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Education Ministry

Posted on August 25, 2005 ...

Lately I have been thinking a lot about holiness, particularly God's command that we be holy as He is holy. The word holy actually means separate or set apart. It implies a separation from all that is impure or morally imperfect. This is essential to God's divine nature; and in the creation, God entrusted mankind to reflect His holy image. Sadly, that reflection was severely distorted when Adam and Eve disobeyed God. Their glory dimmed and their holiness corrupted, they passed on to us an unholy inclination toward disobedience. But thanks be to God, for He has provided the way back to holiness through the life, death, and resurrection of His Son. It is by grace through faith in Jesus that unholy humans may get back on track. Those who place their faith in Jesus now live in the promise that one day they will obtain the glory of the Lord. In the mean time, we who are on that path make progress in our pursuit of holiness by submitting to the influence of the Holy Spirit who now resides within us.

This is the human condition in a nutshell; and herein lies the big difference between those who follow this path and those who do not. Those who know the Truth make holiness their life's pursuit. Those who remain in darkness know nothing but to indulge the unholy desires of the flesh (see 1 John 3:1-10).

Remember, we are dealing with the question of how we can be sure we really know God rather than merely know about Him. Last time, I pointed out the necessity of love. Now we come to obedience. It should not surprise us that these two go together. Jesus said, ?¢‚Ǩ?ìWhoever has My commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves Me. He who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I too will love him and show Myself to him.?¢‚Ǩ¬ù Can you see that obedience and love enable us to know Him?

But just as real love is often confused with infatuation, so also is sincere obedience often confused with the mere appearance of godliness. Jesus identified this as the Pharisees' root problem. Quoting Isaiah, He declared, ?¢‚Ǩ?ìThese people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. They worship Me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.?¢‚Ǩ¬ù I recognize this lingering problem when I consider two questions: 1) Am I pursuing holiness in my private life? 2) Am I more concerned about sin or getting caught? These questions are convicting. I must admit that it is much easier to put on the appearance of godliness when I know others are looking, and I sometimes avoid sin more for fear of the embarrassment of getting caught. These attitudes of the flesh are obstacles to my truly knowing God. My spirit, however, desires nothing more than to know God. Therefore, I want to live in such a way that I would not be ashamed by any private thought, word, or deed. I long to avoid sin for no other reason but that it is sin and it hinders my relationship with God. May our prevailing desire be to know God, and in that desire may we live in true obedience.