Holiness~ Rabqa

I am using Scripture to show God's holiness

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world. Titus 2:11-12
The Greek word for soberly is sophronos comes from sozo to save & phren the mind. This word is an adverb signifying in a responsible, sensibly, prudently, being in self control, & in full possession of intellectual emotional facilities.

Verses 11-15 teach us to stand strongly in grace & say NO to ungodliness & worldliness. To be self controlled in our practice of godly behaviour & be eager to do what is good.

Depending on God's grace is godliness is impossible any other way. The Godly person exemplifies self control. Saying NO to ungodly & worldly attitudes & behaviour & say YES to righteous & godly living. This involves submissive obedience to governing authorities.
A key part to of godly living is an eager readiness to do good works! Godly speech is humble, peaceable, & never slanderous or argumentative.

The prerequisite to godly living is the grace of God. It teaches Christian discipleship & affords them the blessed hope of the coming of Christ.
Holiness, in the highest sense, belong to God(Isa 6;3); Rev 15:4, and to Christians as consecrated to God's service, and in so far as they are conformed in all things to the will of God (Rom 6:19, 22; Eph 1:4; Titus 1:8; 1 Pet 1:15). 

Personal holiness is a work of gradual development. It is carried on under many hindrances, hence the frequent warnings to watchfulness, Prayer, and perseverance (1 Cor 1:30; 2 Cor 7:1). In Eph 4:23 We read that we are to be constantly renewed in the spirits of our minds, having a fresh mental & spiritual attitude. Attitudes begin in the mind. Our minds are renewed by the Word of God. Reading the word daily renews our minds & changes our attitudes. Leviticus 20:7 Teaches that God never speaks to make us feel bad about ourselves. True godly conviction is a positive thing that moves us into a new level of holiness. The devil's condemnation presses us down under a heavy burden so that we cannot hear God.

If you sense God speaking about your behaviour, how do you know that is God? you will know because He will not shame you or put you down, but He will motivate you & empower you to change. We cannot make progress until we learn to discern the difference between conviction & condemnation. Remember conviction makes you aware of the problem & then lifts you up out of it. Condemnation on the other hand makes you feel guilty, presses you down, & keeps you in the problem. Two of Aaron's sons were struck dead (Lev 10:1-2) for the daring sacrilege of offering unholy fire on the holy alter of incense, contrary to God’s command.

If we want to enjoy the grace and power of God in one area of our lives, we need to be willing to have it in other areas. We can't selectively obey God in certain areas and not in others. We cant be holy in one area and not another. 

We have to give Him our entire lives. If we want to enjoy the blessing and favour of God in our midst, then we'll have to receive the grace of God that teaches us to deny ungodliness everywhere. The Apostle Paul says, If we live after the flesh, we shall die: but if we through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, we shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God (Romans 8:13-14). 

Paul is telling us that although grace has freed us from the Law, it has obligated us to walk in obedience to the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit will never condone sin in our lives. On the contrary, He will lead us to put to death immoral desires and activities. If you will fellowship with God and stay in living contact with Him, then the Holy Spirit will lead you into holiness. He will say to you, for example, Stop using that profane language. Use words that glorify the Lord. Or Stop reading those worldly novels and read more of the Word.

 Now that may sound like a legalistic requirement, but it’s not. Here's why: It's the favour of God that He corrects us. He is teaching us how to live free. Another part of that grace is that you don't have to do it in your own strength. Whatever the Holy Spirit asks us to do, He also empowers us to do. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that He gives us the strength to overcome every temptation. That's why the New Testament speaks to us in such strong terms about holiness. Nowhere does it say, Well, I know you Christians have been sinning a lot lately. But, I understand. Life is tough and at least you're trying. No! It does not say that It simply says, Be holy (1 Peter 1:15). We have no excuse for living unholy lives.

By grace, God not only tells us what we need to do to be holy He gives us the ability to do it! it is high time we started using that ability. We've reached the end of this age. Jesus is coming sooner than we think. It is time to get the slack out of our lives and become absolutely focused on God. It's time to drop everything that pulls us away from Him. It's time to get our flesh under control and yield only to the Holy Spirit. Don't yield to the temptation that it's impossible to live holy before Him. He's empowered you and enabled you to succeed. He's given you His grace to see you through. Yield to obedience in every area. Yield to His Spirit. He'll lead you to holiness. He is doing you a favour. l live soberly, righteously and godly, in this present age. Titus 2:12

Romans 5:20-21- 6:1-23
Moreover the law entered that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in
sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord
We understand in verses 1-10 that through baptism we have been crucified with Christ.

Water baptism is a symbol of of the believer's union with Christ in His death, burial & resurrection.

Faith is choosing boldly & unswervingly to believe what God has said. Faith must learn again to believe totally the testimony of Scripture! Among the keys to faithful living is the truth of our conversion. Faith frees us to live as never before for the good of others.
Paul's teaching in 5:20-21 that increased sin brings increased grace was liable to distortion. Some might claim that if by sinning they were providing God an opportunity to display the greatness of His grace then they should sin more & more.

The idea of a Christian continuing in sinning is entirely contrary to the gospel. Sin is hateful & destructive, & those who have died to the love of sin & the ruling power of sin should never want to live in it any longer.

Our old man is our pre conversation life, that is what we were before becoming Christians under the unrestrained dominion of the flesh (sin nature). The body of sin refers to the sinful nature within us, not to the human body. The Greek verb translated "done away with" (in V 6) does not mean to become extinct, but to be defeated or deprived- rendered inoperative.

Again we see in verses 11-14 to say No to sin whenever it confronts us. We need to recognise that we are really free from it's demands.
The book of Romans reveals a new victorious method for our dealing with sin. Living free from sin's rule is now possible because we are no longer slaves to sin, but have become slaves of God, able to choose righteousness rather then being bound to the old nature. Obedience to the Word of God gains a new nature of holiness.

Being dead to sin is not being controlled by the love of sin or it's ruling power in our lives, dead to it's enslaving power but not dead to all of it's influence (vv 12, 13, 15,16).

Therefore a natural conclusion from vv 2-11 is that if we are dead to the ruling power of sin, & if sin has destructive effects in our lives, then, we should not let it reign in our bodies.

We have a continual choice day after day whether to yield ourselves to sin or to God. The word members in verse 13 translates to the various parts of our body, probably as representative of all aspects of our lives.
Though we can never say in this life we are free from all sin (James 3:2; 1 John 1:8,10 we also should never say "This one sin has defeated me-I give up." The power of Christ's resurrection at work within us is greater than the power of any sin no matter how long established in our lives.

To be under the law is to be under a system of trying to earn salvation in our own strength by obeying the law, but to be under grace is to be justified & to live by the indwelling resurrection power of Christ.
We can die to sin, not because of the law forbidding it, but through all resources that grace provides.

In verses 15-23 once again Paul responds to the supposition that grace encourages or permits sin. He uses the analogy of slavery to combat a casual attitude towards sin & issues a stern warning on the serious consequences of yielding to sin.

Paul uses the human analogy of slavery in appealing for holiness. In doing so he reminds his readers of the contrast between the old unregenerate life & the new regenerate life. Slaves of sin do not recognise the obligation of righteousness, but rather abandon themselves to a process of moral deterioration which has death as its end (V21) Slaves of God on the other hand, devote themselves to holiness, a road that leads to everlasting life. V 22 summarises the consequences of the two types of slavery.

We further learn to obey Christ our New Master not sin our old master.
In the book Isaiah we see that the angels give Glory to God Isa 6:3 And one cried to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!”

Holy, Holy, Holy: A praise to God for revealing His innermost nature. The Hebrew word for holy means separated, or unapproachable. However there can be relationship because the Lord takes initiative to prove a mediator "Lord Of Hosts" which is a title for Yahweh used over fifty times by Isaiah & more than two hundred times in the Old Testament. It signifies He is the Deliverer surrounded by a host of heavenly power. Glory is that aspect of God's character that emphasises His greatness & authority.

We will now take a look at Psalm 60:6 It say that God speaks "in His holiness" this is a phrase introducing a prophetic message (Amos 4:2)
The Lord has sworn by His holiness: Behold the days shall come upon you when he shall take you away with fish hooks, & your posterity with fish hooks which reaffirms Israel's possession of the land as Israel's victories over adjoining lands.

Psalm 89:35 Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David. By this we know that He is a God that cannot lie; His promises are yes & Amen.

In Isaiah 35:8-10 says that holiness is a basic attribute of Yahweh. Isaiah refers to the Lord twenty-six times as "The Holy One of Israel." Those who share God's holiness by justification through Christ will walk the Highway of holiness with joy & gladness.

God never tells us to be holy as 1 Peter 1:15:16 instructs, without first giving us the help we need to make us that way. An unholy spirit can never make us holy, so God sends His Holy Spirit into our hearts to do a complete job & thorough work in us.

We must refuse to let bitterness take hold of our hearts as Hebrews 12:15 teaches us not to allow ourselves to be offended, or remain angry. This means that we cannot follow our feelings; we must press past feelings & do what God asks us to do.

If you are struggling in this area, I encourage you to pursue God's grace that is His unmerited favour & spiritual blessing. Let His grace get deep into the roots of bitterness that entangle you.
Remember our minds are renewed by the Word of God. Reading the Word daily renews our mind & changes our attitudes.