Text: Leviticus 20:26
(26) And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.
I have noticed over the years that some topics seem to raise the hackles on the saints, and at the bare mention of certain key words barriers are put in place.
When a preacher begins to address money, submission, or culturally acceptable, but biblically repudiated sins, mental and spiritual walls are raised and the man of God begins to wage a war to penetrate the barrier that separates the Good Word of God from the minds and hearts of the people.
Holiness is such a word. Hebrew: qadosh = a sacred place…dedicated thing…hallowed…holiness…holy…saint…sanctuary.[1]
You see, God intends to have a holy people, and I would be a poor preacher indeed if I preached only the palatable, only the delectable delights, the banana splits, if you will, of the Word of God.
If I simply stand aside and watch the people of God try to walk in holiness by trial and error, it would be a sin for me to hide from them the whole counsel of God.
Especially, when the Word of God is full of holiness teaching.
Especially, when by ignoring that teaching I fail to let you see Jesus in His totality.
Because God is HOLY, and He has commanded us to be HOLY.
1 Peter 1:15-16, “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation [behavior]; (16) Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.”
He is sacred, pure, morally blameless
Even unclean spirits recognize Him as holy:
Mark 1:23-26, “(23) And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, (24) Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. (25) And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. (26) And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him.”
And no wonder, sometimes the devils have greater understanding than we do:
James 2:19-20, “(19) Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. (20) But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?”
It is interesting the role of faith in the life of the believer: “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).
To have faith for anything that the Bible teaches, including the life of holiness, there must be instruction given from the Word of God.
When you receive that instruction and begin to purposely walk in the way of holiness, you will find the perfect path to God.
- Is. 35:8, “And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.”
- “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it” (Isaiah 40:3-5).
- Jesus simply said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).
- Paul identified “The Way” as an identifying name of the early church: “But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets: (Acts 24:14).
What Way? The way of holiness that Jesus both prepared, exampled, taught and for us.
I’m talking to you about Holiness, and I’m talking about Jesus. He is Holy, He is the Way.
In Acts 4:27, 30 Peter prayed to the Father and referred to the Christ as “thy holy child Jesus.”
Living a clean life relieves the mind, is less stressful on the body, and helps you to maintain a peaceful spirit.
The world needs people who are holy and happy, not more religious people, but more holy people.[2]
Truly holy people are happy people – “We’re a happy people, yes we are…”
Holiness occurs when your faith and obedience to Jesus Christ, allows the power of the Holy Ghost to change you:
Ephesians 4:22-24, “(22) That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; (23) And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; (24) And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”
That change is evidenced when you allow God’s grace to teach you how to walk in holiness in this present world:
Titus 2:11-14, “(11) For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, (12) Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; (13) Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; (14) Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”
Peculiar = a people selected by God from the other nations for his own possession.[3]
Holiness identifies you definitively as peculiar: Holy, Sacred, Separate, Apart.
So, Paul continued in his letter to the Ephesian Church (Ephesians 4:23-32):
(23) And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
(24) And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
(25) Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
(26) Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
(27) Neither give place to the devil.
(28) Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
(29) Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
(30) And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
(31) Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour [noise, disorder…brawl[4]], and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
(32) And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
That is THE WAY OF HOLINESS
I remember a time in my life that preceded great change, and the Lord dropped this passage in my spirit:
“And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine” (Leviticus 20:26).
Holiness:[5]
- “separation,” or “setting apart.”
- “Holiness is a general term used to indicate sanctity or separation from all that is sinful, impure, or morally imperfect.”
- “It is moral wholeness.”
- “The term is used with reference to persons, places, and things.”
Holiness and separation are inseparable when walking The Way.
We are separated from the practices of sinful people and the ungodliness of this present world,
and we separated unto the Lord Jesus Christ, who is “the way, the truth and the life.”
So, in closing…
2 Corinthians 6:14-18
(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,
(18) And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
[1] Strong’s. Brown-Driver-Briggs. H6918.
[2] Clifton Jones. (2005). Holiness Teaching in Unholy Times.
[3] Thayer. G4041.
[4] Strong’s. G2906.
[5] The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary.
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