Holy Obedience

“You must be holy” is a formidable challenge! More so because we live in a world “under the control of the evil one” (1 John 5:19) and in a world where temptation comes from our own desires (James 1:14), Certainly Jesus was holy, but the writer of Hebrews reminds us that Jesus understands our weaknesses for he faced all the same testings we do. Therefore we can boldly come to the throne of God and receive mercy and grace to help us. (Hebrews 4:15-16)

One facet of God’s grace is manifested in this powerful truth “…there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.” (Romans 8:1-2) We are now free from the power of sin and are now free to choose righteousness. Yet we still live in a sinful world and must deal with temptation. We are told in Romans 6:12: “Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of sin.” Again this is a challenging, but thankfully we have this assurance: “By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life.” (2 Peter 1:3)

Because we now have the life-giving Holy Spirit living in us, the apostle John wrote: “the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning because they are children of God.” (1 John 3:8-9) Warren Wiersbe explains: “To “practice” sin is to sin consistently and as a way of life. It does not refer to committing an occasional sin. It is clear that no Christian is sinless (1 John 1:8-10), but God expects a true believer to sin less, not to sin habitually.” When we do sin and confess it, we have the assurance of forgiveness stated in 1 John 1:9.

We can keep from sinning habitually because we have this promise: “So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” We can be strengthened to “sin less” by putting on the spiritual armor provided by God to protect us and enable us to be strong and stand firm against the strategies of the devil. (Ephesians 6:13-17)

We are created to be holy and our obedience will enable us to become like Jesus who was holy, holy, holy.

One of the birthmarks of a true believer is a hatred for sin and a desire to become more like Jesus Christ.2 - Warren Wiersbe

Prayer

Father, because I want to become like Jesus, my desire is to live in holy obedience and choose that which is true, honorable, and pure. Amen

1.Warren W. Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: New Testament (Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2007) 1 John, 984.

2.Warren W. Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: OldTestament, Leviticus, 209.