-Strength for Today- "Moral Purity" -1 Peter 1:16

    In our society, there’re many topics that we dance around, trying to justify how far we’ve drifted away from God. And as scary as it sounds, “holiness” is a topic that the average person will try to avoid. I do believe that because of the:

·       Depraved, and

·       Entangled

      Nature of mankind, holiness would never be a desired topic for the market place. Let's face it, most believer feel that holiness is only a Sunday morning subject where there’s:

·       Organ music,

·       Long prayers, and  

·       Religious chant being recited,

     But all this is just a polluted mind-set when relating to holiness. This is like going fishing in a polluted smelly river, hoping to land a prize sized trophy fish. But when you reel in your catch, all you have is:

·       An old shoe, and

·        A rusty can.

   Because when you cast as a bait the word holiness into the murky depths of your mind, you’ve allowed your polluted concept to contaminate God’s moral intent for holiness. “Because it is written, “Be ye holy; for I am holy” – Leviticus 11:44-45; 1 Peter 1:16. Holiness therefore, is to imitate God. Because in Him:

There’s no sin.

·       There’s no evil in His thoughts.

·       Neither are there any hidden motives.

      Because of His holy character, He is against all iniquity. He truly loves the sinner, but He despises sin. Our heavenly Father’s holiness is revealed not only in His moral purity, but also in His separateness from all evil. Because of His righteous character, He can’t tolerate or ignore sin. His justice requires that wrongdoing be paid for, and the only acceptable payment is death - Romans 6:23a. Only faith in Jesus Christ bridges the gap between:

·       Holy God and

·       Sinful man.

     Jesus Christ, the Son of God, having lived a perfect life, died to pay our sin debt in full and provide a way for each of us to have a relationship with righteous God. Because of Jesus’ absolute obedience, God accepted His payment for sin, and invites all who come to Him by faith, to become His children – John 1:12.

     Now, do you see that mental picture relating to holiness? There’s nothing mystique about holiness.

·       It wasn’t in days of Moses, (Leviticus 11:44), and

·       Neither is it today, (1 Peter 1:16),

    Holiness is the divine evidence that God is in your life! In this fallen world apart from Jesus Christ, this can never happen. In Him, we’re called to live in a perfect relationship with God so that our lives produce a yearning for Him in the lives of others, and not admiration for ourselves. Because thoughts about ourselves hinder our usefulness to God. God’s purpose is not to perfect us to make us earthly trophies in His showcase; He is getting us to the place where He can use us for His glory…. So let Him do what He wants!

 Author: Plez Lovelady, Jr., PhD