Once we have excepted Jesus Christ into our lives, our journey and relationship with God have just begun. We then realize that one of the main things we are instructed by God is that we are to be holy even as He (God) is Holy.
As the scripture points this out to us, then we should be asking the question “How Do I Become Holy?” The simplified answer is this: In order to become Holy, you must separate yourself from this world, while at the same time separating yourself unto God.
One of the ways we can describe this is how Brother Abdias Cervantes describes it. Here is what he says.
ONCE WE HAVE BEEN CONVERTED WE ARE MADE HOLY AND BEGIN TO LEARN TO EXPRESS HIS HOLINESS, DAY BY DAY!
- Holiness becomes the purpose of your life
- Holiness becomes the pursuit of your life
- Holiness becomes the proof of His life in you.
Holiness is in fact the power of His imputed righteousness, manifested through you!
To be holy or to live in holiness is something that should be pursued, practiced, and promoted by every true and faithful child of God.
This is our “reasonable service” because individuals who have received “the Divine Nature” are partakers of “His Holiness”. We know that a good tree will always produce good fruit, and fruit identifies perfectly with its host tree.
In scripture, we are taught that “Holiness unto the Lord,” is the established and therefore the eternal standard for every saint.
“Without Holiness no man shall see the Lord!”
We Must Be Holy
One theologian put it this way,
“Without being born again of the Spirit of holiness, you cannot be made holy and therefore you have no inheritance in the kingdom of God. … When we are born again and set free from sin, we become holy vessels unto the Lord. Faith in Jesus Christ is our righteousness and our fruit is then holy.”
Seek after Holiness, Without Which No One Will See the Lord
by Thomas A. Tarrants, III, D.Min.
Vice President for Ministry & Director,
Washington Area Fellows Program, C.S. Lewis Institute
So, we should never believe that Holiness is experienced or expressed outside of our relationship with God. Nor can we allow ourselves to believe that holiness ignores the sins that so easily pull us down.
This indeed is the part of our faith that makes Christianity so special. It’s not the brilliance of its characters nor is it the simplicity of its message. Although even the most brilliant minds cannot master it and neither can the most simple hearts ignore it.
The Christian hope is a light that cannot be hid!
Why is this? Because it’s power does not rest in any pattern or formula of speech or ritual, but it rests instead in the very center of God.
According to the scriptures, the God who made all things that exist became flesh. That flesh was the revelation of His eternal purpose toward mankind. That eternal purpose is to “be holy and without blame before Him in love!”
That second person of the GODHEAD, who God called “My beloved Son”, not only worked wonders on earth for this purpose but also died by crucifixion for all sin. God’s Son then, after three days, rose again from the dead to ensure that this purpose could be realized!
So this JESUS, who rose from the dead, became the apex of all things relating to the God who is holy.
His faith has now become the central focus of heaven and is now the hope of all who are being saved even today on earth. Without JESUS Christ alive, Christianity would have died a long time ago. Because He is alive, it will abide forever in the beauty of Holiness!
How can you be so certain? Because the scripture is clear that the same Spirit that raised JESUS from the dead is also now living in those who believe in Him for salvation; and this is not just subjective but an objective reality. He is risen indeed!
What do I mean by subjective and objective? I mean that every Christian experiences an inward transformation (subjective) and practices an outward demonstration of this eternal inward change (objective). What a change faith in JESUS brings! It cannot be hid.
How does God bring this kind of change to a persons life? Through the Spirit of His power who is called in Romans 1:4, “The Spirit of Holiness!” Without this Spirit of Holiness the Christian Faith would be just another moralistic philosophy or an insane movement based on self -discovery. But it isn’t just those things because He is here! He enabled Christ at resurrection to rise again from the dead and He has come to those who put their faith in God to do the same in them. He is with us even until the end of this world as we know it!
This third person of God has come to confirm GOD’S eternal purpose in those who will believe. So we can be certain that without the Spirit of Holiness there would be no people who could be like JESUS but because the Spirit of Holiness is with those who believe, than we can be just as certain that there can be people who are learning to live like JESUS even today. “Be ye Holy for I am Holy!”
Let’s now take a quick look at what it means to be Holy as He is Holy from the internal to the external by the help the Holy Spirit of God.
Holiness is not achieved, it is received.
In Hebrews 12:10 Christ atoned for us, “that we might be partakers of His holiness.”
Romans 8:3 says, “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.”
By these passages we are taught that we humans are unable to keep the law and attain holiness in our own strength; so this means the weakness of our nature demanded a better system of atonement. It demanded the sin stopping work of Jesus Christ!
By the shedding of His blood, God made it possible for us to live without the penalty for sin.
Through His resurrection we are guaranteed the power to live a life out from under the dominion of sin. So with sinful flesh no person can achieve Holiness but through submission to God, “His Holiness” can be received and only then can we be made Holy before Him.
We must understand that Holiness doesn’t happen to anyone by accident; it requires the cooperation of the will. Holiness must be received on purpose for His purpose.
Living in Holiness, first requires God in operation and then humans in cooperation, for it to be effectively at work in us. We must willingly partake of His goodness.
We can be holy and without blame only when we are in love with GOD.
So when we partake of Jesus we will receive true holiness within and begin to perfect Holiness without. “I taste and see the the Lord is good!”
Holiness comes only when you are “in Christ.”
Ephesians 1:3-4 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly place in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love”
Holiness is therefore no more and less than a lifestyle that is born out of total surrender to the eternal purpose of God revealed in Jesus Christ.
“The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.”
If we will submit to God He will lead us in a new life of holiness, and this Holiness, (His Holiness), will begin to change us completely, from the inside-out.
But, You, I, and every other believer—are incapable of achieving holiness on our own because Holiness is not human nature, it is the Divine nature.
Holiness can therefore only be found through intimacy with God.
The good news is that God’s nature is now available to all of us because of JESUS! “He gives grace to the humble.” We can therefore confidently live in holiness. But this holiness is not defined by our good obedient deeds, it is only defined by His good nature that is guiding us in all word and deed from a heart of obedience through Him. “I can do all things through Christ!”
When you set your life apart to God, you are practicing holiness.
We were told in Ephesians 1:3-4, that GOD has predestined that His children to walk in Holiness.
Does that mean Christians are expected to be perfect in all their ways?
No, it means they are doing their faith-driven dead-level best every day, to align their conduct with the Word of God from a heart of love.
Christians who are fulfilling their Divine purpose will be found walking daily in obedience to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, because they are the sons of God.
We we are trying to explain is that a “Holiness” that is not observable is not justifiable.
The definition of holiness is “without fault, pure, consecrated and set apart.”
Turning away from the ways of the world and living in agreement with God; will therefore always be at the heart of holiness.
So to be Holy a Christian must become driven by the hopeful habit of seeking to be in one mind with God in everything,
so that they might remain without fault before Him in love.
“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” 1Corinthians 10:31.
“Because it is written, “Be ye Holy for I am Holy!” 1 Peter 1:16
His Holiness always inspires holy behavior.
A Christianity without a Holy God at its center is not Christianity at all. A Holy God without a Holy people is a gross contradiction.
God has done all that was possible to make our entrance into His holy family possible; read this following passage with personal ears…
”Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers:for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?and what communion hath light with darkness?And what concord hath Christ with Belial?or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”
Since God has clearly promised us a place with Him, let’s avoid living in the feelings of the guilt and shame that attempt to make us believe we will never be good enough for God! Instead, let’s make a commitment by faith in work of JESUS our Lord, to set apart our whole life to God for His eternal purpose.
Let those who desire this Holiness help one another diligently live according to His holy covenant on daily basis. Let us each commit to fostering a relationship with GOD that will enable us to remain in “His Holiness” and among those who are committed to be counted as one of His Holy people.
In summary, “Becoming Holy” means to commit to behaving in a way that best reflects “the Spirit of Holiness” that is present within everyone who will believe unto the saving of the soul.
Are you a partaker of Him? How would we know? Are you certain?