To Be Holy is Our Destiny

According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: (Ephesians 1:4 KJV)

God chose us that we should be holy... In the Bible the word “holy” should not be understood according to our natural concept. Many think that holiness is sinlessness. According to this concept, someone is holy if he does not sin. This thought is absolutely mistaken. Holiness is neither sinlessness nor perfection. Holy not only means sanctified, separated unto God, but also different, distinct, from everything that is common. Only God is different, distinct, from all things. Hence, He is holy; holiness is His nature. The way God makes us holy is to impart Himself, the Holy One, into us so that our whole being may be permeated and saturated with His holy nature. For us, God's chosen ones, to be holy is to partake of His divine nature and to have our whole being permeated with God Himself. This is different from mere sinless perfection or sinless purity. This makes our being holy, like God Himself in His nature and in His character. Therefore, to be holy we need to be one with God because only God is holy.

Be Ye Holy
But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. (1 Peter 1:15-16 KJV)

Peter calls his readers to holiness in light of the coming of Jesus Christ and the holy character of the God who calls us to salvation. He makes three points:

To be holy people, we must be focused on Christ’s coming, obedient in all of life, and growing in our knowledge of God’s holiness.

The word “holy” means to be separate. When applied to God, it points to His transcendence, that He is above and beyond His creation in such a way as to be distinct from it. Contained in the word is the notion of God’s purity, that He is totally separate from all sin. When God calls us to holiness, it means that we are to be set apart from the world unto God, separate from all sin. But since sin dwells in the very core of our being as fallen creatures, how can we ever hope to be holy?

There are three senses in which we are holy (or “sanctified”) as God’s people. The moment we put our faith in Jesus Christ as Savior, we are positionally sanctified or set apart unto God. Then we must be progressively sanctified by growing in holiness. This process will not be complete as long as we’re in this body, but we must actively work at it (Gal. 5:16; Rom. 8:13). 

When we meet the Lord we will be perfectly sanctified, made completely like Him (1 John 3:2).

Let me make it plain at the outset that you cannot get to heaven by striving to be holy. Good works cannot pay the penalty for our sins. Only the blood of Jesus Christ can satisfy the justice of God. We must put our trust in Him, not in our good works. But, if our faith in Christ to save us is genuine, it will result in a life of progressive holiness. If a person is not striving against sin and seeking to grow in holiness, it is doubtful whether his faith was saving faith. Scripture says.

Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: (Hebrews 12:14 KJV)

Peter shows us three ways that we can be developing a holy lifestyle as those who have trusted in Christ:

1. To be holy people, we must be focused on Christ’s coming.
Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; (1Peter 1:13KJV)
The command is to have a determined focus on the grace that will come to us when Christ returns. There are three aspects of this focus:

A. HOLY LIVING IN LIGHT OF CHRIST’S COMING BEGINS IN THE MIND.
The point is, holiness begins in your thought life. What you think determines how you live. One of the most practical things I can tell you about living the Christian life is: Deal with sin on the thought level! Judge wicked thoughts the instant you have them, confess them to God and replace them with thoughts of Him and His Word. If you are envious of someone, judge it, confess it, and ask God to replace it with His love for that person. If you are lusting after a woman (or man), deal with it instantly. Flee from it, both mentally and physically! 
As Paul put it, take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5).

It’s on the thought level that your Christianity is either real or fake. You can fool everyone else, but God knows your thoughts. If you’re faking it and not cultivating a holy thought life, sooner or later it’s going to come out in the open in some form of sin that everyone can see. There isn’t anyone who ever committed adultery who didn’t first entertain the thought in his mind.

Peter says that we must fix our hope completely on the grace that will be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Holiness begins in our minds as we think often of our Savior and the gracious salvation we will fully experience when He returns and we are changed into His likeness!

B. HOLY LIVING IN LIGHT OF CHRIST’S COMING REQUIRES SPIRITUAL ALERTNESS.
“Being sober” is a favorite word for Peter. It literally means “not drunk,” but obviously has a spiritual application, meaning to be alert and self-controlled. It refers to clarity of mind and the resulting good judgment. 

The point is, we live in enemy territory. If you feed your mind on the garbage of the world and don’t feed on God’s Word, it’s like getting drunk and staggering outside when there’s a lion on the prowl. You’re dead meat! You’re not going to be a holy person. Maybe you’re thinking, “This sounds kind of legalistic!” But notice:

C. HOLY LIVING IN LIGHT OF CHRIST’S COMING IS MOTIVATED BY GRACE.
“Fix your hope completely on the grace being brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” God’s grace is the motivation for holy living. 

Why does Peter tell us to focus on the grace that will be brought to us when Christ returns rather than on the grace we’ve already received? I can’t be dogmatic, but I think it’s because his readers were going through intense trials. Peter is telling them, “You’ve already tasted of God’s salvation in Christ, but you ain’t seen nothin’ yet! Just hang on through the trials and focus on the fact that God is going to bless you beyond what you can imagine, not based on what you deserve, but based on His undeserved favor!” That future grace should motivate us to live holy lives right now, no matter how much we suffer.

The grace of Christ changes the whole man, making the coarse refined, the rough gentle, the selfish generous. It controls the temper and the voice. Its outworking is seen in politeness and tender regard shown by brother for brother, in kind, encouraging words and unselfish actions. An angel presence is in the home. The life breathes forth a sweet perfume, which as holy incense ascends to God. 

Love is manifested in kindness. gentleness, forbearance, and longsuffering. The expression of the countenance is changed. The peace of heaven is revealed. There is seen a habitual gentleness, a more than human love. Humanity becomes a partaker of divinity. Christ is honored by perfection of character. As these changes are perfected, angels break forth in rapturous song, and God and Christ rejoice over souls fashioned after the divine similitude.

Thus the first aspect of developing a holy lifestyle is to focus on Christ’s coming, being alert in our thinking, motivated by God’s grace.

2. To be holy people, we must be obedient to the Father in all of life.
There are three things involved in such obedience:

A. WE MUST MAKE A BREAK WITH OUR PAST LIFESTYLE.
“Do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance”.            (1Peter 1:14)

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”  (Romans 12:2)

Our past lifestyle was marked by our efforts to fulfill selfish desires. The word “lusts” refers not only to sexual lust, but “to all kinds of self-seeking, whether directed toward wealth, power, or pleasure”. It brings out the strong emotional tug of temptation and sin. These lusts have full sway in unbelievers because they are ignorant of God and His holiness and grace as revealed in His Word. But as Christians, growing in our knowledge of God, we don’t have to be controlled by selfish desires. We make a break with the self-centered living that marked us before we met Christ and now live under His lordship and for His purposes.

I think this explains much of the shallow Christianity of our day. People “invite Jesus into their heart” because they’re told that He will give them an abundant life. If they like what Jesus is doing for them, if they feel that their lives are happier now than before, they’ll let Jesus “stay in office.” But they’ve never made a break with their past life. They’ve never repented of sin or yielded to Christ as Lord. They’re still running their own lives, living for the same selfish desires they formerly lived for. The only difference is that now they’re trying to “use Jesus” to fulfill selfish desires. That’s not saving faith. Saving faith involves repentance. It makes a break with the past lifestyle and seeks to follow Jesus as Lord.

B. WE MUST ESTABLISH A HABIT OF OBEDIENCE.
“As obedient children”  is a Hebrew expression that means “characterized by obedience,” or “habitual obedience.” The implication is that God is our Heavenly Father whom we obey. His Word tells us how He wants us to live. We ought to obey God as a conditioned response. Such obedience is not legalism, but rather should characterize those under grace. 

Peter quotes from the Law (Lev. 19:2) and applies it directly to his readers under grace: “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” We are not under the ceremonial or civil laws of Israel. But God’s moral law stems from His holy nature and is just as applicable under grace as it was under law (see 1 Cor. 9:21). As God’s children, we need to get in the habit of asking, “What does God’s Word say?” Then we obey it.

C. WE MUST ERASE THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN SACRED AND SECULAR.
“Be holy yourselves in all your behavior”. It refers to conduct or, what we would call “lifestyle.” That Peter here links “holiness” with “behavior” and adds the word “all” is significant because many pagan religions of that time separated “cultic holiness” from everyday life. Peter is saying that our separation unto God is to affect every area of life, both private and public. There is no such thing as secular life that is not sacred for the Christian.

That kind of integrated living eliminates hypocrisy. There’s nothing that turns people off more than to see someone who professes to be a Christian, but whose lifestyle denies it. Kids read it loud and clear in their parents. This doesn’t mean that you must be perfect. It means that you live with integrity, confessing sin when you blow it, making your Christianity practical in every aspect of life. We’re the only “Bible” many unbelievers will ever read. Just as we can learn quite a bit about a father by watching his children, so the world learns about our Heavenly Father by watching His children. That means that we must learn to obey our Father in all of life.

Thus, to be holy people we must be focused on Christ’s coming and obedient in all of life.

3. To be holy people, we must be growing in our personal knowledge of God’s holiness. 

“Like the Holy One who called you,” and “You shall be holy for I am holy,”(1Peter 1:15, 16).

imply that we know something about who this Holy God is. The Christian life is a process of growing to know God as He has revealed Himself in Scripture. This knowledge of the Holy One has a transforming effect on our lives. We can never be as holy as God is holy, since such absolute holiness belongs to God alone. But we can and must grow in personal holiness as we grow to know our Holy God.

Today many Christians talk about God without any fear of the awesomeness of His absolute holiness.  Every time in the Bible someone gets a glimpse of Christ in His resurrected glory, the person falls on his face!

It was Isaiah who had that vision of God on His throne with the angels crying, “Holy, holy, holy.”

“In the flash of a moment Isaiah had a new and radical understanding of sin. He saw that it was pervasive, in himself and in everyone else.” To whatever extent we gain insight on the holiness of God, we will gain equal insight on the magnitude of our sin. At the same time, we will revel in the amazing grace of God who saved us through the cross of Jesus Christ. That knowledge will make us more holy in all our behavior.

To be holy also means to be set apart for special use. It does not mean to run off and hide in a cave, so as not to have contact with the world. We are to be in the world but not of it. To be holy means to live a life of purity and moral integrity. It means we are to be separate from all the things that God opposes.

Our standard for holiness is not a set of rules or an abstract religious system. Our standard is not our mentor or a strong Christian friend. Our standard for holy living is God himself. Peter, quoting Leviticus 11:44, says, “Be holy, because I am holy.” God himself is our standard. He is the one who called us to himself, and he called us to himself to be like him.

Absolute holiness cannot be achieved in this life. Peter knew our tendency to miss the mark. But he also knew that it is the true believer’s desire to be in the process of conforming our lives to God’s will. We know we can’t win every game; but certainly, we don’t play to lose.

Today's Prayer
Lord, not only are you our loving Father, you are our standard for holiness. Father, please work in our hearts to make us more like you. And when we fall, thank you for putting us back on our feet and back on the path of obedience. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Crucified Life

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.(Philippians 2: 5-8 KJV)

Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. (Philippians 2:9-13 KJV) 

The pattern presented in these verses is now the life within us. This life is what we call a crucified life. The seven steps of Christ's humiliation are all aspects of the crucified life. Although Christ had the expression of deity, He laid aside this expression. However, He did not lay aside the reality of His deity. He laid aside the higher form, the form of God, and took on a much lower form, the form of a slave. In this, He emptied Himself. Surely this is a mark of a crucified life. Then, after becoming a man and being found in the appearance of a man, Christ humbled Himself even unto the death of the cross. This was the crucified life lived out in a full and absolute way.

Christ is not only an outward pattern for us; He is also the life within us. As this inner life, He would have us experience Him and thereby live a crucified life. In this crucified life there is no room for rivalry, vainglory, or self-exaltation. On the contrary, there is self-emptying and self-humbling. Whenever we experience Christ and live Christ, we automatically live such a crucified life. This means that when we live Christ, we live the One who is the pattern of a crucified life. Then we also shall empty ourselves and humble ourselves.

If we did not have the crucified life within us, we could never live according to the pattern presented in Philippians 2. Only the crucified life can live such a pattern. If we still do things out of rivalry and vainglory or are still ambitious to be leaders or elders, we are not living a crucified life. We are not emptying ourselves or humbling ourselves. However, we have a life within us that truly is a self-emptying and self-humbling life. This life never grasps at something as a treasure. Instead, it is always willing to lay aside position and title.

The Real Exaltation from a Crucified Life
Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: (Philippians 2:3-5 KJV)

Nothing was more troubling to the Apostle Paul than to learn that the saints in Philippi were living in the way of vainglory. He was very concerned that they live a crucified life. As we have seen, this life is Christ Himself as the One who emptied Himself and humbled Himself. Taking this crucified life as our pattern opens the gate of resurrection and brings us into the power of resurrection. The exaltation which is of God will never come by way of rivalry or vain-glory. The more we seek vainglory, the more shameful our situation will be. To pursue vainglory is not a glory at all; it is a shame. Likewise, when we are in rivalry with others, the result is never exaltation. Inevitably the result is that we are brought low. The highest life on earth is the crucified life. Whenever we live a crucified life, God will bring us into the power of resurrection, and in this power we shall be exalted.

During the years I have been in the church life, I have known many cases of those who were in rivalry for vainglory. Without exception, all those who engaged in such rivalry went downhill. It is utterly foolish to have rivalry in the church life. Furthermore, none of us in the church life should hold to any personal standing. Of course, we must stand firm for the Lord's testimony. However, we should not claim any standing, title, or position for ourselves. Making such claims will never bring us into the power of resurrection. I earnestly hope that none of the saints in the church life today will seek glory for themselves. Instead of seeking glory, we should seek Christ and Him alone. Then we shall experience the crucified life.

Because among the saints in Philippi there was rivalry for vainglory, it was necessary for Paul to present Christ as the pattern of a crucified life. Paul presents this pattern in Philippians, not in other books, because in Philippi rivalry for vainglory was a definite problem. As long as certain of the saints there were seeking glory for themselves, there was rivalry. Therefore, Paul showed them that Christ, the Son of God, had a very high position. He possessed the very form of God and had the right to be equal with God. Nevertheless, He did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, becoming in the likeness of men. Then, being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient even unto the death of the cross. Those Philippian saints who were seeking position and title for themselves surely needed to live according to Christ as the pattern of a crucified life.

Today's Prayer...
How can I thank you, wise and merciful Father, for the gift of Jesus? Your love in formulating the plan to send him, your sacrifice in having him become mortal, your agony when your own creations murdered him are too wonderful for understanding. But in my heart I do know that you did these things because of your loving grace and I want to thank you and praise you forever. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.