Be Holy in All Your Conduct - Summary

    Today we close our study on holiness, so let’s summarize what we have learned.

    Holy/Holiness means to be physically pure, morally blameless, set apart, and sacred. It means to be less like the world and more like God.

    God is holy and He wants His children to look like Him (Ephesians 4:23-24, 1 Peter 1:16). God wants you to be holy, not just in one aspect of your life, but in ALL your conduct (1 Peter 1:15).

    We must take holiness seriously. Without holiness we will not see the Lord (Ephesians 5:5, Hebrews 12:14, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11). It is worth every effort to attain and maintain holiness in our day-to-day living (Romans 8:18, 1 Corinthians 4:17-18)!

    You will work toward attaining and maintaining holiness when you:

• Reverence God as holy, not treating Him like your best buddy or a wish-granting genie, but as He truly is: “glorious in holiness” (Exodus 15:11)!
• Humbly obey God’s commands each and every day (Colossians 1:22-23, Matthew 24:12-13, Revelation 2:10b).
• Live a life without hypocrisy. To him who knows to do right but does not do it, to him it is sin (James 4:17)
• Apologize and seek forgiveness when you have done wrong against God or another person (1 John 1:9, Matthew 5:23-24).
• Do all you can to make the necessary changes to align yourself with God’s word (Romans 12:1-2, 2 Timothy 2:15, 3:16-17).
• If you are married, respect your husband, submit to his leadership, and let there not even be a hint of immorality in your interactions with others (Ephesians 5:1-7). Let his heart safely trust you (Proverbs 31:11).
• If you are dating, submit to God, obey His commands and let there not even be a hint of immorality in your speech or interactions with your boyfriend or others (Ephesians 5:1-7, 2 Timothy 2:22).
• If you are working, go the extra mile (Matthew 5:38-42), don’t cheat or steal (Ephesians 4:28). Work as though you are working directly for God (Ephesians 6:5-8), do your very best (Colossians 3:23).
• Think carefully about what you look at online (Psalm 101:3a). Don’t follow social norms and unleash your anger and upset on social media, learn to control and dissolve your anger in a godly way (Ephesians 4:26, 29-31, 5:15-17, Proverbs 22:24-25, Colossians 3:8,12-13, Romans 12:2). You don’t know how long you have in this life, use your time wisely (Ephesians 5:15-17), consider your behaviour, your likes, and your interests, uphold yourself in holy conduct and godliness (2 Peter 3:11). Be a beacon, not a barrier (Matthew 5:16, Romans 13:11-14). 
• Dress modestly. Holy women do not wear too little (drawing attention to physical body by clothing that clings/hugs or by actually exposing/revealing parts of it) nor too much (drawing attention with fancy clothes and accessories) Remember not to put the focus on your physical appearance, let a quiet and gentle spirit be your beauty, which is very precious in God’s sight (1 Peter 3:1-5).

    We must attain holiness. We must maintain holiness. Strive for it – with all your being! Without holiness you will not see the Lord. Live in righteousness (doing what is right in God’s sight) and blamelessness (not having anything bad that can be said against you).

"God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness.” 
(1Thessalonians 4:7, NKJV)

    God commands us to be holy as He is holy! He wants us to look like Him, so that world may see the light and be drawn to Him! We must honour and appreciate all He has done for us by way of blessings, example, guidance, and hope and BE holy in ALL our conduct! Shine bright for God! Represent Him to the world (Romans 12:1), show God that you are truly grateful for all He has done and continues to do by obeying ALL His commands!

    You can do it! So can I!!

Holy Women

     As we begin to draw our study of holiness to a close, I would like to look at an example given about “holy women” in 1 Peter 3:3-6

“Do not let your adornment be merely outward – arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel – rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands…” (NKJV)

    Holy women adorn themselves inwardly:

• Instead of a closet full of clothes, she has a heart full of kindness.
• Instead of knowing all the designers by name, she knows all the scriptures by heart.
• Instead of “investing” in a fancy, expensive wardrobe, she invests her time in bible study and good works.
• Instead of blinding people with bling, she shines God’s light and love into all her interactions.

    Simply put, holy women exhibit what time, effort, and diligence affords, not what money can buy.

    A woman who adorns herself with a gentle and quiet spirit and puts time into study and prayer (Ephesians 5:15-17, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18), effort into obeying/putting her study into action (James 1:22-25), diligent zeal into maintaining good works (Titus 3:8, 14), and will have a beauty that will never fade away! It is this kind of beauty that is VERY precious in God’s sight!

    Holy women trust in God. They trust His word and His commands. They are not swayed by society’s status quo, they trust and obey God. When God instructs them, “Wives be submissive to your own husbands as to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:22, Colossians 3:18), holy women obey. They are so dedicated to doing what is right and honourable that they can, without speaking a word, influence an unbelieving husband to come to the Lord (1 Peter 3:1-2)!

Do you trust God’s wisdom? Do you trust His commands?

    Strive to put your daily focus on being holy and having the incorruptible beauty of a quiet and gentle spirit!

"God has chosen you and made you his holy people. He loves you. So you should always clothe yourselves with mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other, and forgive each other. If someone does wrong to you, forgive that person because the Lord forgave you. Even more than all this, clothe yourself in love. Love is what holds you all together in perfect unity.” (Colossian 3:12-14 NCV)

    Today, I would like you to consider Romans 6:19

“I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness, leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness." (NKJV)

    Paul spends a lot of time teaching the Christians in Rome about God’s grace. God’s grace is AMAZING but we are not to take advantage of it. Simply put we don’t continue to sin (or live any way we want to) in the hope that God’s grace will erase it all when the time comes. No, instead, because we, like the Roman Christians, have been set free from sin, we are to become slaves of righteousness!

    Slaves of righteousness. A servant to righteousness. You bind yourself to righteousness; you are knit together with it.

    To what end?

    So that we are led to holiness!

    We bind ourselves to righteousness so that we will become holy just as God is holy. Righteousness (being right and innocent before God, being just/justified, having equity of character: to possess all good qualities in perfect balance) leads us to holiness (being physically pure and morally blameless, set apart to God).

Being Right (Before God) Requires:

• Being IN Christ: Please read Galatians 3:26-4:7, John 3:5, Mark 16:5-16, John 1:12 and John 14:21, 23-24.
• Knowing What is Wrong: We must know God’s Word and will so that we know what is right to do and what is wrong/sinful (Romans 3:20, Ephesians 5:8, 10, 15-17, Hebrews 5:13-14).
• Careful and Complete Obedience: We need to do more than just “go to church every Sunday”. We need to do more than just hear God’s word – we must submit to it, align ourselves to it by obeying it – all of it! – for the rest of our lives (James 1:21-25, Deuteronomy 6:24-25, 1 John 2:17, Colossians 1:22-23, Matthew 24:12-13, Revelation 2:10b).

“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” (Romans 6:12-13 NKJV)

    Are you presenting yourself to God as being alive from the dead? Are you presenting your members as slaves of righteousness? Does every aspect of your being exhibit to Him that you are bound to righteousness and desire to do all that is right? 

Let your servitude to righteousness lead you to holiness!

You can do it! So can I!!

Created In True Righteousness and Holiness

    This week we continue our study of verses that link righteousness with holiness.

Holy/Holiness = physical purity, moral blamelessness, sacred, set apart, less like world/more like the Lord

Righteous/Righteousness = justified, innocent, just, equity of character, to possess all good qualities in perfect balance

“…be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:23-24 NKJV)

    God wants you always to be renewing your faith, your determination, and your zeal for Him and for the work you need to be doing. Romans 12:2 shows that instead of looking like the rest of the world (conforming to it) you can, through the renewing of your minds, be transformed into a new person with new purpose. This transformation will help you prove to yourself and to others the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. The renewing of your mind will also keep your spirit/soul healthy and vibrant even when your physical body weakens and breaks down (2 Corinthians 4:16). Renewal comes from building a knowledge of Jesus and having a willingness to walk as He walked (Colossians 3:10, 16, 1 Peter 2:21, 1 John 1:7).

    In both Ephesians and Colossians Paul writes about “putting on the new man.” You are to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4) and in the two aforementioned books you will find practical information concerning what you are to put off (get rid of) and what you are to put on. In most of these instances Paul also gives information to help you renew the spirit of your mind so that you can have success in your discarding of the old and in your attaining of the new qualities that are pleasing to God.

    You also need to understand that this new man is “created according to God” – as a new person you are to look like Him (“as He who called you is holy, you also be holy…” 1 Peter 1:15). You are to look like Him in your holiness and true righteousness (Ephesians 5:1-2)!

    Do you look like God?

    Do all that is necessary to put off the old without regrets (2 Corinthians 7:9-10), and joyfully do what is necessary to put on all that God requires of you! Be holy for He is holy!

    You can do it! So can I!!  

Holiness and Righteousness

    Today I would like you to think on a portion of Zacharias’ prayer/praise/prophecy recorded in Luke 1, but first a bit of background about Zacharias: 

    Zacharias was the father of John, a man who would become “great in the sight of the Lord” and who would “turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God” (Luke 1:15-16) by making “ready a people prepared for the Lord” (v17), but Zacharias did not believe the angel Gabriel’s words - that he and Elizabeth would have a child in their old age and with such a purpose - so he was struck mute, unable to talk until Gabriel’s words were fulfilled (vv18-20). ~ Please read all of Luke 1, it is a wonderful account!

    Eight days after their baby was born, his parents named him John, as Gabriel instructed (v13), and Zacharias’ “tongue was loosed, and he spoke, praising God.” 

    Please consider this excerpt:

“Blessed be the God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people… to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.” (Luke 1:68, 74-75 NKJV)

    The Holy Spirit gave Zacharias a message to proclaim (vv67-79), a prophecy pertaining to the fulfillment of God’s covenant with Abraham. Please read the whole of the prophecy, it’s so joyful! I can almost hear Zacharias’ voice crack with emotion and sheer exultation of the Lord! All that was promised, all that was prophesied about is happening in his life - God is preparing the way for His Son, the world’s Redeemer!  

    Zacharias exuberantly declares that the time is coming when those who are redeemed and delivered from the hand of the enemy “might serve Him without fear.”

    See the fulfillment in these passages:

“Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in the world. There is not fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love, we love Him because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:17-19 NKJV)

“Let us come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16 NKJV)

    Because of Jesus’ sacrifice and establishment of the new covenant, we can now approach God ourselves. We can come to Him with proper awe and reverence and communicate with Him – a vastly different approach than that found under the old covenant! See Hebrews 9-13. We can serve Him without fear! We can know His complete will, all the commands, all the instruction – it is ours to know and obey (Colossians 1:26-28)!

    “…serve Him without fear in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.” – we can serve God without fear when we strive to be holy and righteous before Him all the days of our life! We know that holy means to be pure (physically) and morally blameless – just as God is (1 Peter 1:15-16). Righteousness in this verse means, to be justified, free, or innocent – which is exactly what Christ’s sacrifice made allowance for – see Colossians 1:19-23.

    Zacharias’ joyed in knowing God's promise was about to be fulfilled, we can joy even more so in knowing that it is fulfilled and we can now reap the bounty of benefits found only in Christ (Ephesians 1:3-14)! We can be a child of God (1 John 3:1-3)!! We can reverently serve Him without fear in holiness and righteousness! 

    If you have been reconciled through Christ, make it your daily determination to be holy in all your conduct and do all you can to learn and live righteously in God's sight!

You can do it! So can I!!