He didn’t actually mean “holy” – did He?

“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.”

2 Pet. 1:3

Wait, Whaat? What did that verse at the end of yesterday’s blog just say? Did Peter say it is possible for a believer to actually achieve personal holiness in this life??? Can one truly walk about in this filthy fallen world yet remain unsullied… unsoiled? I know Jesus did, but… well,, He’s Jesus! I know He charged us to, “Be holy, for I am holy,” (Lev. 19:2; 20:7, 26; 21:8; Exod. 19:6; 1 Pet. 1:16; 1 Thess. 4:7) But surely He didn’t actually mean “holy” – did He?

Pastor Andrew’s text on Sunday was this:

“14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.’ [Lev. 26:12; Jer. 32:38; Ezek. 37:27] 17 Therefore, ‘Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.’ [Isa. 52:11; Ezek. 20:34,41] (2 Cor. 6:14-17).

The first three verses underscore our urgent need to walk in holiness while the citations from the Law and Prophets reveal how. Peter says the means to personal purity come to us “through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” Paul refers to the scriptures and shows the means to holiness is God Himself “living with us” and “walking among us,” and in our obedience to Him as Lord and God. Because God is with us, even within us, we receive of His enabling Holy Spirit. Peter explains that now, through Christ, we come to this relationship with Him “through our knowledge of him who called us.”

Because of the Spirit of Christ living within the believer he/she now has a CHOICE at every crossroad: righteousness or wickedness, Christ or Belial, God or idols? We have a choice, to serve Christ, or serve self, to “Come apart” from the ways of this world, or be absorbed into them?

Faith and belief in Christ, acknowledging and turning from sin, daily shunning evil and embracing spiritual disciplines – by these we can “Come out” and “be separate.” This, daily, is what it means to live a godly life!

More tomorrow…

To hear Pastor Andrew’s Sunday message, go to the Facebook page of Lincoln Baptist Church, or link to the livestream from the church website.