THE PURSUIT OF HOLINESS
INTRODUCTION: Tomorrow is the 4th of July; the day we celebrate our nation’s freedom. In the Declaration of Independence we find the famous words, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Well, these may be our inalienable rights but there’s something else our Creator wants us to pursue and that’s holiness. As Christians, we now have the freedom to pursue and attain holiness. God told his people to be holy because he is holy. But how do we accomplish that? Let’s see what we can find out regarding the pursuit of holiness.
1) Holiness is God’s purpose for us.
Jerry Bridges in his book “The pursuit of Holiness” says “to be holy is to be morally blameless.” Different biblical people were described as being blameless. Noah was described this way as was Job. In fact, this is God’s will for all who are his followers.
Eph. 1:3-4, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.”
This is God’s purpose for us as Christians. It makes sense since Rom. 8:29 says his purpose for us is to be like Christ. And, since we know Jesus is holy, I guess that means our goal in life is to be holy. When we come to Christ we begin the process of sanctification-the process of becoming holy. To sanctify means to make holy, to consecrate, to purify. We are set apart for the purpose of patterning our lives after God.
1st Pet. 1:13-16, “Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
I need to commit myself to God-body, mind and soul. The first two verses of Romans 12 urges us to offer ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God and to not be conformed any longer to the pattern of the world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds. This is the commitment we need to make if we are going to be successful in our pursuit of holiness.
“Prepare your minds for action”. Before we can be holy in all we do we need to be holy in all we think. It starts in the heart and mind and is then transferred into our actions.
“Be holy because I am holy”. Our goal; our focal point is God. He is who we are to emulate; he is who we are to follow. Here we see the reason we should strive for holiness-because God is holy. If God is the top priority in our lives; if God is the one we’ve decided to worship and esteem then it be only natural for us to do what pleases him and also to try to emulate him. If anyone claims to be a big fan of a music or movie star or athlete they no doubt do things to imitate them; whether it’s wear the same clothes, like the same things, behave the same way, etc. It rings true with Christ. We set out to be just like him because of how much we love and adore him.
Why should I pursue holiness? Why should I have this as my goal above all others? Because God has called me to it.
2) God is the basis for it.
We need to understand that there is no holiness apart from God, for God is the only one who is holy. Rev. 15:4 says, ‘for you alone are holy’. Any holiness we have comes from God. We can’t take the credit.
1st Cor. 1:26-31, “Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”
Without Christ we are unholy. We have no reason to boast about anything because we are nothing without Christ. Jesus is my holiness. I am declared righteous and holy only because of salvation through Christ’s sacrifice. I can’t earn holiness; it’s imparted upon me through Jesus.
So if I’m already declared holy why do I need to strive for holiness? It’s the same as righteousness. I’ve been declared righteous through Christ but that doesn’t mean I don’t need to strive for righteousness in my life. I may be declared righteous and holy through trusting in Christ for salvation but that doesn’t mean I’ve arrived. I’m forgiven but I’m not perfect so I need to focus on getting unholiness out of me and replace it with holiness. It’s not enough to stop sinning I must now replace the old behaviors with new ones.
3) Out with the old; in with the new.
Eph 4:22-5:4, “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.”
We are to be sanctified-set apart. In this passage we see a list of character traits that signify we are pursuing holiness. We need to replace lies with truth. We need to not hold onto our anger, instead of using our hands for ill purposes we start using them for holy purposes. Instead of filth coming out of our mouths we have healthy words coming out. Instead of being characterized by rage, bitterness, anger and malice we replace that with kindness, compassion and forgiveness. We imitate a life of love by committing ourselves to replace impurity with purity. We replace greed with generosity. We are clean, not obscene. We are thankful, not spiteful. We are pursuers of holiness; not pursuers of unholiness.
4) We need to have the right response to grace.
Rom. 6:15-23, “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
What then? Shall we just sin as much as want knowing that if we confess our sins God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins? Shall we sin now with the intention of just asking for forgiveness after? By no means because that cheapens grace, it abuses grace and it is not conducive with holy living. Why do I want to go back to a life of shame when I am offered a life of glory? I have been set free from that bondage; before I was unable to pursue holiness. But now, the chains have been broken and I am equipped to start achieving the character of Christ. God’s grace is a gift and I need to treat it as such.
If my attitude is right regarding grace then my response to it will be what we see in Titus 2:11-12, “For the grace of God has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live a self-controlled, upright and godly life in this present age.” It’s grasping the magnitude of God’s undeserved grace upon my life that compels me to pursue a holy lifestyle. When I contemplate the merit of God’s favor in rescuing me from eternal damnation and placing me in the heavenly realms I will respond with doing what pleases him. Having gratitude and appreciation for God’s grace enables me to passionately pursue, and attain, holiness.
CONCLUSION: In, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, Eugene Peterson wrote, “In our kind of culture, anything, even news about God, can be sold if it is packaged freshly; but when it loses its novelty, it goes on the garbage heap. There is a great market for religious experience in our world; there is little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of virtue, little inclination to sign up for a long apprenticeship in what earlier generations of Christians called holiness.”
Many people are looking simply for a spiritual experience; something that makes them feel good. And through having this experience I can leave feeling holy. But when it comes right down to it the fruit of holiness is not evident in my life because of the effort it takes to achieve it. Sanctification is a journey, not a jump. I don’t dive into holiness, I strive for it. It won’t be achieved by this time tomorrow. If there isn’t passion and patience there won’t be a pursuit. If the diligence and endurance aren’t there then the accomplishment won’t be either. If the dedication to being close and intimate with God isn’t there then neither will holiness be.
It’s been said, “Holiness is a byproduct of a close walk with God. You can’t have a close walk with God without holiness and you can’t have holiness without a close walk with God.” This is how it works. Let’s make sure our lives are dedicated to the pursuit of holiness.
