YOU CAN BE HOLY.
If I asked you, ‘are you a holy person’? What would your answer be? I think most of us would hesitate and not be sure how to respond. Many Christians are not sure of themselves when it comes to holiness. That is curious if you think about it, because we are sons and daughters of the Holy God. The Spirit we have within us is the Holy Spirit. Here are 8 facts from the Bible too give you a better understanding about holiness.
God commands us to be holy: …’because it is written’, “Be holy for I am holy”. (1Pet 1:16)
Paul had no doubt that you and I are holy: ‘God chose us in Jesus Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love’. (Eph 1:4) If you had asked him, “Paul are you holy”? “Yes, I am”, he would have replied, “come and meet some of my fellow Christians, they are holy too”.
A life of holiness has been prepared for us: God showed Isaiah a Holy Highway that had been prepared especially for Christians. ‘And a highway shall be there and a way, and it shall be called the holy way….it shall be for the redeemed….the redeemed shall walk upon it’. (Is 35:8,9)
It is not hard to be holy: God has something surprising to say about walking on the holy highway: ‘The highway shall be for the redeemed; the wayfaring men, yes, the simple ones and fools, shall not make a mistake in it and lose their way’. (Is 35:8) A simple minded person and even fools can succeed at holy living. Is God trying to tell us something here? I think so. It’s not hard to be holy.
Holiness is a gift to be received: ‘…much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ’. (Rom 5:17) The word translated as holiness in the New Testament, can also be translated as purity and righteousness.
Holiness is our reward for receiving Jesus as our saviour: ‘But now since you have been set free from sin and become slaves of God, you have your present reward in holiness and its end is eternal life’. (Rom 6:22)
Holiness is a pure heart, freed from sin: ‘And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, giving them the Holy Spirit as also He did to us; and He made no difference between us and them, but purified their hearts by faith’. (Acts 15:8,9) ‘To the pure in heart all things are pure’. (Tit 1:15)
A pure heart is received by faith: ‘And God….purified their hearts by faith’. (Acts
15:8,9)
The New Testament has a lot more to say about holiness. I encourage you to spend time with God, asking Him to teach you all there is to know about holiness. We can be as certain as Paul was, that we are holy.
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