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Holiness Part 2
Again we are reminded that God rules in
holiness, God is holy and He rules even the heathen that does not
acknowledge Him.
We must not fear the things that are
happening in these last days for in spite of all the hurricanes,
wars and crimes, God is in control and He does know what is going
on. God has provided a way for us to live in holiness so that we do
not have to be overwhelmed by the things we see around us. We can be
different and we can be happy in the midst of trouble. Living in
holiness (true holiness) brings a peace and joy that living in the
world, or living a lukewarm Christian's life does not bring.
Holiness is walking in our first love with the Lord. As we study
holy living we will see it as something desired, not something to
avoid.
Remember the words in Hebrews:
God is surrounded by holiness. He is holy.
He is worthy to be praised and we should praise Him in the beauty of
holiness. Holiness is beautiful. Holiness cannot be achieved by
simply dressing the part or trying to be holy by what we wear or by
outward religious acts or rituals. Holiness is a beauty that comes
from the Holy Spirit. If we live in holiness though, it no doubt
will affect how we dress, but dressing holy will not make us holy in
any way. We must be careful not to allow ourselves to just have an
outward religion and not have an inward change by the Holy Spirit.
Being born again by the Spirit of God and
then living in obedience to the Spirit of God is the beginning of
holiness. This is why Jesus came. To bring free us from sin and give
us the Holy Spirit. Without Jesus there is no way for any person to
live holy.
Holiness is:
The state of being holy; purity or
integrity of moral character; freedom from sin; sanctity. Applied to
the Supreme Being, holiness denotes perfect purity or integrity of
moral character, one of his essential attributes.
God is perfect in every way and has
commanded us to be perfect. He sent Jesus to us so that we can
achieve this.
Holy in character, in actions, in the depth
of our innermost being. Godlike or a desire to be like God in
character.
We must worship Him in holiness. This
worship comes when we start with the fear of the Lord. We must have
an awesome fear and respect for God and who He is. We must not take
God lightly or think His word is to be ignored or something we can
take or leave at our own will. We must also be very careful not to
change the word, add to it or take from it. This is part of
holiness, when we begin to realize how holy God is and how He has
provided a way through His Son, Jesus Christ that we can also be
holy and worship Him in the beauty of holiness.
Remembering God's holiness is a comfort to
those who are faithful to Him. When we see wickedness prevail and
our society lacking in holiness, we can remember the holiness of God
and have hope that in the long run, holiness will prevail. Holiness
is our future and holiness will be everlasting. What we see around
us now, is temporary and all evil will be done away with. This is
our hope.
If we want to be part of this we must seek
a life of holiness and not ignore it. We are not as some mistakenly
teach, covered by grace so we are free to do as we please. If we
search all the scriptures concerning Jesus Christ, we will see that
this is not so. There are too many warnings about being lukewarm,
leaving the first love, and the warning in Hebrews 12 to show us
that we can't be careless in our walk with God. We will not be happy
either if we try to walk half way in the world and half way in the
Spirit. The two do not mix.
Here in the Old Testament and before the
coming of Jesus Christ to be born into the world, it is foretold of
what is to come. Here is our hope. A highway of holiness that no
unclean thing can pass over. It is a place for only the redeemed.
This is a hint of the coming of Jesus Christ.
Redeemed means to be delivered from
bondage, distress, penalty or from the possession of another. We are
all born into sin and in bondage to sin. There was no way out of
this state unless one could be born and keep the law of God
perfectly every day of our lives without fault. This of course is
impossible so Jesus came to redeem us back to God and deliver us
from the curse of sin.
He makes us holy by the blood He shed to
cleanse us from sin. How can we even think to play around with sin
after receiving Jesus Christ and not seeking a life of holiness?
After what He did to save us from sin and we turn around and return
to the sin He saved us from thinking we are covered by His grace
doesn't make sense. Why would Jesus save us from sin, only to have
us return to it and become in bondage to it again? Sin is a bondage,
a trap and it kills and destroys.
We can't be free from sin without Jesus.
We can pursue holiness and live in joy. This is why Jesus gave us
the Holy Spirit after He returned to the Father. The Holy Spirit is
here to as a helper. He puts the desire to live holy within us. Not
only does the Holy Spirit empower us to spread the gospel to others
so that they can be saved from sin but He helps us as individuals
and as a body of believers. He comforts, He teaches, and keeps us
from returning to sin. We still have our own will and can resist the
Holy Spirit but He is there to lead us into a life of holiness.
Remember; outward
religion can produce a false holiness. A false holiness does not
produce the fruits of the spirit. False religion will not produce
the fruit of the spirit. Do not be discouraged if we see ourselves
lacking these things. We should be in pursuit of these things and
desire these things constantly and keep seeking the Lord in joy. I
doubt if we will ever see ourselves as perfect. If we did, it would
lead to pride. This is something we seek that others will see in us.
We may never see it in ourselves.
True holiness will result is the fruit of
the Spirit within us. Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, meekness, temperance...... Remember if we are
lacking, just keep seeking the Lord who is our source of holiness. Never
give up.
Israel was the apple of God's eye and holy
at one time before they fell away and departed from God's
commandments. They will return to this state in the future and that
will be a day of rejoicing like we've never seen.
- Jeremiah 31:31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD,
that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and
with the house of Judah:
- 32 Not according to the covenant that I
made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand
to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they
brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
- 33 But this shall be the covenant that I
will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the
LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in
their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my
people.
We must heed the
warning of Jeremiah 2:3 that all who devour Israel shall be judged by God. We
must also take heed by reading about God's dealings with Israel. If
God spared not the natural branches, we must take heed that He does
not spare us if we depart from His word as they did at one time. In
thinking about all this, consider the beauty of seeing Israel
receive the law in their inward being and return to God as a nation
in the future. What rejoicing that will bring to those that love God
and love to see salvation come to many.
We have not only had the knowledge of the
Old Testament as Israel had but we have knowledge of Jesus Christ
and the power of the Holy Spirit that comes to us through faith in
Jesus Christ. We have less of an excuse to depart from the faith
than Israel had. We have seen the holiness of God that came to us
through Jesus Christ. We have tasted the gift of the Holy Spirit. To
cast this away and return to sin is to bring reproach upon the whole
reason Christ came. Remember Jesus came to save us from sin not save
us in our sin. Without holiness we will not see the Lord. I want to
see Him, don't you?
Holiness Part
3
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