"Because We Are His" - Basic Bible Holiness Series
Part I: Separation Concepts
Whenever we look to the subject of practical Holiness of dress the constant
questions are
WHY BOTHER? WHO CARES ANYWAY? The answer, as
always, for the "church" is God’s book...
| I Cor 6: 19 "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." |
Notice God asks a key question....ARE YOU HIS OR NOT? We have been bought by Calvary’s blood. THEREFORE...glorify him in BOTH spirit & body! After the New Birth we become God’s property.
THE GREATEST HURDLE TO GROWTH = the Issue of Personal Sovereignty.
Notice what else Paul said:
| I Cor 7: 22 "For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ's servant. 23 Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men." |
The scriptures are not written by accident!
| II Pet 1: 20 "Knowing this first, that
no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. 21 For the prophecy came
not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the
Holy Ghost." Heb 12: 14 "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: 15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;" |
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Verse 15 goes with 14 because of the definition of Holiness.
HOLINESS = state of being holy HOLY
= spiritual purity
This tells us God wants us to be spiritually pure and that we are to FOLLOW after peace
& holiness
FOLLOW = "to ensue, to press forward"
GOD HAS INDEED CALLED US TO HOLINESS: Both inner & outer...
Each one can destroy the other!!!
| I Pet 1: 15 "But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy." |
(as you can see, holiness is not optional, so we must explore)
To be like Jesus is our goal.... ONLY HE CAN MAKE IT SO! *** Holiness is not outward dogma *** ...it is conforming to God’s character...
The N.T. talks of being (transformed) & (conformed)
Transformed = is the process / Conformed = is the result
On your spiritual journey, sooner or later God will bring you down this path.
The word HOLY occurs 600 times. (in Leviticus it’s the very theme of the book) In a Nutshell: Holiness is being separated to God...and having our conduct befitting those who are separated. (WE’RE HEIRS!)
| I Thes 4:1 "Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more." |
(READ ON THROUGH VERSE 9)
THAT ONE CONCEPT SUMS IT ALL UP! --> Because We Are His we try to please Him. I WANT to please him because I LOVE him! ARE YOU MORE INTERESTED IN PLEASING SELF THAT GOD?
| I Thes 5: 22 "Abstain from all appearance of evil. 23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it." |
We can change our conduct... but only God can change our heart!
Outer holiness without inner holiness = self righteousness! which is "filthy rags" ----- (filthy rags are useless). BUT REMEMBER: "BALANCE" IS WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR! ( don’t throw the baby out with the bath water! ) There is no in between, we belong either to God or to Satan!
| II Cor 6: 14 "Be ye not unequally yoked
together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?
and what communion hath light with darkness? 15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial?
or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 16 And what agreement hath the temple
of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell
in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.17
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the
unclean thing; and I will receive you," Rom 12:1 "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." |
side note here...
Presenting your bodies is not an issue of body building or being involved in every health
fad. Surely God does not get glory out of us being unhealthy. But that’s the point,
He does not really get glory out of our health per say either. There will always be people
that are "fat, skinny, smart, simple, rich, poor, sick, well, short & tall"
in the world as well as the church. These are not distinguishing factors.
| I Tim 4: 8 "For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. 9 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation." |
This verse is not condemning health clubs and being in shape but it does place a Biblical perspective on it. Our flesh is going back to dust but our soul is going to live forever! The current fad in religion today with "aerobics" in the fellowship hall and "Christian weight lifters" is probably not hurting anything, but surely borders on being "silly" at best as far as gaining God’s favor goes. What God does get glory from is our separation from the world! We cannot distinguish ourselves with our health, but we can distinguish ourselves by our attitude and our outer attire.
When we come to God we think this holiness stuff is "stupid." Of course many thought Acts 2:38 was too! DON’T BE SO QUICK TO JUDGE THINGS BEFORE YOU HAVE SINCERELY SOUGHT GOD. REMEMBER GOD IS OUR LAW GIVER: (obedience is required of us). IF IT PLEASES GOD IT DOESN’T MATTER WHO IT DISPLEASES! and vice - versa
Even though we wrestle with our flesh God has given us a mind & heart to cooperate with His spirit. WE SHOULD MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO MAKE OBEDIENT CHOICES!
| Phil 2: 12 "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. 14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings: 15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;" |
----> Reasonable standards
bring glory to God by distinguishing his people in the earth.
WHAT IS A STANDARD? = a banner or flag that identifies you;
it represents your nation’s customs, philosophies & lifestyles.
*** IN BATTLE = it distinguishes the sides *** Our church standards represent our VALUES
& CONVICTIONS to our city.
WHY BOTHER WITH STANDARDS OF EXCELLENCE?
| Proverbs 27:12 "A prudent [man] forseeth the evil, [and]hideth himself; [but] the simple pass on, [and] are punished." |
THE CONCEPT IS THIS...
I won’t be lost by drinking a beer but I could be for drunkenness. So we set some
values to live by such as I choose not to drink at all. Sometimes is good to draw your
line BEFORE the danger zone....
WHERE DO STANDARDS COME FROM?
3 BASIC TYPES OF CONVICTIONS:
Concerning the church: does a church have authority to set local standards? Consider the
fact that the Holy Ghost spoke to our brethren about tobacco long before the AMA
discovered its health threat.
| Acts 15: 28 "For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; 29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well." |
Let’s look to an O.T. story of interest: JEREMIAH 35:1-18 The Rechabites did
things that seemed unnecessary & foolish to those around... BUT GOD BLESSED THEM! And
used them as an example! The next time you think something is stupid...remember: you are
not your own. the ONLY THING THAT MATTERS IS WHAT GOD THINKS!
I will be the first to admit that this church will challenge you to higher commitment
than most denominational churches; but the precepts & concepts that will be taught
were common in most of "churchianity" just a few years ago.! Other church groups
have thrown away much exterior holiness over the past few years but they have also
embraced: smoking, drinking, sexual sin, and are ordaining homosexuals into the pulpit.
(THAT IS NOT THE PATH FOR AN APOSTOLIC CHURCH!)
REMEMBER: the mount up of error in drafting...
EX: When setting trusses 1 foot apart, you place your original where it belongs. Then you
don’t measure the next 1 foot from the last, you measure 2 foot from the original.
You may have made a slight error in your truss. Therefore, if you measure the current one
from the last one, you will suffer what is called the "mount up of error." **
The ONLY way to protect this is to always measure from the original!** Measure your
spirituality from the original Acts church - not the generation right behind you! If you
measure your experience from just those behind you... lest you get off course over time.
WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE don’t think that outer disciplines themselves will make you like Him. Only the work of the Holy Ghost can do that !
HOLINESS IS A MANDATORY GOAL: BUT IT IS A PARTNERSHIP WITH GOD. Like a farmer after doing all the right disciplines....he waits for God to do His part.
| Ephesians 2:8 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." |
BUT REMEMBER TO STAY BALANCED
| James 2: 14 "What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?" |
WE CAN LIVE HOLY!....WE MUST LIVE HOLY! ... by works & faith. It is not an undue burden on God’s people to have some distinguishing dress codes to demonstrate our commitment to him in this world we live in!
Paul’s advice to Timothy is a good admonition for us!
| I Tim 4: 7 "But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness." |
This session serves as a conceptual foundation...
*** We will begin to look at some specifics in the next 3 sessions ***