BE HOLY

Lev. 19:2: “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”.

                                                                                                                                                  

The Bible is full of passages showing the Holiness of God. His very being is completely absent of even a trace of sin. It is said that God can do everything but one- He cannot sin. The Bible is also full of passages that encourages and commands Christians to be Holy.

1Pet.1:15-16 says: He who called us is holy, so we should be holy in all manner of conversation. 1Cor.3:17: If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. 1Cor.6:19: What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? Num. 15:40: That ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God.

Ecclesiastes 3 states there is time for everything, but there is no time to be holy, it is always, constant and forever we should be holy.

What is true holiness?

As Christians, being Holy is about moral and ethical perfection. Holiness may also mean “sanctification” or “godliness (righteousness).” Holy also refer to that which is “consecrated” or “set apart” for God’s use.

To explain further, when God told Israel to be holy in Leviticus 11 and 19, He was instructing them to be distinct from the other nations. They became His special people, and consequently He gave them standards to live by so the world would know they belonged to Him wherever they are. Similarly, Christians are God’s chosen people. In 1 Peter 1:16, God is talking specifically to believers to be Holy. As believers, we are "set apart" from the world unto the Lord. We need to be living by God's standards, not the world's. 1 Peter 2:9 describes believers as “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

                                                                           .                                                                     What does it mean to be Holy or who is a holy person?

1)  Holiness is the habit of being of one mind with God, as we find His mind described in Scripture. It is the habit of hating what He hates, loving what He loves and measuring everything in this world by the standard of His Word. He who most entirely agrees with God, he is the most holy man.

2)   A holy man will endeavour to shun every known sin and to keep every known commandment of God and has a greater fear of displeasing Him than displeasing the world. He will feel what Paul felt in Rom. 7:22, when he said, "I delight in the law of God after the inward man”.

3) A holy man will strive to be like our Lord Jesus Christ. He will not only live the life of faith in Him and draw from Him all his daily peace and strength, but he will also labour to have the mind that was in Him (i.e. to please the Father) and to be "conformed to His image" (Rom. 8:29). It will be his aim to bear with and forgive others, to be unselfish, to walk in love, to be humble as Christ did. He will be a faithful witness for the truth, He would continually deny Himself in order to minister to others, and he will be bold and uncompromising in denouncing sin. The holy man will, in all situations ask himself- "What would Christ have said and done, if He were in my place?"

4) A holy man will follow after temperance and self-denial. He will labour to subdue/ crucify the desires and lusts of his flesh. Apostle Paul in 1Corin. 9:27 says, "I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway".  Today, Christians feel reluctant to fast but fasting is a powerful tool to overcome the desires of the flesh.

5) A holy man will follow after charity and brotherly kindness. He will endeavour to observe the golden rule of doing unto others what he will like others to do unto him. He will hate all lying, slandering, backbiting, cheating, dishonesty, and unfair dealing, even in the least things against his brother.

6) A holy man will live in the fear of God. I do not mean like a slave, who only works because he is afraid of punishment, and would be idle if he did not dread discovery. I mean rather the fear of one who wishes to live and move as if he was always before his father's face, because he loves him.  As a Christian, you don’t fornicate because fellow believers are around ; get drunk because your church members have left the funeral grounds; steal from church coffers or office because no man is watching; do shoddy works to get more profit or be insincere to spouses. But you will not do these because God does not like them so I will not do them irrespective of who is there or not

7) A holy man will follow after faithfulness in all the duties and relations in life. He will not try to do things anyhow but better, because he has a higher motivation to please God almighty not himself or man. He is a person you can trust with the things of God. Eg. Timothy and Titus.

8) Last but not least, a holy man will follow after spiritual mindedness. He will endeavour to set his affections entirely on things above rather than hold onto things on earth. He will not neglect the business of the life that now is but he will aim to live like one whose treasure is in heaven, and to pass through this world like a stranger and pilgrim travelling to his home. He communes with God in prayer, in the Bible and live it, and in the assembly of His people-these things will be the holy man's main enjoyments. Some of us cannot be identified with Christ, although we call ourselves Christians. We are so much concerned with worldly things that Christ has become secondary in our lives. Eg. grabbing and coveting properties, pleasures, etc. is our major worry rather than godliness.

Such is the character which those who are called "holy" follow after. I am not saying that with holiness there is no presence of indwelling sin. The holy man adheres to Godly sorrow that leads to repentance rather than worldly sorrow that leads to death i.e. The holy person hates sin, mourns over it, and longs to be free from its company.

But why is it so important for every Christian to be holy

The Christian is constantly in battle with sin. Paul states in Rom. 7:21 that just when he wants to do good, evil is there to battle him. God even acknowledges the weakness of man when it comes to temptation to sin and for which he has made provision for forgiveness. However, the word of God clearly commands in Lev. 19:2 and 1Pet.1:16, that we should be holy. Why then is holiness so important? It is important for all Christians to live in holiness because:

1. God commands that the Christian be holy (1 Peter 1:14-16; Lev. 11:44-45; 19:2; 20:7).

God said, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” A holy God calls for a holy people.  Once we profess to have the seed of God in us as Christians, our character shall be holiness. If you are obedient to God, you are commanded to be holy in conduct (all aspects); in obeying God’s word (wholly); not conforming to our former lust (Gal. 5:19-21. Give eg) and imitating God in perfection (math. 5:48)

2. The purpose for which Christ died for us, is to be holy. God has saved you to make you His holy people and for the Holy Spirit to dwell in you, his temple (1 Cor. 6:19). Jesus Christ died to make us holy and to set us apart to God to become like His Son (Rom. 8:29). Our eternal destiny is to be conformed to the image of God in Christ Jesus (1 Jn. 3:3). God loved us while we were sinners and sent His Son to die for us, and we are now His children who are to be like their Father. A Christian who sins is a child sinning against His Father.

3. The only proof that we sincerely love the Lord Jesus Christ and have faith in Him, is a holy life. John 14:15, 21, 23; 15:14: “If ye love me, keep my commandments. “ He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him”. v23 says “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him”. If you love Jesus, you will be holy. If you love Him, you will become like Him- As He is holy, so shall you also be holy.

4. People who live holy lives are a blessing to others (Galatians 5:13). Consistent holy behavior is a powerful testimony to God’s saving grace. There are many people who claim to be Christian and yet their lifestyles are far from what a true Christian’s lifestyle should be. They are still fornicating, stealing, cheating, committing adultery, etc. People think that going to church makes one a Christian.  In Antioch, they were called “Christians” because of their lifestyle of holiness like Christ, which was seen and felt by witnesses around. People think that they are Christian because they responded to an altar call and yet they live the same lives as they did before, with no change whatsoever in their lifestyles. You have to be holy, to lead others to Christ.

5. Lastly, we must be holy because: “Without holiness on earth we shall never be prepared to enjoy heaven.” Heb. 12:14 says-“Without holiness no one will see the Lord”. “And now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appear, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming” (1 John 2:28). Because Jesus Christ shall return, we can and should keep our lives pure. If you want your name to appear in the book of life, live a holy life. Hell is real but the decision not to be there lies with you today.

The grave makes no change to your life after death. Each will rise again with the same character in which he breathed his last. Where will our place be if we are strangers to holiness now?

How can we attain holiness?

Let me ask everyone here a personal question: Are you holy? I do not ask whether you attend your church regularly; whether you have been baptized and receive the Lord's Supper; whether you have the name of Christian: Are you holy, or are you not?  Do you want to achieve holiness in your life? If Christ appears right now and asks you to tell him why He should allow you into heaven, what account of holiness are you going to give?

Greater part of the world today is lying in wickedness- killings, robberies and perverse relationships. Majority of people claiming to be Christians are having nothing of Christianity but the name.

You may say, "It is impossible to be so holy and live in this life at the same time: Today it is not normal to work without cheating; taking bribe or getting a job without selling your body. I answer, "You are mistaken. It can be done. With Christ on your side nothing is impossible. You can pay that school fees or rent without taking bribe; you can pass the exams without cheating or apor. Don’t let the world deceive you because your ways are not that of this world. Christ's true servants are always not like the world around them- they are a separate nation, a peculiar people; and you must be so too, if you want to be saved! Noah and Lot are humans like you and I, but they lived holy lives in their time to escape the wrath of God. You can also live it as God expects of us today.

Would you be holy? Then you must begin with Christ. You will do just nothing at all, He is the beginning and the end of all holiness and the way to be holy is to come to Him by faith and be joined to Him. Again, if we want to be holy then:

1)  We must make every effort to abstain from sin. 1 John 3:9, 1 John 5:19 states that “no one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God). We have be leave the old self and take on the new creature (2 Corin. 5:17). We are so engrossed in prosperous living and good health that we do not consider the importance of holiness and being joined to Christ (Matthew 11:28-30). It is good to be prosperous and it is surely good to be healthy, but we should not let these take the place of the fact that we must be holy whether rich or poor, healthy or sick.

2)  We should not conform to our former lusts. We must keep off all things that cause us to sin. Eg. drunkenness, friends, groupings that will hinder our spiritual growth.

3)  We should imitate God. As Jesus once put it,” Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt. 5:48).This means we must first come to know God, and then, by His grace we must love what He loves and hate what He hates and this will help our growth in holiness.

4)  We should obey God’s Word. The standards of holiness are set down in God’s Word. We are to be obedient towards His commands as set down in His Word. Today, some Christians choose which word to obey and which not because it is past or that is what everybody is doing. We are rather comfortable leading worldly life than the holy Christian life Remember, holiness is “setting apart”. Obey God’s word and have eternal life. 2Tim. 3:15-16 says it all.

Finally, can we become holy? Yes! Holiness only results from a right relationship with God by believing in Jesus Christ as Saviour and as our perfect example of holiness. If we have not placed our faith in God's Son alone to save us from our sins, then our pursuit of holiness is in vain. The world will deceive and fail you but holiness will give you eternal life.

Brethren, Be holy, for our God is holy. Amen