Being Holy: Biblical Perspective, Part 5

Reason number two, because God hates sin. Why you should pursue holiness? Because God hates sin. Sin is an affront to God’s holiness. God hates sin. Sin is an insult to God. Sin demeans God’s holiness and His authority. How much does He hate it? Listen to what God says of his anointed cherub, an angelic being in Ezekiel 28: 11-17, ‘Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: the sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created. “You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you. “By the abundance of your trading you became filled with violence within, and you sinned; therefore I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God; and I destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the fiery stones. “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground…”

This is the origin of Satan. He was perfect in all sense: being, wisdom and beauty. He was in the Garden of Eden, he walked on the holy mountain of God, he had many responsibilities, he was the anointed one, yet the moment he sinned, God threw him out of heaven. God hates sin in its entirety. As far as east is from the west, so far away is our God from sin. Sin has no place in heaven and no one who is tainted with sin can or will ever be able to make his/her way to heaven. God is serious about sin and does not push it under the carpet.

Being Holy: Biblical Perspective, Part 4

We will begin our discussion with the question on, 'why holiness is important'? Why holiness is an absolute must? Then, we will seek to find as to how to be holy. Let’s begin our study with the question, why holiness…why holiness?

Reason number one, because He is holy. Holiness is one of the central themes of the Bible. It is the thread which runs through the fabric of the Bible. You cannot separate God of the Bible from holiness. He is holy and demands that they who approach Him, approach Him in holiness. He is so holy that even the Seraphims, the angelic beings referred to in Isaiah 6:2,3 cover their faces with two of their wings, feet with another two of their wings and with another two they flew saying one to another, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory. In I Timothy 6:16 Paul says, ‘ Who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.’ His dwelling place is unapproachable light, which speaks of symbolically of His absolute holiness. http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/IVP-NT/1Tim/Timothy-Man-God.

Look at Exodus chapter 19 and starting from verse 11, ‘And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the LORD will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. Verse 12, ‘You shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, ‘take heed to yourselves that you do not go up to the mountain or touch its base. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death.’ In I Jn 1:5, Apostle John says, ‘…that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.’ Darkness refers to sin. God is holy and He does not want anyone to undermine His holiness.

This is the reason He demands holiness from His people. If we have to approach this God, we will have to do it by conforming to His standard. You think that ‘now that I am saved, it doesn’t matter how I live, I will anyways end up in heaven’, listen to what God says in Hebrews 12: 14, ‘Pursue peace with all people and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.’ If you have an unholy lifestyle and still consider yourself as saved, you need to reconsider your standing. If there is an unbroken pattern of sin in your life, that is an alarm screaming at you about your unredeemed status. A holy life is a proof of your redeemed status. In Matt 5:48, Jesus said, ‘Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father who is in heaven is perfect.’ (KJV) in I Peter 1:15, Peter says, ‘But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.’ This is not some kind of suggestion. It is a command. God wants you to be holy. Period.