WHAT IS HOLINESS?

MEMORY VERSE: For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.1 Thessalonians 4:7

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Ezekiel 1-6

What is Holiness? We are not talking about the type of holiness we parade in public. We are not talking about how you, as a brother, carry or conduct yourself in the church or in the midst of other Christian brothers, NO! There are a lot of us, brothers, who are soft and cool as a cucumber in the church but something else at home or at work. There are many of us who are tyrants at home. We exhume so much love to people in church but at home we are terror. We curse and call our wives terrible names. Some of us even make reference to their past - something they shared with us out of love. For some of us, any time there is a misunderstanding we stop eating the food she prepared . Some of us even keep malice with our wives for weeks. Also, there are sisters who are sweet in church. They lift up holy hands in church but at home they are a totally different person. Some of them use sex to punish their husbands whenever there is a misunderstanding between them and their husbands. Some sisters even refuse to cook for their husbands whenever there is a misunderstanding at home.

When we talk of holiness, we are not talking of how we conduct ourselves on the pulpit. We are talking of how we conduct ourselves when no member is around. We are talking of how we conduct ourselves when we are in traffic and someone cuts us in. We are talking of how we conduct ourselves when a scantily dressed lady passes by and no one who knows us is around. We are talking of how we conduct ourselves when a member, who instead of dropping his or her tithes in the offering basket, gives them to us. Do we convert them to personal use or pay them into the church treasury? If we want to be sincere with ourselves, the only individual who can tell us whether a brother is holy or not, is his wife - the woman who lives with him under the same roof. Or, colleagues at work - people who work with him. The same thing with sisters, only their husbands can tell us whether they are indeed a sweet saint or not. We don’t really know if a brother is living in love or not unless we ask his wife. So also a sister, we don’t know if she is submissive or not unless we ask her husband. If we want to really know who a student is, let’s go to his or her university campus.

What is holiness? Holiness is a ‘calling’. 1 Thessalonians 4:7 says, “For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.” This ‘calling’ is on my life, your life, and the life of everyone who has accepted Jesus as their personal Lord and savior. For us to be able to answer this ‘call’ God has made some provisions. Romans 6:14 says, “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” Our sinful nature have been crucified with Christ. Holiness is also our pass code or passkey to God. Hebrews 12:14 says, “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:” Holiness is a requirement for answered prayers. Isaiah 59:1-2 says, “Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”

NOTE: The reason why many of us are struggling to live holy is because we are not taking advantage of the things God has put in place to help us live holy. Psalm 119:11 says, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”

PRAYER POINT: Father, please circumcise my heart.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world for Jesus.