Can You Be Holy Every Day?
In my first three holiness posts I talked about what holiness is, how it is a commandment, and how to initially be made holy. In this post I delve into how to maintain a life of holiness. After all, this is what we need to do to make it to heaven and allow others to see Jesus, our holy God, through us. It may seem difficult when viewed from a human perspective, but when we seek after the God who lives within us, he leads us to become more like him every day. Thus a life of holiness becomes more natural the closer we get to him.
The Word of God Washes Us
After the awesome experience of becoming holy by being born again of the water and the Spirit through baptism in Jesus name and the infilling of the Holy Ghost, this new creature must mature in holiness. This is accomplished primarily by reading the Bible and hearing it preached as well as by living a consecrated life and seeking a closer relationship with God through prayer. Psalms 119:9-11 says, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee.” This passage, and in fact, all of Psalms 119 describes someone who loves the commandments of God and studies his Word to know them and thus steer clear of the filthiness of sin that God hates. We must fall in love with God’s Word – hearing it taught or preached, reading it, memorizing it, and speaking about it to others. We must refer to it when questions arise as to what is right, true, and holy for every aspect of life. It must become more important to us than our own opinions and desires.
Prayer Allows the Spirit to Help Us Overcome Our Weaknesses
In addition to instruction from the scriptures, we receive instruction and help from God in staying holy through our communication with him in prayer. We should seek him and ask to be continually filled to overflowing with his Holy Spirit. Through our worship in prayer, we begin to see Jesus as greater than our surroundings and able to help us overcome any temptation. Praying in the spirit, which is letting God pray through us in tongues we don’t understand, enables God to direct our prayer exactly as needed. Romans 8:26 says, “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” God knows where we need to be strengthened in our holiness and will intercede on our behalf as his Spirit speaks through us. Prayer renews us in the Holy Ghost which teaches us and reminds us of his will. John 14:26 states, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” As long as we remain full of his Spirit, if we get close to sinning, we will feel his prompting to stay away.
His Spirit in Us Empowers Us to Be Holy Like Him
2 Peter 1:3-4 teaches. “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” This tells us that his divine power (which is the Holy Ghost) has enabled us to be godly and take part in his divine nature of holiness. In verses 5-11 we are charged to build on our faith so we can be fruitful and not forget we were purged from our old sins. Through hiding the Word of God in our heart and communicating with him through prayer, we can consciously build on our faith to grow to be established and fruitful.
He Paid to Erase Our Mistakes
Finally, if we do fall short and sin, we can go to him in repentance and be cleansed once again by his blood. Jesus is our propitiation (sacrificial payment) for sin. 1 John 1:1-2 assures us, “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins:” Our sin is no longer seen and counted against us. Ephesians 1:7 declares, “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;” We are clean and free because he graciously paid our debt. Thus, because of him, we are able to maintain holiness.
Is His Forgiveness an Excuse to Sin?
Paul asks and answers the question about whether we should feel free to sin since we can always go to him in repentance in Romans 6:1-2. “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid, How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” We must instead live holy. Paul, in another letter said that he died daily. In other words, he turned from his fleshly desires every day in order to please God by living in the spirit, in holiness and obedience. When we truly love God, we will obey his commandments because pleasing him will be our greatest desire.
Maybe you have experienced ups and downs in how easy it was for you to resist temptation and live holy. Have you noticed that this depends on your prayer and Bible reading life at the time? I would love to read your comment on a time this was true for you. Make sure you’re subscribed to continue to be notified when I post the next portion of this study on holiness. May you be blessed as you seek to be more like our holy God.