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I have always found it somewhat interesting to hear
Christians speak about their wonderful walk with God and
then turn around and either cuss somebody, put them down
or do something unspeakable that a true holy-living
Christian wouldn’t ever truly do. I have been shamed,
disgusted and blown literally away at what I’ve seen
pastors and ministers of the Lord Jesus do and say, and
some of those things came right off the pulpit. Holiness is
not a laughing matter, nor is it something to be made
impure in any way. When this happens our true identity
as righteous living Christians goes right out the window
with it.
It has taken me many decades to shut my mouth and not
say something that I shouldn’t be saying, just because it
was witty or funny. Why? Because it was also impure
and I was supposed to be an ongoing example of salt and
light for the glory of our Holy God Almighty. I do foul
up, from time-to-time, but then again being older is no
excuse. Being older than most of my friends, or at least
infiltrated with other grumps and nincompoops, is still not
an excuse. Sometimes I may allow it to be, but I shouldn’t
and maybe it should be, but it’s not.
God has called us to be a holy living sacrifice for Him on
earth, a model of His purity and grace. So are we? Are
you? Do you even know about His request for being such
an example? “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the
Introduction To Holy Living
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mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living
sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your
spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but
be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing
you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and
acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:1-2 And again in,
“How much more will the blood of Christ, who through
the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God,
purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living
God.” Hebrews 9:14
Tell me, or at least tell yourself while rolling these
thoughts around in your own mind. . .what do you think
God means about us living a pure life, a peaceful life, a
clean and holy life, a life without indignation and blemish?
When you attempt to get these thoughts embedded in your
mind, you will obviously find out how difficult it is to
separate them your daily actions, behaviors, language and
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relationships with others. Are most of your acquaintances
friends, family, co-workers, or are they simply strangers
with whom you don’t care about how they see you act?
The more we, as Christians, go against our promises of
good living to God, the more we water our salt down and
turn our lights off to blind others. If they know that we are
Christians, they just laugh us off as most any other jerky
acting individual who proclaims to be a Christian.
You’ve heard that “where your heart is so is your home.”
Your home, as a Christian, is your temple for God to live
in. It is where the Holy Spirit lives and attempts to guide
you into living righteously, showing love and kindness to
others. Your body is your street home which others see.
It is a temple, a temple, a temple and so on. Did you get
that “temple” part? It is not a temporary tourist attraction
or a guest house for wayward visitors. Your temple is your
outward reflection of the holiness and purity you are
supposed to reflect upon others, showing the glory of God.
Do you wear your temple as only a façade, or do you allow
your temple to be open and accepting to the needs of
others, by freely giving of your gentleness, kindness and
love for others? Are you unconditionally respectful of
others, making them want to approach you and see why
God is shining through your presence? Is that you? Why
not? What do you have to wear that is better than God’s
holy clothing of purity, mercy, and love? Approach the
Lord in your circle of holiness, with your best intensions,
and let Him know that you want to talk to Him with what
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is on your mind. God is always open to hear His obedient
and subservient children. God likes you to come to Him.
He is easy and quick to hear your concerns and to treat you
gently with love and compassion. There is no fear in
approaching our Lord, because God is love and He is your
heavenly Father. He already knows your issues and has
read your heart and mind. He has what you need. Trust
Him fully to meet you with His love and understanding.
Too many folks walk around in a foggy tither, wondering
where they should be, who they should be, what’s this
world got for them? Oh, dear, we see this every day, the
lost souls of our society, and those who have close
relationships with us, but simply will not extend their
hands out to God and say, “Yes, Lord. Please take me in,
cleanse my temple and fill it with Your peace, Your gift of
happiness and give me Your direction for a better life.”
How do I serve You Holy Father? Where have I already
missed the mark? Turn me around Abba Father and make
me whole in Your sight so I may glorify Your Holy name.”
“It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has
become for us wisdom from God--that is, our
righteousness, holiness and redemption.” I Corinthians
1:30
So, what is holiness? For many Christians, holiness refers
to the idea of being good and morally upstanding. When
referring to the holiness of God, though, the holiness
definition takes on a much richer meaning. God's holiness
is His defining characteristic. The holiness of God is a
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term used in the Bible to describe both His goodness and
His power. It is completely unique, and utterly all-
powerful, radiating out from God like an energy. In fact,
God's holiness is so overwhelming, that it can actually be
dangerous to approach. It's helpful to think of God like the
sun. The sun is so bright and powerful that its energy
radiates out through the solar system. It's a good, helpful
thing to be within the sun's energy, but the sun itself is so
powerful that it's dangerous to get too close. In holiness
scriptures, where we see examples of mortal men
approaching the presence of the Almighty God, the exact
same scenario that this metaphor depicts is played out.
Remember the story of Moses and the burning bush. As
Moses approached the burning bush (which as we know is
the presence of God), God told Moses to take off his shoes
because he was on holy ground and warned him not to
come any closer. It's an intense example of just how
overwhelmingly powerful God's holiness is. Other
examples of God's holiness in the Bible can be found in
verses depicting the Holy of Holies, the inner room of the
Israelite temple where God Himself resided. Because the
Israelites, and especially the priests that worked within the
temple, were in such close proximity to God's holiness,
they had to take great care in order to keep themselves
pure. For the Israelites, keeping oneself pure involved not
only trying to remain morally pure but also ritually pure as
well. The rituals that the Israelites had to follow in order
to stay pure were numerous and included things such as
staying away from dead animals, certain foods, and certain
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bodily fluids. While becoming ritually impure was never
defined as being sinful, the problem was that the Israelites
were not able to exist within such close proximity of God's
holiness if they were ritually impure.
The narrative of God's holiness doesn't end there, though.
Instead, later on in the Bible, we see incredible stories of
God's holiness expanding out from the temple and
purifying things that were otherwise impure. Isaiah, for
example, has a vision where he enters the temple impure
but is purified while he is there by a burning coal - a
physical embodiment of God's holiness. Later on, Ezekiel
also has a vision where the holiness of God pours out from
the temple like a river, revitalizing and purifying all the
land it comes into contact with.
These examples of God's holiness purifying impure things
all lead up to Christ. Christ, who is God's holiness in
human flesh, goes out into the land, healing the sick,
raising the dead, and casting out demons - all of which are
examples of God's holiness now purifying the things it
comes into contact with. Through all of these examples,
we are able to piece together a compelling picture of the
holiness of God.
God's holiness is a powerful force that must be treated with
the utmost respect. At the same time, God's holiness is a
gift, able to heal a broken and impure world. Best of all, as
followers of Christ, a part of God's holiness now resides in
us as well, making it our mission to go out spread the
holiness of God to all the world.
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To be holy is to be distinct, separate, and unique
The basic meaning of holy in the Bible is to cut away or to
separate, it is "a cut above the rest." So when we say God
is holy, we're not talking about one characteristic out of
many about God; we're talking about the character of God
Himself. Holiness, when applied to God, means that He is
utterly unique, incomparable, matchless, without parallel
and without peer. In Isaiah 40:25, God Himself issues the
challenge: "Who will you compare Me to, or who is My
equal?" asks the Holy One." And we must answer, "There
is no comparison." God is not just a super-sized version of
you or me. He is transcendently separate, in a class by
Himself. He is subject to nothing. He answers to no one.
This is who our Holy God is.
When Hannah rejoiced in God for answering her prayer
for a son, she prayed, "There is no one holy like the Lord.
There is no one besides You! And there is no rock like our
God." 1 Samuel 2:2
David's confidence in God was fortified by considering
His holiness: "Lord, there is no one like You among the
gods, and there are no works like Yours. All the nations
You have made will come and bow down before You, Lord,
and will honor Your name. For You are great and perform
wonders; You alone are God." Psalms. 86:8-10 Even the
name God gave to His mighty archangel Michael testifies
to this truth. The name is translated, "Who is like God?"
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Here's the first strand of meaning in the Bible about the
holiness of God: He is not like anything or anyone we can
come up with. He is above us. He is beyond us. He is so
different and so rare that no one in the Bible, regardless of
how devout or learned, failed to crumble in fear and
humility and repentance when they caught a glimpse of
this holy God. When God met with Habakkuk the prophet,
he described his reaction like this: "I heard, and I trembled
within; my lips quivered at the sound. Rottenness entered
my bones; I trembled where I stood . . . " Habakkuk. 3:16
He was shattered by what he saw. When we see Him as He
is, it traumatizes us because we immediately see ourselves
for who we really are, and the incongruence is
overwhelming.
Brothers and sisters, there's a lot of religious technicians
out there today whose goal is to make you feel comfortable
with God at almost any level. They want you to feel like
God is someone we can hang out with, confide in, and call
on when the going gets tough, regardless of your
relationship with Him or what kind of life you're leading.
Last week, I heard a prominent pastor refer to God as
Jesus' "Old Man."
Contrast that “trivializing, bumper sticker, next-door
neighbor” view of God to what God Himself said to Israel
in Psalms 50:21-22, " . . . you thought I was just like you.
But I will rebuke you and lay out the case before you.
'Understand this, you who forget God, or I will tear you
apart, and there will be no rescuer.'!" It is a dangerous
thing to forget that God is holy. We trifle with the living
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God to our own peril. He is not our Buddy. "Our God is a
consuming fire," friends Hebrews 12:29. Let the mystery
of Who He is strike you today. He will not fit into our neat
theological formulations. He cannot be defined in finite
minds. That's part of what it means to say He is holy.
To be holy is to be absolutely pure
Holiness is being set apart from anything impure in order
to be completely given over to what God says is pure.
When you apply this meaning to God, His holiness points
to what 1 John 1:5 says: "there is absolutely no darkness
at all." James tells us that "God is not tempted by evil, and
He Himself doesn't tempt anyone." James 1:13 and
Habakkuk 1:13 adds that God's eyes "are too pure to look
on evil, and [He] cannot tolerate wrongdoing." In a word,
God is perfect, without sin, flawless.
So blazing is God's purity that the sinless seraphim who
serve Him in heaven cover their faces with their wings.
Isaiah 6:2 and Job 4:18 declares, "God puts no trust in
His servants and He charges His angels with error . . . ."
It is said that, "As there is no darkness in His
understanding, so there is no spot in His will; as His mind
is possessed with all truth, so there is no deviation in His
will from it. He loves all truth and goodness; He hates all
falsity and evil." With the concepts of purpose and purity
in God as established, how does that relate to us as every
day Christians? The leap from those heights are almost
incomprehensible to consider because God is so far over
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us and beyond us, all we can truly do is obey His wishes
and live in purity and holiness at our level.
Purity carries with it the idea of cleanliness or
spotlessness, in the sense that we can easily and commonly
understand it. It means to be genuine, free from things that
would adulterate something and make it impure; as in the
purity of gold. It is similar to the concept of holiness.
Stainlessness and immaculateness come quickly to mind.
When we think of purity of heart, perhaps we think of
someone whose motives are pure, who possess no guile or
malice. Someone who is good natured and may even be
somewhat innocent. But that is not exactly what our Lord
is talking about here. Within the context of what our Lord
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is saying, He is speaking about the heart of someone
whose sins have been forgiven and whose heart has been
made new, whose purity comes, not from themselves, but
from the presence of Jesus in their lives. Is this you? Or,
do you still find reason to sin, knowing that each evil
thought you have can easily be converted into sinfulness
in real life, outside your head and mind?
Someone said to me in the past, that whenever they think
of purity, they always think of milk. Just think about it, a
tall cool glass of clean, white tasty milk; its color testifies
to its purity. Now you let some foreign object falls into
milk, say, like a fly and it becomes readily noticeable that
this impurity has contaminated the entire container of
milk. Nobody I know wants to drink milk that has had a
fly in it. But let someone remove the fly and once again
the milk appears to be pure, although there are now things
in it you cannot see, unseen contaminants that make it
impure. However, I may still want to drink that glass of
milk if it is icy cold. Ummmm!!!! But, would its
consumption be really worth it? I doubt it.
That was the problem of the Pharisees in Jesus' day, and
it's still the problem with many people today. Their hearts
have been contaminated by sins no one else can see, and
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thus they give the external impression of purity. But within
them there is sin that remains uncleansed and continues to
contaminate their lives. Think of all the Christians you
know who are contaminated with various sins, yet walk
are as if they are pure white as snow.
Jesus spoke of this in Matthew 23:27-28 when He said,
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you
are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear
beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and
all uncleanness. "So you, too, outwardly appear righteous
to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."
A white washed tomb. Hmmmm???? That is
not you, is it?
The standards for citizenship in the kingdom of God are
extremely high. External, outward, human righteousness
might lead people to think you are pure, but that won't cut
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it with God who sees the heart. God says there has to be
an internal work, a transformation at the most basic level,
not only of what we do, but of who we are. The sins which
stain our hearts need to be washed away and only the blood
of Jesus can do that.
Isaiah 1:18 says, "Come now and let us reason together,
Says the Lord, though your sins are as scarlet, they will
be white as snow, though they be red like crimson, they
shall be as wool."
You see, within the course of His sermon here, Jesus is
saying that the pure in heart are those who are saved, those
having been washed in the fountain filled with blood
drawn from Emanuel's veins. As the song says, “Sinners
plunged beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains.”
BUT
Now we need differentiate between fixed in a proper place
or one of conditional purity. Fixed purity is what happens
when I am saved. When I am saved, God declares that I
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am a saint, I am fixed in a proper position of purity and am
holy. He has written my name in the Lamb's Book of Life
and declared that I am His. He has made me holy and in
my proper place of being pure. But, conditional purity is
another matter. Sometimes the condition of a Christian's
walk can be so corrupt, merciless, and/or immoral that
they can be way out of step with God due to the numerous
impurities in their lives. That does not change their
position before Christ, but it does affect their fellowship
because they are allowing things in their lives that are
contrary to the new, nature of purity they have in Jesus.
But, that status must change and one’s evil walk must
become cleansed and obedient to what the Lord desires.
So to be pure in heart speaks to one’s position as a
Christian before God and also to the condition of one’s
walk with God. It does not mean that you and I must be
perfect, it does, however mean that we have come to that
point where Jesus is firmly established as Lord of our
lives. Our sense of purity should be like that glass of white
milk; not butter milk, not chocolate milk, but fresh clean
and spotless white milk.
When I awake in the morning and begin my day, I always
begin my day thinking in tune with what the Lord would
want for me. I like being a decent man who loves others
unconditionally and does his best to accept them and make
them happy without recourse or motive. I allow my mind
to consider what it sees and evaluate my environment, then
I adjust to what that input into my brain was, and I act
accordingly as a loving and helpful Christian. There is no
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other walk with the Lord that I want. I’ve been just about
every kind of poorly acting Christian I can think of, and
then some more. But, now I want to walk in God’s light
every day and I desire to do His will for the benefit of
others (usually) but mostly for His purposes do I treat
others with goodness and kindness. This is how I walk in
purity. I don’t want to say things that are impure, yet I do,
and then I have to recant and repent for my mindless
stupidity. Unfortunately, for many folks, being impure in
what they say and do is a daily bad habit, and most folks
don’t even realize it. However, when you do wake up to
your impure stance with God, you are not only
embarrassed, but you are ashamed.
Having a passion for living holy, being pure and doing
your very best to be a righteous Christian, or child of God,
is a task that we must all be up to, and we have to attend
to this mission of life daily. It we fail to perform in loving
kindness or gentleness, it is because we have slipped off
of our mark and have jumped once again into the sand pit
of Satan. He’s just being hanging around and waiting for
you to come and make a new sand castle with him. Oh
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how fun! The most difficult behavior and trait I have to
deal with each day is not my attitude, as is the problem for
many Christians. However, it is my overall thinking
process of how I am going to use my mouth – is it for God,
or for something mundane and nonsensical, i.e., bad jokes
and casting nasties. When I comment of something, I have
to pre-think what my mouth may say. I cannot allow my
humming bird butt to overload my alligator mouth. Yet, I
do. I am human, but I am also aware to being a decent
talking and living Christian. So, where is your seat of
righteousness? Are you living purely, or has your sense of
purity become gobbled up with the corrupt world around
you? Do you have a real passion for being holy, or living
in His holiness? If not, you should.
How Can We Be Holy?
It is God’s will that we be should be holy. But, the
temptations of being unholy are all around us and they call
us to the desires of our heart, mind and body. How is it
possible to be holy? Although I Thessalonians 4:4 Paul
says, “each one should learn to control his own body.”
Let’s face it, without control we run rampant and out of
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sorts, trying to find something to latch onto, and it just
could be something sinful. You’ve done it and I’ve done
it, and we have to stop if from continuing to happen. We
must maintain control, yet we must follow God’s perfect
will and not our own imperfect will.
We must learn to know ourselves. This statement implies
two things. The first thing we need to learn in order to
control our own body and mind and heart, is to learn to
know ourselves. We need to know what things tempt us
and when and how. All of us are different and not
everything provides the same struggle for everyone. What,
how, when, where are the common questions we all need
to ask of ourselves in regards to our temptations in order
to learn to know ourselves. Consider the following
questions, and what will be your personal answers to each
of them. Take time before you just spit out a quick answer
and think about the SIN question carefully.
The Big Seven
1. Which day during your week are you tempted to sin
the most?
2. What time of the day are you tempted to sin the most?
3. Where are you when you are tempted to sin the most?
4. Who is nearby when you are tempted to sin the most?
5. What type of sins are you tempted to commit the
most?
6. How do you feel right before that sin?
7. Why does this sin give you what you want?
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These are excellent questions and if you are honest in
answering these questions, you will develop an
understanding of your weaknesses and vulnerabilities.
Until we know where we are weak, we
will not know how to overcome those
weaknesses.
We must learn to control ourselves. This statement implies
a second thing and that is that it is not enough to know
ourselves, we also need to develop strategies to control our
lives so that we are not so susceptible to fall into
temptation. There are several things that help us plan to
control ourselves towards holiness. Since we recognize
certain times and places of weakness, it makes sense to
compensate for those weaknesses. For example, if Friday
evening is a common time of temptation, then planning
something interesting and good for Friday evening (or any
evening for that matter) would help us avoid the
temptation.
If we use a sin to compensate at times when we are
discouraged, we need to substitute something else that will
encourage us whenever we get those feelings.
Furthermore, if we are not filling our mind with the Word
of God, we will leave it opened to all kinds of struggles.
So Bible reading, meditation and study are very important
as a way of focusing our understanding and strengthening
our resolve.
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Speaking to God by praising Him and seeking Him must
form an essential communication in our life. The more
securely we are related to the Holy One Himself, the more
faithfully we will be able to walk in holiness.
An open relationship to other believers - participation in a
church, participation in a small group and a more direct
accountability to one or two brothers or sisters is very
important. Having been in charge of and responsible for
72 small groups at one time, I quickly learned about
managing multiple godly relationships and how they vary
immensely. If we hide from relationships with brothers
and sisters and avoid accountability with other Christians,
we are setting ourselves up for a “big time” fall. Be open
always and be ready to help when needed.
A servant attitude, in which we know that we represent
Christ in our whole life and know that others are watching
us and acknowledge that we are openly representing Christ
wherever we go is also an important part of living in
holiness. Start your passion for living in holiness and
purity and in righteousness. Please begin today!
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Booklet Number 26
Covenant Christian Ministries
Belle Arden Run
488 Mountain View Drive
Mosheim, Tennessee 37818-3524
(423) 422-4711
www.thewatchmansentinel.org
Copyright 2018
Dahk Knox, Ph.D., Ed.D., D.Sc.
Jan Knox, Ph.D.
February 9-11, 2018
(Monetary contributions are welcomed and
appreciated for printing and postage expenses)
All Rights Reserved©