Holiness

Holiness

Exodus 3:5 Then He said, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”

Sandals would collect dirt and dust from the world, so that in removing them, one was removing the dirt and dust from their life to stand before God. The word standing had more to do with a positional relationship; so the idea of the verse was that as the heart was cleansed from contaminants, the individual would find themselves in a positional relationship with God.

Read Ephesians 4:17-27

Ephesians 4:23,24 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

Holiness is about a progressive change that takes place on the inside of us and as this change continues we find ourselves living differently on the outside. This change affects how we relate to people, how we speak, how we present ourselves and even the life choices we make. Holiness is about living a lifestyle that has a positive Christ effect on others and having removed anything from our life that could cause others to stay away from God.

Here is a measuring stick: in every situation of my life, whether it be what I say, what I do, how I dress, what I drive, how I drive, where I go, what I eat and what I drink, I ask myself this question “Am I drawing attention to myself or am I drawing attention to Christ Jesus?”…..…..Eph 4:27 and do not give the devil an opportunity.

Holiness is living a selfless life and living a Christ centered life, in other words in all the decisions I make I will ask myself “How does this effect others? Does this decision draw people closer to God or cause them to move away from God?”

Here is a personal example: In my life I choose not to drink any alcohol, not because it is good or evil, I just simply ask myself whether drinking can help me have a better Christ effect in the lives of others or would it hinder that effect? I have decided that drinking would limit my ability to serve and empower others therefore I do not drink alcohol.

Genesis 2:9 Out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Holiness is all about the Tree of Life (Christ) and not the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil (self).

To hear the audio message click here.