Be Holy, for I am Holy
God's people have always been called to be holy, because we belong to the Lord, and He is holy. He is our Lord. We are to follow Him, and that means to be like Him. God taught this principle to Israel, and the New Testament writers have told us the same thing about the New Testament saints. (Leviticus 11:45) So just what does it mean to be holy?
The simple way to understand holy is that it means "different." We are different because we do not worship the gods of this world, but we worship the Lord Jesus Christ. We act differently, because Jesus lived a life that was totally different from the people of His time on earth. We talk differently, because the Holy Spirit is in us to lead us to use our tongues as God designed them to be used. We are different inside, because when we trust Christ, our "wanter" is changed, so that we want to do the Lord's will.
Now, not every Christian is as different as he or she should be. That is because they have not taken the command to be holy seriously. It takes our own choice and effort after we are saved to grow in our holiness. However, even though it is our choice, we are punished as disobedient children, if we do not follow our Lord in pursuing holiness. I pray that each of us will make the right choice, and make it our aim every day to be more holy than the day before, and to do it by God's power.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Leviticus 12-14.
The simple way to understand holy is that it means "different." We are different because we do not worship the gods of this world, but we worship the Lord Jesus Christ. We act differently, because Jesus lived a life that was totally different from the people of His time on earth. We talk differently, because the Holy Spirit is in us to lead us to use our tongues as God designed them to be used. We are different inside, because when we trust Christ, our "wanter" is changed, so that we want to do the Lord's will.
Now, not every Christian is as different as he or she should be. That is because they have not taken the command to be holy seriously. It takes our own choice and effort after we are saved to grow in our holiness. However, even though it is our choice, we are punished as disobedient children, if we do not follow our Lord in pursuing holiness. I pray that each of us will make the right choice, and make it our aim every day to be more holy than the day before, and to do it by God's power.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Leviticus 12-14.