Holiness part 2
You guys know I'm a bit of a definitions guy. I like to get to the bottom of things and know what we're really talking about. So let's look at 1 Peter 1:15, "But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation." And let's look at Strong's Greek Concordance (number 40), and see that "holy" means "sacred (physically pure, morally blameless or religious, ceremonially consecrated: - (most) holy (one, thing), saint. And since there doesn't seem to be a whole lot there that we can grab onto, we'll throw in dictionary.com too. "Dedicated or devoted to the service of God, the church, or religion." Basically, what stood out to me was "saint." But let's talk about "morally blameless" first. Because I think we think holiness means we can't make any mistakes. Check out Ephesians 5:26-27 (NLT), Christ gave Himself "to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God's word. He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault." You're welcome. Holiness is not about what WE do. It is about what Jesus did. About the work HE finished, and about us being able to enjoy the fruit of HIS labor. He washed us. He made us holy and clean. He did this so we could stop struggling with our spots, and wrinkles, and blemishes. I'm telling you: If you look AT the mirror, that's all you'll see. Surface stuff. The things the world has tried to pile on you in order to bury you, or bog you down, or drag you down. But if you look INTO the mirror you see Jesus. And in seeing Him you are transformed into that self-same image from glory to glory. Starting at glory. The glory is already there. Always has been, always will be. So stop thinking less of yourself. You're not a sinner. You've been saved by grace. You're a saint. Saints are holy. It's not about what you do, it's about who you are. And then when you know (and believe) that you are who God says you are, that's when what you do will line up with your true identity. What you do flows from what you believe. If you know who you are, you will act accordingly. If you know that you are holy--because God is holy, and He lives in you, and He made you holy--then you will BE holy. Think about this: God is love. Holy means dedicated or devoted to the service of God. Dedicated or devoted to the service of love! Loving people is the most holy--and perhaps the only holy--thing you can do. Love is holy. Being holy means receiving and releasing the love of God! It's that simply. And how, going back to our Strong's definition, do we be sacred? Physically pure and morally blamless? Not by trying to keep a law that was never given to us in the first place. But simply by loving people! If you want to do the right thing... let God love you and love Him back by loving the people you come into contact with. Let what's inside come out by filling yourself to overflowing with it. Know and believe that you are loved. Know and believe that you are the righteousness of God in Christ. Know and believe... that you are holy! Holiness is not something you can "get" or "achieve." Holiness is who you are. Because it is who God is. And as He is, so are we in this world! We need to start thinking differently about things. We need to shine the light of the world (that Jesus is, that we are) and see things clearly. Holiness isn't about being "better than everybody else." Or whatever religious mindset we get. Holiness is about receiving and releasing the love of God. Letting God love you and loving Him back by loving the people you come into contact with!