A couple months ago I presented a lesson entitled, Hope and Holiness. In that lesson, we looked at the hope we are to have in Christs sufficient work along with the corresponding idea that we should in turn “pursue” (Hebrews 12:14) holiness. Just last week, in our Sunday morning bible class, we considered the restrictions given to God’s people as it relates to various foods and other things that were deemed unclean. The reason behind these restrictions was to impress upon His people just how important holiness is to God; and thus, how important He wants it to be for His children. Leviticus 11:44, “For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy.”
For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.
Hebrews 10:14
For us to endeavor towards a healthy understanding regarding our involvement in holiness, we need to be reminded of something; that is, Christ was, is, and will always be sufficient in making us spiritually holy. Hebrews 10:10 says, “By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” He has perfected all those who are in Christ Jesus and He keeps them sanctified. As one person put it, “The emphasis here is on the lasting results of Christ’s work, by which his people remain sanctified.” This confidence is crucial if we are to move forward in our discussion of holiness.
Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ…
1st Peter 1:13
Someone once said, “I believe the holier a man becomes, the more he mourns over the unholiness which remains in him.” I don’t know about you, but I find this to be true for me. Sometimes I hate looking “into the perfect law of liberty” (James 1:25), because I don’t always like what I see. That is why I must “rest my [your] hope fully upon the grace” found in Christ Jesus. With that, I can honestly examine self, realizing that although Christ has made me holy (spiritually), I need work on conducting myself in like manner. The idea that this involves girding “up the lions of my [your] mind” and being “sober” reveals that I have something important to contribute to this complete idea of holiness. May we seek to be like Him, in all holiness, because He has made us holy. Dennis
