Be Holy...!
1. In conversation
2. In your body
3. Conduct and
4. Choices you make!
INTRODUCTION:
Every born again Christian is holy, but can only manifest the gift when the Holy Spirit has done the work of transformation in him!
Holiness is a free gift of God through the death of Jesus Christ at the cross. The gift is the work of grace that enables us to appear boldly before the Almighty God and make supplications that is acceptable by God.
You are not striving to be holy, neither are you looking for works to show that you are holy...NO! You are holy because your sins are forgiven and the Spirit of God is inside of you, the moment you received Christ as Lord.
What is left in the concept of holiness is your willingness to obey the word of God and be led by the Spirit of God. If you surrender to the Holy Spirit early, He begins to work-out those things that are pleasing to God in you, which people call good works, fruit of the Spirit etc.
What is left in the concept of holiness is your willingness to obey the word of God and be led by the Spirit of God. If you surrender to the Holy Spirit early, He begins to work-out those things that are pleasing to God in you, which people call good works, fruit of the Spirit etc.
What is Holiness:
God is holy and holiness is the life of God. No canal man can receive the things of the Spirit, for they are spiritually discerned. Holy living starts from knowing who you are in the Lord and the things you can no longer do, touch and say as a child of God. This is the seperation that God talks about in 2 Corinthians
be holy because holy living is like walking in the Spirit, when you are sensitive to the things of the spirit and mind them. Holiness has been defined simply as "Life of total obedience to God". It is also a life of trusting in God and being at rest, nothing moved.
be holy because holy living is like walking in the Spirit, when you are sensitive to the things of the spirit and mind them. Holiness has been defined simply as "Life of total obedience to God". It is also a life of trusting in God and being at rest, nothing moved.
This is new life in Christ which is after the new man created in the image of God the way of victory over the devil, his influences and oppression and pathway to power with God, prosperity and destiny fulfillment.
Manifestation of holiness is worked out gradually from inside out, so the sooner you are able to cooperate with the Spirit of God inside of you, the sooner you can manifest the gift of holiness.
Suppression of sin, and pretenses does not make you holy, but aligning with the Spirit of God inside of you, you will begin to notice a change in your mindset, the way you see things will differ as the Spirit make you conscious of who you are in Christ.
Your beliefs and manner of talking starts to fall in line with scripture to the extent that those things you use to love and enjoy will no longer thrill you. The Spirit of God works out in you to do those things that are pleasant to God, so that you will not continue to sin.
Notice that in Obadiah 17, the bible says "But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness and the house of Jacob shall posses their possession". Holiness is required for you to possess your blessings in Christ. God loves us and so He commanded us to live holy as He is, so we can enjoy life to the fullest. With holiness, you are free from spiritual oppression by Satan. Spiritual progress requires that you live holy and without holiness, no eyes shall see the Lord.
Holiness is not the absence of sin, but a life not lived in sin. This means that you are righteousness-conscious, blessing conscious and promise conscious. When you fall into sin, you quickly return to your Father in repentance asking for forgiveness and restoration.
Holiness creates an attitude of humility in you that allows for self-examination of your actions and speech constantly. You do this to make sure there is no guile, envy, malice, unforgiveness, bitterness, anger etc that will open the door for the devil to oppress you. Holiness worked-out daily in the little things we say and do, the choices we make and gradually, people will start noticing changes in your communication, conduct and in the choices you make.
Requirements for Holiness
There are seven important requirements for holy living as follows:
1. The word of God teaches us about God and His ways. We know that God is holiness defined. No man can achieve holiness without the help of the Holy Spirit, and so God, so merciful decided to input the holiness of Christ into us to make us acceptable before Him, and this is true to all that receive Christ.
To meditate on God's command for holiness and striving to live holy is the duty of man. Usually, God gives us a command and also provide the resources for us to attain the desired result. In the case of holiness, the command is sure, and the resource to enable us accomplish the command is the HOLY GHOST.
2. The Holy Ghost - The Holy Spirit is our guide to holiness and every truth. The Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us after receiving Jesus as our comforter and helper of destiny. Holiness outside the Holy Ghost is a waste of time.
The believer will have to embrace the Holy Ghost, and know He is a person, that can be entreated, loved and respected. He is the God that rebukes you when you lie and cause you to repent of your wrong doing.
The believer will have to embrace the Holy Ghost, and know He is a person, that can be entreated, loved and respected. He is the God that rebukes you when you lie and cause you to repent of your wrong doing.
He is the God that will advise you into holy behaviour and conducts, rebuke you when your flesh comes in to mislead you. Embrace Him by obedience to the word of God, glorifying and praising Jesus Christ and accepting His rebukes.
Do not resist Him or disregard His promptings for you to do what is wrong, when you are heading in the wrong direction. Other steps include:
3. Prepare your mind and heart. Living a holy lifestyle is by the grace of God and not by works. Throughout our lives, we are meant to rely on the Holy Spirit for leading and guidance.
So, a believer must train his mind on how to surrender all to the Holy Spirit and be led by Him. When that happens, you will easily know His voice and when He is the one speaking to you. Be determined to rebuke and reject ungodly influences that lead to sin and follow God in holiness.
There will be plenty instances of temptation in the areas of lack with the purpose of leading you astray. If you do not fix your mind on a clear, definite goal, you are more likely to slip off the path you need to walk down in order to please God.
So, a believer must train his mind on how to surrender all to the Holy Spirit and be led by Him. When that happens, you will easily know His voice and when He is the one speaking to you. Be determined to rebuke and reject ungodly influences that lead to sin and follow God in holiness.
There will be plenty instances of temptation in the areas of lack with the purpose of leading you astray. If you do not fix your mind on a clear, definite goal, you are more likely to slip off the path you need to walk down in order to please God.
4. Set yourself apart. As noted in Leviticus 20:26, God explains, "And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from the other people, that ye should be mine."
In essence, being "severed" from other people means severing yourself from the worldliness. You need to sever yourself from influences that are not of God. This was to be clearly stated in 2 Corinthians 6:14-18
"Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said:
"I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people." Therefore, "Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you." 'I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the Lord Almighty."
Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. 2 cor 7:1
5. Be Disciplined. You will never escape temptation, even if you do start exercising holiness in your life. When you face temptation, remember you can resist it with the word of God. Then, you will need to control your desires and the things you lust for, if you hope to make any progress living holiness.
Temptation does not always come in a tangible form. It is relatively easy for many people to resist the temptation of stealing something from the store or physically hurting someone who angers you. It is much more difficult to resist the root temptations of greed and hate.
You need to guard yourself against the weaknesses of character that can distract you from God. These weaknesses include things like pride, envy, greed, hate, slothfulness, gluttony, and lust.
6. Have total Hatred for Sin. Being intolerant of sin also means rejecting it in the world around you, though. No matter how much you may love someone, when that person sins, you must not make excuses for the sin or accept the sin itself. Hate sin and flee at every appearance of sin, do not play or toy with sin.
Many times, the devil will not come to you and say hey, I am the devil... He will enter into someone close to you to tempt you to sin. At other times, the devil will enter your heart to suggest sinful behaviour or conduct to you, if you tolerate such a thought, then one day you will do the bidding of the devil.
7. Die to self: Dying to self means surrendering any desire that is not of God. That being said, God created you to be who you are, so you need not despise your existence. If anything, you need to love yourself in the same way that God loves you before you can approach God's level of holiness.
God created you just as you are, which means that you are beautiful just as you are. Your beauty includes all of your struggles, weaknesses, and past mistakes.
Though you are beautiful just as you are, you also need to recognize your struggles and weaknesses for what they are. Seeking holiness means committing to the life of Christ in words and deeds, relying on the leading of the Holy Spirit and not your strength.
Deepening your Spiritual Life: How can we become more spiritual in our daily lives?
Seek and walk in Love.
Love fuels all existence. Whether the spiritual quest is to understand divinity or improving your spiritual condition, love fuels your walk in the spirit because faith produces result with love. Working in divine love is key to what God has in stock for you. No man in bitterness, angry and unforgiving can walk in the Supernatural, praying for the gift of love and walking in love is like 'seeking first the kingdom of God and its righteousness', after which all other things are added to you.
Meditation.
Meditating on the Word of God is a spiritual nourishment that no Christian believer can ignore. It helps your understanding of the Word and opens you to revelations. We cannot afford to be lazy about the Word of God. Our future is tied up in how much Word we have in our hearts.
That’s why God said, “My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:20-23).
It’s up to us how much of the power of God we want to experience and then give ourselves to the word. As we feed on the Word, speak it and act on it, the Word will become a reality to us and the power in God’s Word will drive out fear, failure and sickness! A lifestyle of study and meditation on the word is a 'Game Changer, life changer and spiritual tonic. I wonder what we would known about the scriptures without meditation.
Believe that with God, all things are possible
The fact is, God has a purpose for your life that’s exciting. Many of His good intentions for you are made known in His word and promises, but as you get closer to Him to know Him and His ways, He begins to reveal other specific and personal plans and assignment He has for you. You may not feel able to do great things, but you can. Just realize God never intended you to do them on your own. God knows what He put in you and what He can do in you. Ephesians 3:20 says He is “able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.”
We in the Body of Christ are vessels that God works through to accomplish His will. When we have been “recreated in Christ Jesus, it becomes easy for us to do the good works which God planned for us. We have a vital relationship with the One who makes the impossible possible. The heroes of faith recorded in the Bible knew God, and they did impossible things. They believed God when He said, “I will be with you.” and their faith was anchored on that promise. And because God was with them, they weren’t limited by their environments.
He is still the God of the impossible! All we need to do is to believe His word and follow His commands and instructions. If we obey His word and is guided and led by Him, we will know no impossibility.
Become a Faith Giant
Believing in whom the Father, Almighty God has sent is the secret of becoming a spiritual Giant. Believing in Jesus Christ is the beginning of your salvation and establishment in the faith. In John 6:28, the disciples asked Him, “What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?” Jesus answered in the next verse, “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.”
The moment you become born again, the next step to take is to 'Know who this God is'. If you do not know the God that called you to Himself, you cannot serve Him well, and until you know Him deeply, you may not be well established in faith. All the heros of faith, Kingdom giants listed in Hebrews 11 accomplished great things by faith, because they knew and believed God. If you truly desire to be a faith giant and do exploits for God, you have to believe His Word. If you’ll believe His Word and do things His way, the supernatural can be your natural.
Soar in the Spirit!
We know too well that “doing exploits” also requires laying aside every weight and sin that can hinder us (Hebrews 12:1). Weights are things that hold us down in the natural realm-things that crowd our hearts and take our focus and energy away from the things of God. Mark 4 gives a good list of those things. Although cares, distractions and desire for other things are not necessarily sin, they are things that will hold us down to the natural realm. And, when the natural man, “the flesh,” is in control, faith loses its aggressiveness.
But with the help of the Holy Spirit, you can “crucify” the flesh (Galatians 5:24) and renew your mind through the Word (Romans 12:2). You can be “spiritually minded” and experience life and peace. Or you can be “naturally” or “carnally minded” and think like the world thinks, and very sadly, you cannot receive the things of God, neither can you appreciate them. Worse still, your canal thinking will lead to death - see Romans 8:6.
Believe His Promises
Believing His promise is the only way to walk in those promises with confidence. Once it is written, spoken or given to you from the ultimate source God, it cannot fail. God is looking for those who will purpose in their hearts to believe and walk in His word and promise. God is looking for people zealous for Word and those who will rise up, march forward, be on fire!
Deepening your Spiritual Life: How can we become more spiritual in our daily lives?
Seek and walk in Love.
Love fuels all existence. Whether the spiritual quest is to understand divinity or improving your spiritual condition, love fuels your walk in the spirit because faith produces result with love. Working in divine love is key to what God has in stock for you. No man in bitterness, angry and unforgiving can walk in the Supernatural, praying for the gift of love and walking in love is like 'seeking first the kingdom of God and its righteousness', after which all other things are added to you.
Meditation.
Meditating on the Word of God is a spiritual nourishment that no Christian believer can ignore. It helps your understanding of the Word and opens you to revelations. We cannot afford to be lazy about the Word of God. Our future is tied up in how much Word we have in our hearts.
That’s why God said, “My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:20-23).
It’s up to us how much of the power of God we want to experience and then give ourselves to the word. As we feed on the Word, speak it and act on it, the Word will become a reality to us and the power in God’s Word will drive out fear, failure and sickness! A lifestyle of study and meditation on the word is a 'Game Changer, life changer and spiritual tonic. I wonder what we would known about the scriptures without meditation.
Believe that with God, all things are possible
The fact is, God has a purpose for your life that’s exciting. Many of His good intentions for you are made known in His word and promises, but as you get closer to Him to know Him and His ways, He begins to reveal other specific and personal plans and assignment He has for you. You may not feel able to do great things, but you can. Just realize God never intended you to do them on your own. God knows what He put in you and what He can do in you. Ephesians 3:20 says He is “able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.”
We in the Body of Christ are vessels that God works through to accomplish His will. When we have been “recreated in Christ Jesus, it becomes easy for us to do the good works which God planned for us. We have a vital relationship with the One who makes the impossible possible. The heroes of faith recorded in the Bible knew God, and they did impossible things. They believed God when He said, “I will be with you.” and their faith was anchored on that promise. And because God was with them, they weren’t limited by their environments.
He is still the God of the impossible! All we need to do is to believe His word and follow His commands and instructions. If we obey His word and is guided and led by Him, we will know no impossibility.
Become a Faith Giant
Believing in whom the Father, Almighty God has sent is the secret of becoming a spiritual Giant. Believing in Jesus Christ is the beginning of your salvation and establishment in the faith. In John 6:28, the disciples asked Him, “What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?” Jesus answered in the next verse, “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.”
The moment you become born again, the next step to take is to 'Know who this God is'. If you do not know the God that called you to Himself, you cannot serve Him well, and until you know Him deeply, you may not be well established in faith. All the heros of faith, Kingdom giants listed in Hebrews 11 accomplished great things by faith, because they knew and believed God. If you truly desire to be a faith giant and do exploits for God, you have to believe His Word. If you’ll believe His Word and do things His way, the supernatural can be your natural.
Soar in the Spirit!
We know too well that “doing exploits” also requires laying aside every weight and sin that can hinder us (Hebrews 12:1). Weights are things that hold us down in the natural realm-things that crowd our hearts and take our focus and energy away from the things of God. Mark 4 gives a good list of those things. Although cares, distractions and desire for other things are not necessarily sin, they are things that will hold us down to the natural realm. And, when the natural man, “the flesh,” is in control, faith loses its aggressiveness.
But with the help of the Holy Spirit, you can “crucify” the flesh (Galatians 5:24) and renew your mind through the Word (Romans 12:2). You can be “spiritually minded” and experience life and peace. Or you can be “naturally” or “carnally minded” and think like the world thinks, and very sadly, you cannot receive the things of God, neither can you appreciate them. Worse still, your canal thinking will lead to death - see Romans 8:6.
Believe His Promises
Believing His promise is the only way to walk in those promises with confidence. Once it is written, spoken or given to you from the ultimate source God, it cannot fail. God is looking for those who will purpose in their hearts to believe and walk in His word and promise. God is looking for people zealous for Word and those who will rise up, march forward, be on fire!
Live a Separated life
Holiness is striving for peace with everyone, without which no one
will see the Lord, according to Hebrews 12:14 . We are a chosen
race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people chosen to proclaim the
excellencies of Him, who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light.
The Lord has called us to good works, towards one another and
according to 1 Thessalonians 4:7 - For God has not called us for impurity, but
in holiness. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is
dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful
to the master of the house, ready for every good work.
We are to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and
acceptable to God, which is our spiritual worship. Therefore put away all
filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word,
which is able to save your souls. We have to know how to control our emotions
and hold our body in holiness and honor. Apostle Paul asked believers
"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you,
whom you have from God? You are not your own.
The bible says we are bought with a price, to glorify God in our
body -1 Corinthians 6:20. So we are not to be unequally yoked with
unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what
fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what
portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple
of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will
make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and
they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate
from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you
- 2 Corinthians 6:14-17
We have been washed by the blood of Jesus, sanctified, and
justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God
- 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. Though, we were at one time in darkness, but
now we are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, and try to discern
what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness,
but instead expose them. That you may be blameless and innocent, children
of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among
whom you shine as lights in the world,
We are to put on the heart of compassion, as God's chosen ones,
holy and beloved. Be kind-hearted, humble, meek, and patient, bearing
with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each
other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all
these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let
the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one
body. And be thankful
Finally, holiness is asking all believers to flee youthful
passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who
call on the Lord from a pure heart. We should also, Put to death
therefore what is earthly in us: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil
desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these, the wrath of
God is coming. We must put away anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk
from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that we have put off the old
self with its practices- colossians 3:5-15
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