But as He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation. 1 Peter 1:15
The favourite curse of the world these days is the blaspemous oath ‘My God!’ It is disgusting to hear this expression uttered so liberally all around us in violation of the Third Commandment. God will judge everyone who uses this curse (Exodus 20:7). No Christian uses this curse (or its abbreviation OMG), at least no Christian with any valid testimony for their Lord. But many Christians get around this by saying ‘My goodness!’ But should we be swearing on our own goodness? The following verses in Psalm 14 should take any pride of goodness out of our hearts: ‘The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.’ Much of this description of humanity’s depravity is repeated in Romans 3, including the declaration that there is none righteous, no not one (Romans 3:10). In the light of such a declaration of our depravity, we come to today’s admonition for us to be holy. Think about that!
If we are saved, we are already holy, whether we act like it or not. Our salvation brings us into a holy standing before God. ‘Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new’ (2 Corinthians 5:17). As He looks upon us, sheltered by the power of the Blood of the Lamb, God sees no sin in us. He sees us as fit for His sinless and holy presence because the judgment for our sins is forever passed. ‘There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.’ (Romans 8:1-2) So, what God has done for our souls, He desires that we live out in our lives. That is what our text today is calling on us to do.
Every one of us knows our weaknesses and recall our many stumblings and strayings in our Christian pathway. Is it actually possible for us to be holy in our lives? Of course it is, or God would not command us to do it. God does not expect the impossible from us. What He has asked us to do, He has given us the power to do. It is God Himself, in the Person of the Holy Spirit, who dwells within each believer and Who enables us to be holy. Holiness in our lives is a simple two-step process. The first step is in reading the Word of God. Only by reading the Word can we learn what God desires of us. Only by reading the Word can we reprogram our minds away from the false and the filth of this world and into the knowledge of God and the life that He has prepared for us. The second step is obedience to the Word. If we love the Lord, we will keep His commandments. ‘This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success’ (Joshua 1:8).
We are holy; God says so. Let our lives be holy; God desires so. – Jim MacIntosh