Holiness Is Not An Option Series

Holiness is not an option

Hebrews 12

Jeff Bridges says, "Christians can never in themselves merit salvation through their personal holiness." Our Righteousness is like a filthy rag before a holy God. One of the early church fathers said, "Even our tears of repentance must be washed in the blood of Jesus. The Holiness the writer of Hebrews is referring to is the holiness that we are to strive for. There are two aspects of Holiness, the holiness we have in Christ and the holiness we are to strive for. It is the latter the writer is referring to, that without it no one can see God. For Christians this is not an option: When Walter Scott came up with the five-finger plan of salvation he said: 1. Have Faith, 2. Repent, 3. Confess Jesus as Lord, 4. Be Baptized, and 5. Live a Godly Life. It is not an option.

We are commanded to live Holy lives

1. 1 Thess. 4:7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life

2. 1 Cor. 1:2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be HOLY. Sanctification means made holy. Here we can see the two types of Holiness, that which we are sanctified and that which we are called to live.

3. The writer of Hebrews is reminding us of what we are called to do. It is a personal and practical holiness.

4. Matt7: 21-23 Not everyone who says Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom.

5. Therefore, we know the things that keep us from living this type of life; we must throw off all that hinders us.

a. Put God first

b. Remove from our lives all the things that lead us to sin

c. If we do not have this yearning in our lives to live Holy and Godly lives then we must seriously question the genuiness of our salvation and faith.

We are commanded to be HOLY and Blameless in His sight (Eph. 1:4)

1. To continue in sin is to live contrary to God

a. One of the early church fathers said "What a strange kind of salvation do they desire that do not care for holiness . . .they would be saved by Christ and yet be out of Christ in a fleshly state

b. Flesh and Blood will not inherit the Kingdom of God

2. To live according to the flesh is to contrary to life in the Spirit

a. Romans 13:14

b. Gal. 5:16ff

c. We have to change our thinking.

We are commanded to live HOLY lives in order to have fellowship with God

1. Psalms15: 1ff the one that has fellowship with God is the one who lives a Holy life.

2. 1 John 1:3ff. How can we say we have fellowship with Him if we walk in darkness? We need to fan the spark we received when we first came to Christ. Fan the spark to become a fire within us.

What must we do?

1. REPENT, change our ways, change our thinking, change what we can and give the rest to HIM

2. Throw off the things that hinder us.

3. Get serious about our sin, instead of justifying it.

4. PRAY ask God to forgive and give us help to overcome the sin in our lives. When you see something you must do, don’t wait do it.

5. Tap into the HOLY SPIRIT and let the evidence of a spirit filled life show God to others. Holiness is an assurance of our salvation, it bears fruit

Ask this question

Is there evidence of practical holiness in my life?

Do I desire and strive after holiness?

Do I grieve over my lack of it and ask God for help to be holy