RETAINING YOUR SPIRITUAL PURITY

24th AUGUST 2020

“ As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” – 1 Peter 1:14-16

God called His people to be holy since the time of Exodus. Jesus reinforces the call when he declared that we have to be as perfect as God Himself. Some say that God called us to be happy, and not to be holy. This is not entirely correct. This is because an unholy man is not entirely and truly happy. If you read the Scriptures more carefully, you will discover that God has called us to be holy in an ungodly world. It is holiness that sets us apart from the world and truly aligns us with God, His providence, and sovereign power. Therefore, we have to pursue and practice holiness to the glory of God and for our good. The word of God today teaches us to be holy. Holiness means obedience to God’s commands and righteousness by God’s standards. The Ten Commandments did not specifically or directly command us to be holy. Rather, the Book of Leviticus does. While some of these rules in Leviticus may not make any sense to us today, I believe strongly that what sets children of God apart is their faith and trust in God in what God has commanded us to do.

Whilst it is true that God in mercy forgave us through Jesus Christ, the righteousness of God flows to us by His grace. But still, without His righteousness, we remain like filthy rags before God. Righteousness is given to us by His grace, but we have to remain that righteousness by having faith in God, His word and obeying His commandments. If you have problems obeying God’s commandments, then you must reassess your right belief as a Christian. Note that just like Jesus obeyed God even up to the point of death, so are you expected to live out your righteousness in total submission and obedience to God.  

Jesus says holiness is not an external jamboree, but a matter of the heart. A man is not defiled from without but from within and thus Jesus says that our negative thoughts are the things that mainly defile us. From within us come such thoughts as anger, jealousy, hatred, etc. which by themselves causes the light of God in us to diminish, and cause the wrath of God to descend on us when we act based on these negative thoughts. Whether you know it or not, we are constantly under the judgment of God daily! Hence the scripture made it clear to us that whatever we sow, shall we reap!

We have to be holy because the word of God says so. To do otherwise is to be disobedient; we are to be holy to be like God, our Father, who called us to be holy. Therefore, we must not be conformed to our former lusts; we are to be holy by imitating God because God is Holy. Though the Christian has died to sin and been raised to newness of life in Christ, he or she must also choose to serve God and turn from their former lusts. They must no longer allow sin to master them. That is the only way you can retain the righteousness that God gave to us through Jesus Christ. Note, therefore, that Obedience to God’s word is a key factor in retaining the grace of God upon our lives.

Remember that not eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil did not make sense to Adam and Eve, but God required their obedience still. Offering up Isaac as a sacrifice to God made no sense to Abraham, but he obeyed God by his willingness to do so nevertheless.  So for us to retain our righteousness, and thus be as holy as God, we must obey all aspects of the word of God by faith and humility with hope that God who called us to obedience would not mislead us.

PRAYERS

Father in the name of Jesus Christ, I silence and rebuke the power of sin in my life today, and I offer myself as a living sacrifice unto thee. Father, I nail my lusts to the cross of life, and I now live in the spirit. Therefore, I declare that Satan has no power over my life anymore. I am truly converted. Thank you, father, for your wonderful power of Grace. AMEN.

FURTHER READING: 2 Timothy 4:3-4.