Holiness is Essential
Equipment
Don’t team up(be yoked) with those who are unbelievers.
How can goodness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with
darkness? 15 What harmony can there be between Christ and the Devil? How
can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever? 16 And what union can
there be between God’s temple and idols? For we are the temple of the
living God. As God said: “I will live in them and walk among them. I will
be their God, and they will be my people. 17 Therefore, come out from
them and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord. Don’t touch their
filthy things, and I will welcome you. 18 And I will be your Father, and
you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” - 1
¶ Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves
from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward
complete purity because we fear God. 2 Cor 6:14-7:1 (NLT)
There
are two basic misconceptions concerning HOLINESS:
- One is the idea of sinless
PERFECTION.
- The other involves the idea that
holiness is unattainable so WHY TRY.
Several truths
concerning holiness are clearly taught in the Bible.
1-
God Is HOLY. This Is His Major Attribute - Out Of His Holiness All Else
Flows. (896
times in (KJV)
In the year that king Uzziah died
I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train
filled the temple. 2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six
wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and
with twain he did fly. 3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy,
holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. 4
And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house
was filled with smoke. Isa. 6:1-4 (KJV)
And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. Rev 4:8 (KJV)
2- If You are Called a CHRISTIAN You Are Called To Be HOLY. (Text; 1 Thess. 4:1-8)
But as he which hath called you
is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 16 Because it is written,
Be ye holy; for I am holy. 1 Pet 1:15 (KJV)
Holiness
Has ALWAYS Been The PLAN Of God.
And the LORD spake unto Moses,
saying, 2 Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say
unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy. Lev. 19:2 (KJV)
3- Holiness Is Always The Purpose Of God’s DISCIPLINE.
Since we respect our earthly
fathers who disciplined us, should we not all the more cheerfully submit to the
discipline of our heavenly Father and live forever? 10 For our earthly fathers
disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s
discipline is always right and good for us because it means we will share in
his holiness. Heb. 12:9-10 (NLT)
4- Holiness Is PREPARATION For The FUTURE. (O.J.T.)
But the day of the Lord will come
as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great
noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the
works that are therein shall be burned up.
11 ¶ Seeing then that all these things shall be
dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and
godliness, 12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God,
wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall
melt with fervent heat? 2 Pet. 3:10-12 (KJV)
Behold, what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God:
therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 2 Beloved, now are
we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know
that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he
is. 3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is
pure. 1 Jn. 3:1-3 (KJV)
Those
who don’t like the idea of holiness wouldn’t like being with the LORD!
In that day shall there be upon
the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the
LORD’S house shall be like the bowls before the altar. 21 Yea, every pot
in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all
they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in
that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of
hosts. Zech. 14:20-21 (KJV)
5- None of Us Will Ever See GOD Without Being HOLY.
Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Heb. 12:14 (KJV)
Yea, but how? The
truth is that true holiness is unattainable except through the blood of Jesus.
True holiness is the work of the HOLY SPIRIT. -- LET Him work!
God alone made it possible for
you to be in Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made Christ to be wisdom itself.
He is the one who made us acceptable to God. He made us pure and holy, and he
gave himself to purchase our freedom. 1 Cor. 1:30 (NLT)
And what God wants is for us to
be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time.
Heb. 10:10 (NLT)
Practical holiness is a work in PROGRESS. -- GET to work!
1 ¶ Because we have
these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can
defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete purity because we
fear God. 2 Cor 7:1 (NLT)
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