9-9-07 #Disciple Bible Study Titled: "BACK TO SCHOOL" Holiness

[Disciple]

“BACK TO SCHOOL”
#2-Holiness
1 Peter 1:13-16

Intro.

No doubt you have purchased an item either for yourself or another and you have seen those three words printed on the package – ‘Batteries Not Included.’ What those three words are telling you essentially is – ‘You get the item but not the power to make it work’

That can lead to frustration- you think you have the batteries you need at home only to discover that you don’t have the needed batteries, so you are not able to use the item you’ve just purchased. That isn’t the way God works in our lives-

In the Bible study last week, we talked about the gift of salvation that God gives to use
There is actually a double gift that we receive when we are baptized into Christ-
We receive the forgiveness of our sins. And we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit
You may recall that at the conclusion of last weeks message I said there were three steps of application that we needed to take in this salvation

Do you remember what they were?- Grab It- Go For It- Give It
I want to focus a bit here on the 2nd application step- Go For It
This talks about living the new life that we have received. God gives us a new life to live and he also empowers us to live that new life. God wants us to live our lives differently- we have been made a new creation- and God wants us to live out our new life

Eph. 4:24

It is this ‘holiness’ that we want to focus on in this Bible study today- God wants us to live holy lives

Ill- Chuck Colson in his book “Loving God”, says it well- “Holiness is the every day business of every Christian. It evidences itself in the decisions we make and the things we do, hour by hour, day by day.”

When we are in Christ if there is no desire on our part to live a holey life, to live a different life, to live a new life, then maybe we just ought to ask ourselves if we really are saved. One reason for our living in this world is that by our holy lifestyles others will see Jesus living in us and will come to know him too

Phil. 2:15

We are to be the light that is shining brightly in a ‘generation of crooks and perverts’
There is an important reason given in our Scripture text for us to live holy lives-

1 Pet. 1:15-16

We are to be holy because God is holy. So what does it mean to be holy?

I. Holiness Is Consecration

That which is holy has been ‘set apart’ and consecrated to God for God’s purposes
In the process of being made holy we are separated from the world and consecrated to God. You can see from what Peter writes in this first chapter of his first letter that he really expects his readers to know that they are holy

1 Pet. 1:2

Peter uses the word ‘sanctifying’- it is through the ‘sanctifying work of the Spirit that we have been chosen. Sanctifying is from the same root word from which we get ‘holy’
‘Sanctifying’ is how God is making you holy- holiness is the result of God’s work through the Spirit in your life

One of the problems that we in the church have encountered regarding being holy is the failure to take serious this calling from God to be holy. Peter uses terminology to help us understand this is a very serious matter

Note 1 Pet. 1:13-
These words come from the idea of tucking the long, flowing garment into the belt about the waist whenever engaged in physical labors. Today we would say, ‘roll up your shirt sleeves and get ready’. This is a picture that indicates a serious matter- when you roll up your shirt sleeves to work, you are taking the work seriously. Note the three things Peter tells us to do about holiness-

Be self-controlled- so much of our living is out of control- we allow desires of our bodies to dictate and control us. Hope for the grace- we are looking forward to Christ’s 2nd coming- let this promise be motivation for holy living. Do not conform to the evil desires- the evil desires refers back to the former life before they became Christians- that’s the way they used to live, but not now-

Let’s take seriously our calling to be consecrated to God and be holy in all we do


II. Holiness Is a Continual Process

We need to realize that when we accepted Christ, we were made holy-
But at the same time this is a continual process of becoming holy
As we grow and mature in our daily living we become more and more holy like God in our living. I think that sometimes we think of being holy as a slow, drawn-out process of leaving sin a little bit at a time

We might even imagine ourselves like the slow-moving snail inching ourselves away from sin. But in reality, that isn’t the picture that Scriptures use to describe holiness

Rather the Scriptures use the picture of a corpse coming to life

Eph 2:4-6

When we first come to Christ God sees us as being holy- he has taken away our sin and given us new life- our standing in Christ now is holy. But at the same time, we are continually in the process of becoming more and more like Christ-we are progressing away from sin. This is a process that will last for the entirety of our lives as we mature and develop spiritually.

2 Pet. 3:18

How can anyone get the idea that when you come to Christ you just get baptized but nothing ever changes? We aren’t to stay the same as we are now- we are to GROW. Today you should be more like Jesus than you were yesterday.

Consider the paraphrase of Col. 3:1-3 from the book “The Message”- So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ- that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective. Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life- even though invisible to spectators- is with Christ in God. He is your life.

I realize that even at our very best we still are so very far from God’s best. But holy living is about imitating God our Father- we must imitate God in his purity of thought and action, no matter how pitiful our attempts may be.

III. Holiness Is Your Choice

You and I do have a choice in this matter of being holy. Let’s look at v. 14 again and see if you can quickly see your choice

1 Pet. 1:14

Your choice is to obey God or not to obey God-
It is God’s desire for us to live our lives as obedient children and not live as disobedient children. We no longer are ignorant about what God wants from us- we have been set free from sin and we know how God wants us to live our lives. But the choice is yours- will you choose to obey God daily and do what He wants from you? We must make a choice to work with and cooperate with God in our lives.

Phil. 2:12-13

Can you see that his is a combined effort here? God is working in us to accomplish his will and good purpose in us. Many times I have heard people say to me ‘I really would like to be a Christian but I’m just afraid I can’t live that kind of life’

Maybe you’ve thought that or said that too. I’ve got some really good news for you based on Phil 2:12-13. Here’s the good news- ‘You Can Because God Is’- You can live the kind of life that God wants you to live because God himself is working in you to accomplish it- you are not going about this holy living thing alone.

It is true that the very best effort must be given from you, but God is working together with you to accomplish his will and purpose. In essence we are responding to God’s working in us with our very best effort

Be certain of this- God will never force his will and purpose in your life. If you do not want to work with God in your life to become what God desires you to become, so be it. God has pointed out the path for us to follow, but you still have to choose to walk

You are going to make a choice right here and right now. Either you are going to choose to say yes to the Lord’s will or you are going to choose to say no to the Lord’s will. Understand that what choice you make determines your eternal destiny

Conc.

We live our lives in holiness because God is holy. Christian, are you living a holy life? There is an important verse of Scripture that we need to be reminded of today

Heb. 12:14

How important is holy living in our lives? Perhaps the better question would be, ‘how important to God is holy living in our lives?’ It is of extreme importance- it is of eternal importance- ‘without holiness no one will see the Lord.’ Are you planning to be with the Lord in eternity?- not without holiness you won’t.

Will you make your commitment to the Lord today and live your life in holiness?