is to be clean inside." – copied
II. The Obstacles to Being Holy
A. When we come to Christ for salvation we are the recipient of far more than just redemption from the penalty of sin. We have a new standing with God. We are now the children of God with a new direction and a new home. We have a new Master and a new life. But as we strive to live this new life there are forces that seek to stop us dead in our tracks.
B. Ephesians 6:12 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
C. 1 John 2:16-17 “For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”
D. The World
• James 1:27 “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”
• “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but when you are serious about being a follower of Jesus, this world just does not “get” you.
• Living a holy life in our world is tough.
• Jesus said, “… all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” (2 Timothy 3:12)
• A man said to D. L. Moody, "Now that I am converted, have I got to give up the world?" Mr. Moody answered, "No, you do not have to give up the world; if you have a good ringing testimony for the Son of God, the world will give you up pretty quick; they will not want you around." – copied
• John 15:19 “I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you”.
• In its hatred of Christians who live Christian live, the world will, if they cannot destroy them, seek to entice them with promises of pleasure, power, prestige, or prosperity.
• That it has been successful in Paul’s lament in 2 Timothy 4:10 where he sighs, “Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world.”
E. The Devil
• The second obstacle to living a successful Christian life is the Devil.
• 1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”
• Over the years, some Christians have had the misconception that Satan & his demons are no longer active today, that they just make for good Hollywood movies, video games or TV series. Folks the devil is real!
• At a testimony meeting, in a mountainous region, one man expressed discouragement because after three years of discipleship he still had severe struggles with Satan. A veteran in the service replied: "It took me twenty years to get the hill back of my barn reasonably freed from rattlesnakes; and after fifty years I still meet one there occasionally. Brother, the Devil is harder to deal with than rattlesnakes.—Adult Class Teacher (Baptist)
• The strongest man that ever lived is not strong enough to meet Satan alone! —S. S. Quarterly.
F. The Flesh
• Our biggest enemy is the enemy within - our sinful nature – the flesh.
• Romans 7:19 “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.”
• Every one of us is born with a sin nature.
• Psalm 51:5 “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.”
• A man once told a minister that he could not swallow what the preachers called "original sin." Said the preacher: "There's no occasion for you to swallow it; it's inside you already."
• While we receive a new nature when we receive Christ as our Savior, our old nature the flesh is not eradicated. Just because you are saved does not mean that you have lost your sin nature. You will not lose that sin nature until you are with Christ.
• Romans 7: 22-23 “For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.”
III. The Path of Holiness
A. Proverbs 4:18 “But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shines more and more unto the perfect day.”
B. Two men were discussing the experiences of the deeper Christian life. One asked, "Is heart holiness a crisis or a process?" The other replied by asking a question: "How did you get from the town where you live to this place?" "I came by train," was the answer. "And did the train bring you by one sudden jump into this town?" "Oh, no," he replied. "I kept coming along more and more." "But when you boarded the train, how did you do it? Was it `more and more'?" "No," said he, "I stepped in all at once." "Exactly," said the godly minister; "you stepped in instantly--that was a crisis; and as you journeyed you kept getting nearer and nearer to your final objective--that was a process." – copied
C. You can have victory in your Christian life and live a life that pleases God.
D. Galatians 5:16 “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”
E. To walk in the Spirit you must feed the Spirit, and starve the flesh.
F. Victory can be accomplished…
• Through drawing close to God in prayer
a. James 4:8 “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.”
b. If I should neglect prayer but a single day, I should lose a great deal of the fire of faith. -Martin Luther
c. Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer." - John Bunyon
d. “Pray without ceasing” – 1 Thessalonians 5:17
e. A little Christian was once asked if Satan did not tempt her to do wrong things and how she kept from doing them. The answer was: "Yes, I know he wants to get me, but when Satan knocks at the door of my heart I just say, `Jesus, won't You go to the door?' and when Satan sees Jesus, he runs away every time." - copied
• Through feeding on God’s Word
a. Psalms 119:9 “How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word.”
b. We are living in a dirty world, and because of the pollution around us, we have to walk in the Word of God.
c. Warren Wiersbe, “God's Word has a cleansing effect. But you must get into the Word before it can become effective in your life. Obey God's Word, and He will keep you clean in this dirty world.”
d. To find the power of the Word, you must read God’s Word, Learn God’s Word, Make God’s Word a part of you by hiding it in your heart, and share it with others.
• Through yielding yourself to the Holy Spirit
a. Ephesians 5:18 “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit”
b. Romans 6:11-13 “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.”
c. Romans 6:16 “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?”
d. In this case the verb yield means, "to place at God's disposal, to present, to offer as a living sacrifice, and to do this once -for-all and continually.” - copied
e. Since Satan is a supernatural enemy, it takes a supernatural power to overwhelm him. Christ is that Power. Christ in the believer is not only the Hope of Glory—He is the Hope of victory.—The Brethren Evangelist.
• Through getting busy serving God.
a. There is an old saying, “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.”
b. Romans 12:21 “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”
c. “...yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God”
d. As a Christian following in the footsteps of Christ, we are to present our bodies as "living sacrifices" and to say, "Here I am-I have come to do Your will," regardless of what you ask me to do or where you want me to go.
