What is Holiness?
Holiness is from God.
In all religions, except Christianity, we find man is working to
reach up to God. He is attempting to appease God. In an attempt to please God through his own
inventions, mankind is driving himself farther away from the blessings God has
for all of us. In Christianity, God is reaching down to man. In the Christian faith, God is seeking to
develop a personal, loving relationship with individuals that are willing to
trust and obey Him. God is looking for people who will surrender their lives to
His will. He is our Heavenly Father, and
we are His obedient sons and daughters. He
is the Vine, and we are the fruit-bearing branches. We are the bride, and He is the
Bridegroom. He is the Good Shepherd, and
we are His sheep. He is the Foundation
of the building, and we are its “lively stones.” Jesus is the Head and we are the members of
His body. We are the soldiers in God’s
army, and Jesus is the Commander-in-Chief.
We are a royal priesthood of believers, with Jesus as the High Priest. Jesus is The King in His holy nation of
believers. We are a fellowship of believers with our loving God directing our
every move for our good and His glory.
Rather than working for God, we are workers together with
Him. In all of these relationships, a life of holiness is strictly required.
The way to a life of holiness is from God.
There is no way we can be holy without God’s intervention. Strong forces, which make it impossible for
us to have a loving relationship with God in our own strength, are keeping us
away from God. In the first place, we
have a rebellion inside of us warring against God. Then, our customs, in and out of the church,
are strongholds that blind our eyes to God’s will for our lives. In the spiritual realm, the devil and his
followers use all of this against us to keep us in bondage to the will of
Satan.
If we cannot help ourselves, then is there any hope for us? Yes, there is hope if we are willing to pay
the price for it. If we are willing to
let God bring us into a loving relationship with Himself, we can live a holy
life in this life. We will be able to
love God with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength. We will be able to love our neighbor as
ourselves. We can have a little slice of
heaven here and now when we quit trying to get to God our way and be willing to
accept God’s way.
God has made a way for us to live a holy lifestyle. (By the way, if you have not figured it out
yet, a life of holiness is one of complete devotion to God and His
righteousness. It is walking hand-in -hand
with God. It is being a worker together
with God.) The way into this life of
holiness is through the Lord Jesus Christ.
John
God’s way to
holiness is shown in the Christian Bible.
To find out more about how to enter into a loving, personal
relationship with God, read and study the Christian
Bible. Read the Gospel of John, 1 John and Hebrews.
Then, read Romans and Galatians.
After this, you can read Ephesians, Colossians and Philippians. You can read Matthew, Mark and Luke to get
more information on how Jesus did the work of God while here on this
earth. Acts shows the History of the
early church. As you read and study the
Bible, ask God to help you understand and follow its teachings.