HOLINESS A MUST FOR A GOOD CHRISTIAN LIVING

NIGERIAN CHRISTIAN FAMILY FELLOWSHIP, PDO MUSCAT

Topic: HOLINESS A MUST FOR A GOOD CHRISTIAN LIVING

Text: Mk 13: 4-13.

Introduction

The foundation of faith is built on complete holiness in all our ways as Christians. This involves a complete separation from anything that is sinful or impure and a commitment to serve God, and bring honour to Him. We have so many scriptural passages where we are told the complete holiness of God. Everything that has to do with God has to be completely holy It’s only God alone that is pure and His eyes cannot even look at evil Hab 1 :13. His actions always bring Him honour and therefore God is the only one who is perfectly holy 1 Sam 2:2

More scriptures about God’s Holiness can be found in:

John 17:14 - Jesus calling God the father Holy.

Mark 1: 24- Even the evil spirits acknowledged that God the Son is holy.

Isa 6:1-3 - Heavenly beings praising God on His throne as Holy Holy Holy

Deut 26:15 - Heavenly dwelling is holy

Math 6:9 - Gods name is holy and must not be misused

Exodus 20:7 - Name must not be misused

PsI 47:8 - His throne

Isa 52:10 — His power and word is Holy

PsI 77:13 — His ways are Holy

In a nut shell everything about God is entirely free from sin and brings Him honour. What are our requirements for complete Holiness?

God’s complete separation from sin requires that those who would draw near to Him must also be Holy. For us human beings to be able to be friends with God, then we must also be holy, but this we cannot achieve on our own. The deposit of the Holy Spirit in us is the main instrument for attaining holiness.

The process of attaining holiness in the Old Testament days can be found in Ex 26. The passage speaks about the holy tent where the Israelites meet the presence of God. In this old testament time God set apart the nation of Israel to be those people who would receive His special attention and favour. Before the Israelites could have this special relationship with Ood, it was necessary for Him to make them holy. God provided the removal of their sins by giving them guidelines for living their lines in manners that would honour God (Lev. 20:7-8, 22:31-32).

Animal sacrifices were the means that God provided for removing their sins. These sacrifices themselves were considered holy because they bring honour to God, and as a way of reminding the people that He was without sin and that those who would be friends with Him must also without sin. Sacrifices were offered unto God by priests on behalf the people. The priests had been set apart for this special purpose by means of special procedures that ensured they were free from all impurity and sins before entering into God’s holy presence Ex 29, Lev. 8.

Our main focus for this session will be the New Testament view about holiness. Just as the Israelites were commanded to be holy, so God commands believers of today to be holy lPet. 1:15-16. Today’s sacrifices for the forgiveness of our sins and living according to God’s command are made possible because of Jesus Christ. Everything that God had previously required to make His children holy in the Old Testament is provided in a more complete way by Jesus Christ. The sacrifices of the Old Testament times were really inadequate to make the people holy. Jesus Christ sacrificed himself only once and for all time so that the church could be pure and without fault with no evil or sin or any other wrong Eph 5:27. Jesus Christ was the perfect sacrifice for us because He had no sin of His won.

Our main requirement is to trust in Him in this self-sacrifice on our behalf and then become right with God 2 Corth. 2:21.

- Holiness however, also involves serving God and bringing honour unto Him. Jesus Himself brought honour unto God Heb. 4:15.

- We need to be united with Christ by faith then our relationship with God can now be secured as the relationship between God the father and God the son. This way nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God that we have through Faith in Jesus Christ Rom. 8:31-39.

- We are now identified with Christ, our lives are beginning to become more like this in holiness. Through faith in Christ, we are now free to serve God instead of Heb. 9:14-15. God has sent His Holy Sprit to give us new life and strengthen us in our daily struggle to honour God with our behaviour Gal. 5:16-26.

We therefore need to live by following the Holy Spirit and then we can be the kind of people that God wants us to be — bringing Honour to Him Rom. 8:1-17.

In our individual experiences we struggle daily against temptation and Sin. When we do sin, we need to confess our Sin right way, relying on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ that was made on our behalf, so that we can be made clean again 1 Joh. 1:9. We need to take encouragement from God’s promises that one day He will remove all sin from the world so that everything will be Holy Zech. 14:20-21. Until this happens, believers are encouraged to be filled with the spirit Eph. 5:18 and to make every effort to bring honour to God by Holy lives 2 Cor, 7:1. We can only succeed by relying on the power of the Holy Spirit, though prayer (Eph. 6:18); encouragement of other Christians (1 Thes 5:11 Heb 10:24-25) and by an increasing understanding of God’s word John 17:17.