(Call to Holiness)
INTRODUCTION — The Great Danger of Drifting
Every pilot knows that you don’t have to crash to die.
Sometimes you just drift.
A degree off-course here.
A little neglect there.
The gauges still look fine.
Engines hum.
Wings steady.
But gradually…
quietly…
you descend.
Until a mountain appears where you never expected one.
And the cockpit erupts with the warning:
Pull up! Pull up! Pull up!
The call is urgent because life is at stake.
There is a spiritual version of that alarm in Scripture. It echoes from the prophets to Jesus to the apostles:
“Be holy.”
“Walk in the Spirit.”
“Set your minds on things above.”
“Come out from among them.”
“Do not love the world.”
It isn’t God nagging.
It’s God rescuing.
When the heart begins descending into compromise and we think we’re flying just fine… God, in love, speaks:
Pull up.
Holiness is not a cold requirement.
Holiness is God saving us from the crash.
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HOLINESS IS GOD’S DESIRE FOR HIS FAMILY
Peter writes:
> “Be holy, for I am holy.”
1 Peter 1:16
God’s children carry the family resemblance.
Not because we’re trying to impress Him.
But because His character rubs off on everyone who walks closely with Him.
Holiness means:
• God changes how we think
• God changes what we love
• God changes who we are becoming
Holiness isn’t the price of salvation.
Holiness is the product of salvation.
The world says:
“Live your truth.”
Jesus says:
“I am the Truth. Live Mine.”
Holiness is God’s love refusing to leave you how He found you.
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THE MISUNDERSTANDING THAT STEALS OUR JOY
Some believers hear “holiness” and immediately brace for impact.
Rules. Pressure. Performance. Shame.
White-knuckled righteousness.
We picture holiness like God is standing over us with a clipboard:
• “Did you read enough?”
• “Did you resist enough?”
• “Did you sin less than yesterday?”
Holiness becomes a treadmill.
We run harder… but stay in the same place.
The enemy loves that version of holiness because it is: • exhausting but fruitless
• loud but loveless
• busy but powerless
• full of rules but empty of relationship
That’s not holiness. That’s fear of disappointing God dressed up in religious clothes.
Holiness is not earning God’s love.
Holiness is responding to God’s love.
Holiness is what happens when grace gets inside you and starts tossing out the junk that was killing you anyway.
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GRACE TEACHES HOLINESS
Titus 2:11–12 says:
> “The grace of God… teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness.”
Not guilt.
Not embarrassment.
Not fear.
Grace.
Grace not only pardons.
Grace mentors.
Grace whispers:
“You are made for more than this.”
“Come with Me.”
“I will help you.”
“You can be free.”
Sin doesn’t care about you.
Sin uses you then discards you.
Holiness is God refusing to let sin have you.
Holiness is God freeing what sin enslaved.
Holiness is God healing what sin damaged.
Holiness is God restoring what sin twisted.
Holiness is not punishment.
Holiness is rescue.
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THE HOLY SPIRIT DOES THE HEAVY LIFTING
Philippians 2:13 says:
> “It is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.”
God doesn’t just give commands.
He gives power.
Before salvation, sin felt natural and righteousness felt impossible.
After salvation, righteousness begins to feel like home.
There is a Spirit within you who: • changes appetites
• rewrites instincts
• strengthens resolve
• convicts gently
• comforts immediately
• never gives up on you
Holiness is not “fake it till you make it.”
Holiness is “yield and be changed.”
Whenever you feel the nudge to forgive…
whenever you feel the urge to pray…
whenever you feel convicted about a habit…
That’s the Spirit saying:
“I’m pulling you upward.”
Holiness is God rewiring your heart for joy.
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THE COST OF IGNORING THE WARNING
Drifting always begins quietly.
No one wakes up and says: “I think I’ll fall away from Jesus today.”
We drift by: • small compromises
• neglected prayer
• secret sin
• bitterness we feed
• voices we shouldn’t trust
• comfort replacing commitment
• leisure replacing worship
We drift when the cross becomes a memory instead of a miracle.
We drift when holiness feels optional.
We drift when love for Jesus is replaced by habit about Jesus.
God’s voice grows faint not because He stopped speaking…
but because we stopped listening.
Every descent feels safe…
until the ground rushes up beneath the wings.
That’s when grace shouts again:
Pull up!
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HOLINESS IS NOT JUST AVOIDING SIN
If holiness were only “don’t do that,” we could achieve it by moving into a cave and cancelling the internet.
Jesus didn’t call His people to isolation.
He called them to transformation.
Holiness is not just avoiding evil.
Holiness is overflowing with good.
It looks like: • Compassion to the hurting
• Integrity when nobody sees
• Generosity that costs something
• Purity in a world hungry for lust
• Courage when it’s easier to blend in
• Worship that isn’t ashamed of joy
• Love that absorbs the blow and keeps loving
Holiness is not hiding from culture.
Holiness is revealing Jesus in culture.
We don’t run from darkness in fear.
We walk into darkness carrying fire.
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WHEN HOLINESS MAKES YOU DIFFERENT
Holiness doesn’t make you weird.
Holiness makes you noticeable.
You become the one who doesn’t laugh at that joke.
The one who doesn’t flirt with that temptation.
The one who doesn’t treat anger as entertainment.
The one who doesn’t gossip just to stay included.
The one who forgives instead of retaliating.
The one whose peace doesn’t match the chaos around them.
And different sometimes gets lonely.
There are moments when holiness will cost: • A friendship
• A promotion
• An invitation
• Approval from the crowd
Jesus promises that the narrow path is harder, not easier.
Yet He also promises it leads to life.
Better to walk with the few toward heaven…
than with the many toward destruction.
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THE BEAUTY OF A SET-APART LIFE
Holiness reveals something to the world:
God must be real.
God must be good.
God must be near.
When a life is set apart, the world sees: • Someone free from things they’re still enslaved to
• Someone joyful in a joyless system
• Someone unshaken when everything shakes
• Someone whose peace doesn’t make sense
• Someone who shines when others dim
Holiness is evangelism with skin on.
We preach Christ by living like we belong to Him.
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THE JOY OF OBEDIENCE
There is a lie whispered by sin: “Holiness robs joy.”
Truth: Holiness unlocks joy.
Psalm 16:11 says:
> “In Your presence is fullness of joy…”
Holiness is about getting closer to the source of all delight.
Obedience is not shackles.
Obedience is wings.
When God says “don’t,” He means “don’t hurt yourself.”
When He says “do,” He means “live fully.”
Holiness feels like healing.
Holiness feels like breathing again.
Holiness feels like coming home.
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WHEN GOD CALLS US TO PULL UP
If God calls us to rise above sin, He also provides lift beneath our wings.
Here are three Spirit-powered ways Scripture teaches us to “pull up” in holiness:
1. Renew Your Mind — Daily
Romans 12:2
You can’t fly higher than your thought life.
What occupies the mind shapes the heart.
What shapes the heart directs the feet.
God says: • Feed on My Word
• Think My truth
• Reject lies
• Do not be conformed to the world
Holiness begins when we disagree with the world…
and agree with God.
Practical:
Put Scripture where the temptation lives.
• On your phone
• On your wall
• In your car
• In your habits
Let the truth become louder than the lies.
2. Walk in the Spirit — Moment by Moment
Galatians 5:16
Holiness is not achieving.
Holiness is abiding.
The Spirit leads gently, constantly: • You don’t need that habit
• You don’t need to win that argument
• You don’t need to click that link
• You don’t need to hold that grudge
If you stumble, the Spirit doesn’t condemn.
He says, “Up again. I am here.”
Holiness is falling less because you’re trusting more.
3. Love One Another — Fearlessly
John 13:35
Love is holiness with hands and feet.
Holiness: • serves • forgives • listens • welcomes • protects • restores
When love drives the decisions, holiness becomes visible.
We don’t prove we belong to Jesus by perfection.
We prove it by love.
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HOLINESS IS A TEAM SPORT
Holiness thrives in community.
The church is not a museum of finished saints.
It’s a hospital of unfinished disciples.
We help each other: • Stay awake spiritually
• Confess sin safely
• Carry burdens together
• Speak truth in kindness
• Encourage when faith feels small
Isolation is the enemy’s strategy.
Community is God’s remedy.
A coal removed from the fire grows cold.
A believer removed from community grows weak.
If you want to fly higher…
fly with others who are climbing.
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LIGHT IN THE DARK
Holiness is not hiding from the world.
Holiness is shining in the world.
Jesus said:
> “You are the light of the world.”
Matthew 5:14
Holiness is not smug superiority.
It is humble radiance.
Our lives should make people wonder: “What power keeps them so steady?” “What joy keeps breaking out?” “What hope refuses to die in them?”
Holiness becomes the invitation: “Come see Jesus.”
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WHEN HEAVEN IS OUR DESTINATION
Hebrews 12:14 declares:
> “Without holiness no one will see the Lord.”
Heaven is the home of holiness.
Not the home of self.
Holiness isn’t God being picky.
Holiness is God being protective.
He will not allow sin to sabotage eternity.
He loves His children too much to let sin have the final word.
Holiness is not how we get into heaven.
Holiness is how we enjoy heaven.
Heaven would be hell to a heart still in love with sin…
but heaven is home to hearts transformed by Jesus.
God is calling us now to live the atmosphere of heaven on earth.
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JESUS --- OUR MODEL
Jesus didn’t come only to save us from sin’s penalty.
He came to free us from sin’s power.
Holiness looks like Jesus: • Compassionate with the weak
• Fierce against injustice
• Pure in heart
• True in speech
• Gentle with sinners
• Bold with hypocrites
• Joyful in obedience
• Filled with the Spirit
To follow Jesus is to be shaped like Him.
Holiness is Christ formed in us
until love drives out fear
and grace drives out sin.
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LOVE -- OUR MOTIVATION
Why pursue holiness?
Not to deserve God.
Not to impress God.
Not to outdo others.
We pursue holiness because:
We love the One who first loved us.
Every step toward holiness is a step toward Jesus.
And every step toward Jesus is a step into joy.
Holiness is love maturing.
Holiness is wounds healing.
Holiness is trust growing.
Holiness is destiny unfolding.
Holiness is God preparing us for the world to come.
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APPEAL
Somewhere in your life an alarm is sounding.
Maybe silently.
Maybe loudly.
Maybe right now.
A habit that is draining your spirit.
An attitude that poisons joy.
A secret that shames the soul.
A bitterness that spoils peace.
A comfort that lulls you asleep.
God is not shaming you.
He is saving you.
He is calling your name:
Pull up.
Lift your eyes.
Lift your heart.
Lift your faith.
Let Jesus take the controls.
Let the Spirit supply the lift.
Let grace set your altitude.
You were made for higher things.
You were made for God’s presence.
You were made for holy joy.
Holiness is not God demanding more.
Holiness is God offering more.
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PRAYER
Lord Jesus,
we hear Your call to pull up.
Lift us above the drift.
Save us from the slow descent into compromise.
Fill us with Your Spirit until obedience becomes joy
and righteousness feels like home.
Make us holy…
not by pressure
but by Your powerful love.
In Your holy name we pray,
Amen.
