"Be Holy As I Am Holy"

I'll give props to Steve Gallagher (and God) for the information used in this blog. Excerpt from "Intoxicated with Babylon" from said author.

A.W. Tozer said "We have learned to live with unholiness and have come to look upon it as the natural and expected thing"

Andrew Murray said "Our calling, before and above everything else, is to holiness"

Leighton Ford said "There is no detour to holiness. Jesus Christ came to the resurrection through the cross, not around it."

Even the most careless reader can see that the Bible is against every sin of every kind and degree. The whole design of God was to restore man to His image, and raise him from the ruins of man's fall. 1 Peter 1:14-16 states that "You shall be holy, for I am holy". Look at Christians a hundred years ago, and regardless of a stated religion, you would find Christians that were undeniably dedicated to being separate. For them, holiness was simply a believer's duty ot live in deep consecration to a Holy God. To be a Christian implied a separated life.

"Every person who has the Spirit of Christ living within him will sense a constant prodding toward holiness. Even though there are many teachers who misrepresent grace by inferring it has freed us from God's demand of holiness, the quiet yet strong conviction of the Holy Spirit within a person's heart speaks otherwise. Jesus Christ did not hang on a cross and bleed to death only to have His followers indulge their flesh without concern. He hung there so they could be loosed from the grip of sin and live a life of purity and holiness." - Steve Gallagher

When the scriptures speak of holiness, it is referring primarily to a level of consecration and godliness that grows out of OBEDIENCE and SUBMISSION to God.

Holiness denotes:
1. absence of depravity
2. possession of perfect and supreme love for God
3. purified affections
4. alienation from sin and the world

Holiness does not refer to sinless perfection. That's impossible. However, it does mean one is not under the control of sin, but rather loving God with his whole heart and motivated by genuine love for God.

Andrew Murray said "Though there can be no holiness without separation, there can be separation that does not lead to holiness".
Simply being separate just because it's what the church should do does not equal holiness.
Being separate, however, does lead to holiness.

"One of the greatest misunderstandings I have seen amongst Christians is the unspoken notion that a person can live a selfish, worldly life on earth and then, somehow magically, be transformed through the process of death into a holy, God-loving saint." - Steve Gallagher



Lord, destroy the sin, the self and the pride that is at work within me. No matter what, keep working on me! I want You to mold me, cleanse me and perfect me. Pour out your blazing Holy Spirit on me. Purify my heart. Set me right and keep me right in the midst of this wicked and perverse generation.