All About GOD - Growing Relationships with Jesus and Others
Be Holy; For I Am Holy.
What does this mean to you? Does it mean we 'Stop Everything' ? How much...is 'being Holy'...and how much...is being fanatical, or 'unrealistic'? Is there a such thing as unrealistic or unbalanced when it comes to 'being Holy'? Can I be Holy without everyone thinking I am bonkers, or should we not worry about what others think?
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Rod Askew on
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Hi JAFS,
The scripture in question is:
Leviticus 11:44
For I am the LORD your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on the earth.
From Wikipedia, Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service, usually religious. The word "consecration" literally means "to associate with the sacred".
The verse relates to the Levitical food laws where God instructed Moses and Aaron to tell the Israelites what they could and could not eat. They were to make a solemn dedication to not put anything unclean in their mouths.
This was obviously only one small part of the laws God gave moses for the Israelites.
later though Jesus told the deciples that even though the rich young man kept all of the Mosaic laws he still failed the test.
Matt 19: 25;26 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, "Who then can be saved?"
26Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
God wanted the Israelites to follow his holy law, however they failed and were not allowed into the promised land.
Clearly Jesus tells us we can never be as holy as the Father.
Does that mean we don't try and just give up.
No we are to live a Godly life, even though we will continue in sin.
Blessings
Rod
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Holiness isn't what others think of you, but what God thinks of you. In Matthew 5:48 Jesus told us to be perfect as our Father is perfect. Perfection will only be mastered when we are home with our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus. But Jesus is telling us that if we listen to Him and act as He instructs, we will acheive this perfect condition. We are on our way to perfection when we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior. The next step would be to learn all Christ has to teach us through the study of His Word.
The instance when He (Christ) mentions this perfection is while He is teaching about loving your neighbor AND your enemy. That command is a tough one but one that we must learn to accomplish.
Holiness is a condition that needs to be worked at, becoming perfect in the sight of God. It is not a pose that we must strike but a condition that we must stive to gain.
I'm not entirely sure that I have addressed the issue to your satisfaction, but this is my take on holiness.
Blessings to you,
Rita
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Permalink Reply by JB on
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Just a short snippet here Rita, Holiness to me is being set apart so to speak.
When we were born again, received Him as Lord, we were set apart, from darkness, the authority of the enemy etc.
So when you were born again, you became Holy, as Holy as you will ever be in God's sight. In this life or world, you may grow in a holiness, as being clean from your dirty habits, or as a self righteousness, in the sight of friends and neighbors, but that doesn’t make you Holy in the sight of God, God sees you through His Son Jesus Christ.
So you don’t quit sinning to become Holy, you are Holy, and you use that Holiness to quit sinning. That’s the way I see it.
Joe
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Permalink Reply by William Bixby on
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Joe, I would say you are right. But I think there is more to it, unless I missed what you mean. We say God sees us "through His Son Jesus Christ". But also God does see how we really are. And in Hebrews chapter 12 we have:
"'For whom the LORD loves He chastens,
. And scourges every son whom He receives.'"
(Hebrews 12:6)
And later it says, "For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but he for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness." (Hebrews 12:10)
So, He may see us a certain way, because of Jesus, but He also sees us how we really are, and He chastens and scourges us so we become "partakers of His holiness". Partaking means sharing, I understand; and by becoming how His love has us becoming, then we are not just "seen" as being holy, but we are sharing in how God is in His love, sharing this with Him.
So, is this what you meant, or you do not agree with this?
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Quote”
He also sees us how we really are,
Not really William! He saw us how we were, but now He sees us through His Son Jesus who has redeemed us, we have been bought with a price and we belong to Him now.
When Jesus bore our sins, sicknesses, and diseases, on the cross: it wasn’t just for the sins that were committed before, but was for past, present and future, if it doesn’t cover our present and future sins, then we are in a heap of trouble, aren’t we? Because He doesn’t need to come back and die every time we sin. Nor carry our infirmities every time we get sick. He did it once for all, and for all time. It was an eternal redemption!
So look at it this way William, The devil is the accuser of the brethren! Right? Rev.12:10,
So when you sin, the devil accuses you of it, and tells you that you have sinned, [the only time he ever tells the truth] But you can say, yes I did but Jesus is my righteousness, my advocate. and High Priest. and I confess my sins to Him and He is faithful and just to forgive my sins and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
So I can come boldly to the throne grace and I stand before Him without the sense of guilt or inferiority. Because He sees me through Jesus. As if it were His son Jesus standing there in my place, making intercession, and pleading my case for me.
1 John 2:1 (KJV)
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:
All my sins, sicknesses and diseases were laid on Him and I don’t have to carry them anymore. And then Just thank God for it. I thank you Father that all my sins and infirmities were laid on your son Jesus. And by His stripes, Praise God! I am healed. And I just praise you for it, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
I still say that when we look at. Isaiah 53:4-5; Why do we think that we must still bare them? [our own sins] I feel when we think that we have to bare our own sins, sicknesses and diseases; and the consequences thereof: we are circumventing the cross of Jesus Christ, we are not believing He has done what He tells us He did. Wouldn’t that be an insult to Him?
I believe one of the biggest problems the Christian faces today is; not that of faith, but the problem that confronts us, is that of the integrity of the Word of God.
It still seems that some Christians, see the Word of God as a theory, not as a reality. He says in Jer.1:2 “I watch over my Word to perform it” Isa.55:10,11 “as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth and maketh it to bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I send it.”
4 Surely he hath borne our “griefs“= malady, anxiety, calamity :- disease, grief, (is) sick (-ness , and carried our sorrows:= anguish or (figurative) affliction :- grief, pain, sorrow,
yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
So see the chastisement that we should have suffered; was laid on Him. [Jesus]
He is not imputing our trespasses unto us, 2Cor.5:19, Rom.4:6-8, If He is not imputing our trespasses unto us, why then would He be chastising or chastening or scourging us?
No! He laid all that on Jesus so we would not have to bear those burdens.
Romans 4:25
Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
1 Peter 2:24-25
24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
Lk.1:38, Mary said, “ be it unto me according to thy Word”
And we can say the same thing.
Blessings
Joe
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And I think you see it quite well, Joe. I apppreciate you Thanks for the Icing for my cake!
Rita
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First, being holy means how we become in God's love. "Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world." (1 John 4:17) He is holy, in His love, and "as He is, so are we in this world." So, we could talk about how it is to be in God's own love which "has been poured out in our hearts" (in Romans 5:5). We can be decoyed, though, to being concerned mainly with outward showing of holiness. Ones can so discuss and argue about outward things and what is holy in outward behavior, but I'm not hearing or reading much about how in our hearts we become because of how God's love makes us holy.
So, our attention can be d-e-c-o-y-e-d away from where our attention mainly belongs! I think 1 Peter 3:4 gives us very important feeding of how God wants us to be holy: "rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God." This has us in God's own love, so we are so pleasing to Him like His Son is pleasing to our Heavenly Father. So, being holy has us in personal sharing with God enjoying how we are; plus, of course, for us also, this beauty of God's love is so enjoyable! So, we have this instant feedback, of how we are so pleased while we are being truly pleasing to You, LORD our God (c:
But . . . what about practical behavior? We should live holy, outwardly, too, I understand. But Paul says, "I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some," in 1 Corinthians 9:22. You might read 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 that goes along with this. It looks to me like Paul did not come along and make some big show of looking and acting totally different than the ones he was reaching to. And Jesus came as a human, not making Himself look so different than us, "I would say" (c: If He turned water into wine, He was not trying to make things so different, outwardly and culturally. But He did this at a wedding; "He did not call off the wedding!" (c: Also, even after Jesus was resurrected and appeared to Mary Magdalene, she thought He was the gardener!!! John 20:14-16. So, though Jesus is holy, it was enough for Him to look like a gardener. So, I would say that what we look like is enough, while we are being holy like Jesus, our way of loving being what makes us holy (c:
So, for an example, if it says for woman to dress with "modest" clothing (1 Timothy 2:9), modest might include that we are not trying to put on a major show of how religiously and differently we are dressing; because Jesus said not to be like the Pharisees who were trying to show their own sort of holiness that was meant to make themselves stand out and show themselves to be superior to others (Matthew 23:5). People need to discover God's superior way of loving, including "without complaining and disputing" (Philippians 2:14), and "with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love," (Ephesians 4:2) and "submitting to one another in the fear of God," and "Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed, (in James 5:16) and "Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted." (Galatians 6:1)
So . . . likewise, what about how I write? Am I trying to put on a show of knowledge and superiority so I can get status, or am I being modest and humble in how I write? Oh-oh . . . this is an issue for me. Am I being loving, and holy by being loving the way You want, or am I putting on a show?
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Permalink Reply by forgiven on
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I have certainly been thinking about this more. I feel that I have concluded (for myself).....that there is only one thing that I could ever do to be holy....A very little thing that Jesus said as recorded in John 6:29 "that ye believe on him whom he hath sent". Of course this 'comes with' all that I 'do' .....'because I believe'.......Coming to Jesus is the most Holy thing that I will ever do. There is only one other thing that I can think of that is possibly 'equally' as Holy.....(for me)...and that is: to speak the Name of Jesus to others.....to testify of His Love, to call the lost, give hope to the hopeless.....the whole 'ball of wax'.... that goes with this great love.....that we share it with others who need Him desperately. I think this is/was actually my 'first love'.....before I even understood that it was 'Jesus' calling me......something 'touched me' when I was young, separated me, made me different. A 'need' was born in me to do something of greatness in my life....to help others. Most often, I am the most unlikely of saints, and one of the biggest screw-ups of all time. I make 'so' many mistakes in life.......I am certainly far from perfect...... But....I know the one person who is perfect. There is 'one thing' in my life that I am going to get right, and this does not depend on 'my' skills or how smart I am, or how financially successfull.......all of that is just 'stuff'. Jesus is the only thing that is important.....the 'one thing' I need to remember if I cannot get anything else right in life. Just speak His name. Jesus.
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Amen Mary.
Oh so true are these words.
You are a blessing.
Good to see you back here.
Love
Rod
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Yes, it certainly is good. I have not been online much for the last 24 hrs, so I just saw this wonderfully edifying post. I have finally gotten moved out of where I was living and into my storage, and spent the night last night in Portland. I went last night to bible study at the church where I will be attending ministry scool. I still need to find employment and housing here....but it is all new and exciting. This is in the Lord's hands....He cares for the sparrow, He certainly will care for me....but yet it is a little scarey. However....in 'context' with this topic......I have an opportunity here to step into another reality, away from the old influences and to make 'new choices'....choices of which I am 'conforming to the image of Christ'.....
There is an old addage which say's, "can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear"......but I rebuke this doubtfull mind. "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me." I 'have' been 'called' to Holiness......yet the life I have lived has not been very 'Holy'....... And yes, I know that iy is not my 'works' that makes me Holy....but 'He' who works 'in me'. I 'intend' to make this fresh start...and let 'He who works in me'....have free reign in my life, and make a better effort to 'listen to' and 'obey' His commandments. Amen. Hallelujah!
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Permalink Reply by David Velasquez on
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Be Holy; For I Am Holy.
>>What does this mean to you?
When we are born again there is to be a shift between the old man to a new creation. Unfortunately many take the gift of salvation and all the promises of prosperity but forget that we are to die to the old man and put on the new. WE ARE NEW CREATIONS, OLD THINGS HAVE PASSED AWAY.
The problem of not many making a successful shift into the new life is lack of the washing of the word. The WORD OF GOD IS POWERFUL. It renews the mind. A light reading of scripture or being in a church that does not preach the word with the authority and power of the Holy Spirit will suffer its member to be malnourish, but we are without an excuse. We are living in the most blesses times. I owned about 8 study bibles and many others in software. No I am not showing off, that would be silly and wrong, but our bible was translated into our languages at the cost of death for some faithful servants.
How often I hear the following statement which remains true for a limited amount of biblical topics/teachings:
Greater minds than ours have been debating the issue for as long as the Church has existed, so why invest time or engage in such discussions, but beloved family they did not have the treasures that we have. We have the benefit of those brilliant minds in books, for us to study. We have the advantage to look at why Arminius taught what he did and why did Calvin and Augustine teach what they did. The truth is that we are lazy (among many other reasons) and we haven't understood the Power of the Word. We do not invest in the GREATEST TREASURE IN OUR LIVES, GOD. So we struggle with the flesh. No one will reach perfection or a life of complete holiness, but WE ARE HOLY ALREADY, by the washing of the blood of Christ. Christ's righteousness is accounted to us. However their is the process of Santification that we are suppose to be in. A life long process to be holy as He is holy.
1 Thessalonians 1:5 (New International Version)
5because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake.
What does be Holy as I am holy says the Lord, mean to me beloved?
It means I die to the old man daily. It means through the power of the word we separate from sin. We have been saved from the power of sin, not only from the wrath of God and hell, but from the power of sin, so we should no longer live in it. Not to appear holy or for the applause of our family or to gain positions at church, but out of gratitude for what Christ has done for us.
It does not mean that I learn to play the Christianity game. Learning how to say all the right things with the Christian lingo, but chose to:
1 Corinthians 9:27
No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
Even he worked out his salvation with fear and trembling (Php 2:12). Surely, we should give all diligence to make our calling and election sure (2Pe 1:10). In this worldly, self-seeking, luxurious age we should give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard (Heb 2:1).
Not out of fear of losing salvation, but like the fear that a child gets when the mom tells him, when your father gets home, he will hear about what you have done. We are to fear our father’s correction. He corrects in love, but that correction can hurt. When we sin willfully the word tells us that there is an expectation of judgment pending. If you are a child of God and you willfully sin, you know what's coming to you. We are to know we are saved because we walk in the light.
"I myself will not be disqualified for the prize."
Lest by any means after having preached - The Greek word means, after having discharged the office of a herald, whose office it was to proclaim the conditions, and to display the prizes. I myself should become disqualify.
The heralds summoned the candidates for the foot race into the race course [Plato, Laws, 8.833], and placed the crowns on the brows of the conquerors, announcing their names. Paul in other places spoke as the converts where the jewels on the crown he would one day receive. He is not talking about losing salvation (I know I am digressing, but this is important), but being disqualify to be a preacher, a herald. A runner that did notlive up to basic training requirements would be disqualifying. Paul may be teaching here that there is such a thing as being disqualify from being a leader in the Church. Those called to ministry must be without reproach if not they are disqualified from leadership. The gifts are irrebutable, the calling will always be there, but he cannot practice his heavenly call.
Ok back to Holiness hahaha :)
We are to be separated by the washing of the word.
Blessings family
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