Answering the Call to Holiness -Betty R. Price (1771 hits)
Many Christians do not take holiness seriously. They do not realize that to be holy is a commandment from God. Since God has called us to holiness, we have to will ourselves to live the holy life. In 1 Peter 1:13 -16, we see God's call to holiness:...'Be holy, for I am holy.'"
We also find in II Timothy 1:8-9, "...share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling,... Everything that refers to God is holy. Holiness is the very essence of who He is. Our lives should always exemplify what Jesus' life was like when He lived on earth, because He exemplified what God's life is-a life of holiness. This was evident when Satan tempted Him in the wilderness. No matter what Satan tempted Jesus with, or how often Satan tempted Him, Jesus never yielded to him.
Holiness is the quality of life. It should not be confused with two similar terms such as sanctification, which means to be set apart, and righteousness, which means right standing with God. When you were born again, you were made the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ... Living the sanctified life is called holiness. This is how our character gets established. So Christians can't do anything to be righteous or sanctified, but everything to be holy.
It may seem difficult, but you can be holy, just as God the Father and Jesus are holy. It will take effort because it does not come overnight. You have to train yourself and remove yourself from unholy people, places, things and actions. You have to will yourself to do it. You have to go in the opposite direction of where your flesh or your mind may want to take you. You must remember that God cannot be involved in any kind of sin or immorality. When you get into sin or immorality, you park His power at the door and enter at your own risk.
Christians should desire to be pleasing to God instead of compromising their standards to please others... So, whatever challenge you're faced with, don't give up. It's a fight all your life. It doesn't matter how many times you fall; get up because one of these times, you're going to get the victory over that temptation so you can be right for God and live the life of holiness as you were called to do.
You didn't see that orange blanket. Most of the times when you see that blanket, it's when I can't find a good pik to post.
Wednesday, October 14th 2009 at 10:41AM
Jen Fad
