Take Time to Be Holy

Take Time to Be Holy
August 23, 2020
Speaker:
Passage: 1 Peter 1:13-16
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Looking to 1 Peter 1:13-16 we see "gird up the loins of your minds." That's a very descriptive phrase. During the time this was written, they wore robes down to their knees an when they were to do hard work, they would gird up the ends of the robes in order to be able to move well.

We'd say , roll us your sleeves, and get to work.

In this sense, he's saying to get your mind ready to work.

He goes on to say, be holy, for I am holy. You are to be holy, because God is holy.

When asked what is holy, of course we would think of God, the Holy Spirit, Jesus, God's word. But, when you think of yourself, do you consider yourself to be holy?

Peter tells us we are to be holy.

When we think of holiness we can think of happiness. Yet, there are times when we aren't happy. But, if we are honest with ourselves, when we aren't happy, perhaps, we aren't living a holy life.

When we live a life seeking holiness, there will be more happiness in life.

If you want children to grow up to be faithful, you must exhibit and live a holy life. Your children will see when you aren't being holy. Thus, we set the example.

What is Holiness?

Holy - hagios: adjective: "(to venerate) findamentally signifies 'separated' (among the Greeks, dedicated to the gods), and hence in scripture in its moral and spiritual significance, separated from sin and therefore consecrated to God, sacred." - Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words

Think of it as being separated to God's service. Our purpose to be holy is to be pure, blameless. The same word translated as holy is also translated to saint. Every Christian is a saint, a sanctified one, a set apart one.


Sanctify - hagiadzo - verb "to make holy' (from hagios, 'holy'), signifies to set apart for God, to sanctify, to make a person or thing the opposite of koinos, 'common' - Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words

The New Testament is written in Koine, which is common Greek. We are to be the opposite of koine, we aren't to be common, but rather, set apart, sanctified, and holy.

Jesus and Holiness

Jesus lived His entire life under the Old Testament law, and He did so without sin, and remained holy.

  • Exodus 19:5-6

God demanded that His people be holy. We are a holy nation. The New Testament church is the spiritual Israel. We are to be holy.

There were rules and regulations that instructed the Jews in how to be ceremonially clean. Jesus lived under that law, and kept it perfectly holy.

The Jews were to be sanctified. But, when Jesus was on the earth, there was a problem.

  • Mark 7:1-13
  • Isaiah 29:13

The Pharisees had put their focus on man-made traditions, rather than a heart that sought to be holy. They were seeking to look holy on the outside, but their hearts were far from God.

We need to be careful that we aren't just looking at the outward appearance, but rather at the inward man of the heart.

  • John 7:24

What is the solution that Jesus gives to the need for true holiness?

  • Mark 7:14-23

Jesus explains that is isn't the things that go into a man that defiles him, but rather that which comes out of the heart.

Where does holiness start? It starts in the heart, and in the mind. If there were to gird up their minds then out of their hearts would be clean.

  • Matthew 23:25-28

If you wash the inside of the cup, the outside naturally becomes clean. That's the way of holiness. If we clean the inside of our hearts, the outside naturally becomes clean as well.

How to Be Holy

How do we become holy today? Even though Jesus lived under the law, the law of Moses cannot save you today.

  • Romans 10:1-3

The Jews rejected God, thus they could not be saved by that sacrificial system.

  • Hebrews 10:1-4

We need to realize that good works alone, will not make us holy.

  • Acts 10:1-2

Cornelius was a devout, a devoted man, a good man, doing good deeds. But, he was still not one who was saved.

  • Acts 11:14

He heard the words of the gospel, and became a Christian.

Good works does not save us.

  • Titus 3:5
  • Ephesians 2:8-9
  • James 2:17

Our faith is shown by our works, but works alone does not save us.

We must accept God's grace through humble obedience to Christ

  • Hebrews 9:13-14

The blood sacrifices could make one clean, temporarily, year by year. But, throught the blood of Christ we can be washed and made clean, once, for all.

  • Revelation 1:5

He washed us from our sinss. We contact that blood when we are baptized into Christ.

  • Acts 22:16

Paul shares how he was converted. He was told to arise, be baptized, washing away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. Having seen the Lord, on the way to Damascus, he was praying. Yet, he was still in his sin and had to be told what to do. And, Ananias instructed him to wash away his sin, in baptism.

  • Revelation 7:14

Those martyrs who died because of the gospel of Christ, were made white in the blood of the lamb.

The blood of Christ is the cleansing agent, and it is in baptism that we come into contact with the blood of Christ.

How to Remain Holy

To remain holy, one must act in good faithful works toward God.

  • James 1:27
  • James 4:8

James wrote to Christians. As Christians we must serve the Lord doing the works of Christ.

  • 2 Corinthians 10:1-4
  • Matthew 5:22
  • Matthew 5:28

The attitude, that which is in the heart, is the problem that separates us from God. The thought, while not the same as the act, is also wrong, and it is what leads to sin.

Sin defiles a Christian. It has the potential to take that which is holy, and make it defiled.

  • 1 John 1:8
  • 1 John 1:7
  • 1 John 1:9

We must make it personal. We all sin, realizing this, we know that God made a way for Christians to be cleansed once more. We walk in the light, yet when we sin as a Christian, we must confess our sins, so that the blood of Christ can continuously cleanse us of our sins.

How do we stay holy? It takes effort. We must work at it, girding up our minds. We need to spend time in prayer, in study of Gods word, and in fellowship with others working in holiness.

SONG Lyrics....

We are to bring every thought into captivity to Christ. We cannot come to God if we aren't holy. We can't be made holy in this life without the blood of Christ. We must be cleansed in baptism to be made holy.

  • Habakkuk 1:13

We cannot be in the presence of God without being holy.

  • 2 Peter 3:11-12

When we look towards that day, we have got to be holy.

If you are outside the body of Christ, outside of the church, we urge you to put on Christ in baptism to be made holy.

If we can assist you as you seek to walk holy with God, please contact us.

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