Holiness – Part 2
Holiness, part 2
Holiness, part 2 – Victorious Christian Living
4) The two dimensions of personal holiness:
A) Holiness is revealed in a believer’s life in two forms: 1) by inward purity, and 2) by outward purity.
B) Four possibilities of cleanliness:
Matthew 23:25-26 (New King James Version)
25 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.
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1 – outside dirty / inside dirty 2 – outside dirty / inside clean 3 – outside clean / inside dirty 4 – outside clean / inside clean |
- True holiness begins inwardly and progresses outwardly!
C) Jesus clearly taught that both the inside AND the outside need to be clean and pure! One without the other is insufficient!
2 Corinthians 7:1 (Amplified Bible)
THEREFORE, SINCE these [great] promises are ours, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that contaminates and defiles body and spirit, and bring [our] consecration to completeness in the [reverential] fear of God.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 (English Standard Version)
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
D) Holiness involves the entire being: it’s not just inward purity; it’s not just outward purity; it’s TOTAL purity! True holiness is BOTH!
5) Internal holiness (spirit and soul)
A) The words “spirit and soul,” while not synonymous, are used in Scripture to indicate the inner man. Combined, the spirit and soul make up our thinking, our will, our emotions, our “heart:” it’s that part of us which is eternal.
- How do you accomplish the task of inner holiness?
1 John 1:9 (English Standard Version)
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
B) Man is powerless to cleanse himself from sin. Inward cleansing can only be accomplished by Jesus Christ.
- Sin is ONLY remitted with blood (Hebrews 9:22) and no other cleansing agent can initially purify the heart of man except the blood of Jesus Christ.
1 John 1:7 (English Standard Version)
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
Revelation 1:5b (English Standard Version)
…Jesus Christ… who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood
- Our good deeds, devout living, and self-righteousness cannot cleanse us inwardly – we must be washed in the blood of the Lamb of God!
- When we’re baptized in water in Jesus’ name, the blood of Jesus Christ is applied to us and our hearts are purified and cleansed.
C) Once our hearts are cleansed, it becomes our responsibility to KEEP our hearts and our inner man clean!
Proverbs 4:23 (Amplified Bible)
Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life.
- After you’ve been cleansed by the blood, you need to learn to wash yourself in the Word!
John 15:3 (English Standard Version)
Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.
1 Peter 1:22 (English Standard Version)
Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth…
Ephesians 5:25b-26 (English Standard Version)
25 …Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
- By continually reading, hearing, and meditating in the Word of God, our inner man is cleansed and protected from sin and unrighteousness!
Psalms 119:11 (Complete Jewish Bible)
I treasure your word in my heart, so that I won’t sin against you.
- Truth is truth, whether you treasure it or not. – Rachel Coltharp (at NAYC 2009 in Nashville, TN)
D) Finally the Holy Spirit which leads and guides you into all truth becomes our partner in strengthening our inner man and keeping us pure within!
Ephesians 3:16 (English Standard Version)
that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
6) External holiness (body and life):
A) Internal holiness is vital; but genuine inner holiness ALWAYS results in external holiness!
Romans 12:1-2 (New King James Version)
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
- Outward holiness is not irrational or impossible, it’s our reasonable service!
- External holiness begins with offering our bodies as living sacrifices unto God!
- True worshippers cannot allow their bodies to be involved in sinful deeds:
Romans 6:12 (New King James Version)
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.
B) The Christian life has always been a life of self-denial! One of the first things a Christian has to do is learn to say “NO!” to his own flesh, to Satan, and to worldly desires and passions.
Luke 9:23 (English Standard Version)
And he said to all, If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
- Bringing the appetites and actions of the body under control of the Spirit that dwells in us if of paramount importance! You must die to the flesh! It’s crucial to holy living!
Romans 8:13 (English Standard Version)
For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
C) Apostle Paul taught through example the necessity of dying to the flesh:
1 Corinthians 9:27 (English Standard Version)
But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
- Paul clearly explains that he keeps his body under control. Those who belong to Christ MUST deny the flesh!
Galatians 5:24 (English Standard Version)
And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
D) Your body is the temple of God – keep it holy!
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (New King James Version)
19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
- Once you’re born again – you are not your own! Keep your temple undefiled by being a daily living sacrifice!
- You have to daily so “NO” to the will of your flesh and “YES” to the will of God.
- Stern judgment is pronounced upon those who defile the temple of God.
1 Corinthians 3:16-17 (New King James Version)
16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.
- Every born-again believer MUST come to terms with the New Testament commands for Christ-like living!
7) The purpose of holiness:
A) Genuine holiness brings glory to God:
1 Corinthians 6:20 (English Standard Version)
for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
- The divine purpose of holiness is to bring glory to Jesus Christ through our willing obedience. Our holiness is a witness to the world.
Matthew 5:16b (English Standard Version)
…let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
- Genuine holiness is a part of your worship unto God. Give Him all the glory that He deserves by serving Him in spirit and in truth!
- “No great and lasting revival of religion can be granted us till the professed lovers of Jesus prove their affection by coming out from an ungodly world, being separated, and touching not the unclean things.” – Charles H. Spurgeon
- The Stranger…
- A few months before I was born, my dad met a stranger who was new to our small town. From the beginning, dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon invited him to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and was around to welcome me into the world a few months later.
- As I grew up, I never questioned his place in our family. Mom taught me to love the Word of God, and dad taught me to obey it. But the stranger was our storyteller. He could weave the most fascinating tales. Adventures, mysteries, and comedies were daily conversations. He could hold our whole family spell-bound for hours each evening. He was like a friend to the whole family. He took dad, bill, and me to our first Major League Baseball game. He was always encouraging us to see movies, and he made arrangements to introduce us to several movie stars.
- The stranger was incessant talker. Dad didn’t seem to mind, but sometimes mom would quietly get up, while the rest of us were enthralled with one of his stories of faraway places, and go to her room, where she would read the Bible and pray. I wonder not if she ever prayed that the stranger would leave.
- You see, my dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions. But this stranger never felt an obligation to honor them. Profanity, for example, wasn’t allowed in our house – not from us, from our friends, or adults. Our longtime visitor, however, used occasional four-letter words that burned my ears and made dad squirm. To my knowledge, the stranger was never confronted. My dad was a teetotaler and didn’t permit alcohol in his home, not even for cooking. But the stranger felt like we needed exposure and enlightened us to other ways of life. He offered us beer and other alcoholic beverages often. He made cigarettes look tasty, cigars manly, and pipes distinguished.
- He talked freely (much too freely) about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive, and generally embarrassing. As I look back, I believe it was the grace of God and my mother’s prayers that the stranger didn’t influence us more. Time after time, he opposed the values of my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked and never asked to leave.
- More than thirty years have passed since the stranger moved in, but if I were to walk into my parents’ den today, you would still see him over in a corner, waiting for someone to listen to him and watch him draw his pictures. His name? We always just called him by his initials – T.V.
