Not of This WorldSample

Day 2: Called to Holiness

We set apart many things in our lives. When storing our household items, we set apart our drinking cups from the wash basins. When arranging our clothes, we set apart our work or school uniforms from our daily home attire.

To be holy is to be “set apart”. In today’s passage, we are reminded that as believers, we are to be holy because the One that calls us is holy (v15). As “obedient children”, we are to depart from the ways of our “former ignorance” (v14), and “be holy in all our conduct”.

Why is God holy? What is He set apart from? When we refer to God’s holiness, we refer to the fact that He is utterly unique. He is the only One there is. He is the only Creator, separate from creation and underived from any other. He is unrivaled, perfect in righteousness and beauty. He is the ultimate measure of goodness. He is supreme among all that is.

Because He is supreme, we, as His children, cannot be living on the fence between sinfulness and godliness. His holiness requires, even as it inspires, our holiness – our complete devotion and upmost exaltation in every way. It is a high calling, but as children of God, we have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ to a new life (v19). We are no longer blind and enslaved to sin but are empowered by the Spirit to grow in holiness.

In the Old Testament, holiness has the idea of being separated from the ordinary, from the defective or evil, and consecrated unto God. The Sabbath was a holy day. It was a day set apart for rest and dedicated to the Lord. The priests were holy. They were separated from ordinary pursuits and fully devoted to serve God. In the Christian context, being set apart also means living as foreigners in this world since we have been redeemed by Christ and now belong to Him.

This world will tempt us, distract us and throw us off course. To stay the course, we need to live in reverent fear, ordering our lives around God. Everything in our lives— what we think of, what we eat, what we consume digitally, who we spend time with, how we use our time and money—must be holy unto the Lord.

In light of God’s holiness, how then should we live to honor Him?

Prayer points:

• Is there an area in your life that you find difficult to obey God in? Pray that God will increase your love and reverence of Him such that it will exceedingly surpass your love of all else.
• God is unlike no other. As you meditate on this, praise God for who He is and how He is utterly unique and unrivaled. Pray that your heart will continually be in awe of who God is.

Listen:

We Fall Down – Josh Baldwin