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I have always found it somewhat interesting to hear

Christians speak about their wonderful walk with God and

then turn around and either cuss somebody, put them down

or do something unspeakable that a true holy-living

Christian wouldn’t ever truly do. I have been shamed,

disgusted and blown literally away at what I’ve seen

pastors and ministers of the Lord Jesus do and say, and

some of those things came right off the pulpit. Holiness is

not a laughing matter, nor is it something to be made

impure in any way. When this happens our true identity

as righteous living Christians goes right out the window

with it.

It has taken me many decades to shut my mouth and not

say something that I shouldn’t be saying, just because it

was witty or funny. Why? Because it was also impure

and I was supposed to be an ongoing example of salt and

light for the glory of our Holy God Almighty. I do foul

up, from time-to-time, but then again being older is no

excuse. Being older than most of my friends, or at least

infiltrated with other grumps and nincompoops, is still not

an excuse. Sometimes I may allow it to be, but I shouldn’t

and maybe it should be, but it’s not.

God has called us to be a holy living sacrifice for Him on

earth, a model of His purity and grace. So are we? Are

you? Do you even know about His request for being such

an example? “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the

Introduction To Holy Living

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mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living

sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your

spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but

be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing

you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and

acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:1-2 And again in,

“How much more will the blood of Christ, who through

the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God,

purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living

God.” Hebrews 9:14

Tell me, or at least tell yourself while rolling these

thoughts around in your own mind. . .what do you think

God means about us living a pure life, a peaceful life, a

clean and holy life, a life without indignation and blemish?

When you attempt to get these thoughts embedded in your

mind, you will obviously find out how difficult it is to

separate them your daily actions, behaviors, language and

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relationships with others. Are most of your acquaintances

friends, family, co-workers, or are they simply strangers

with whom you don’t care about how they see you act?

The more we, as Christians, go against our promises of

good living to God, the more we water our salt down and

turn our lights off to blind others. If they know that we are

Christians, they just laugh us off as most any other jerky

acting individual who proclaims to be a Christian.

You’ve heard that “where your heart is so is your home.”

Your home, as a Christian, is your temple for God to live

in. It is where the Holy Spirit lives and attempts to guide

you into living righteously, showing love and kindness to

others. Your body is your street home which others see.

It is a temple, a temple, a temple and so on. Did you get

that “temple” part? It is not a temporary tourist attraction

or a guest house for wayward visitors. Your temple is your

outward reflection of the holiness and purity you are

supposed to reflect upon others, showing the glory of God.

Do you wear your temple as only a façade, or do you allow

your temple to be open and accepting to the needs of

others, by freely giving of your gentleness, kindness and

love for others? Are you unconditionally respectful of

others, making them want to approach you and see why

God is shining through your presence? Is that you? Why

not? What do you have to wear that is better than God’s

holy clothing of purity, mercy, and love? Approach the

Lord in your circle of holiness, with your best intensions,

and let Him know that you want to talk to Him with what

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is on your mind. God is always open to hear His obedient

and subservient children. God likes you to come to Him.

He is easy and quick to hear your concerns and to treat you

gently with love and compassion. There is no fear in

approaching our Lord, because God is love and He is your

heavenly Father. He already knows your issues and has

read your heart and mind. He has what you need. Trust

Him fully to meet you with His love and understanding.

Too many folks walk around in a foggy tither, wondering

where they should be, who they should be, what’s this

world got for them? Oh, dear, we see this every day, the

lost souls of our society, and those who have close

relationships with us, but simply will not extend their

hands out to God and say, “Yes, Lord. Please take me in,

cleanse my temple and fill it with Your peace, Your gift of

happiness and give me Your direction for a better life.”

How do I serve You Holy Father? Where have I already

missed the mark? Turn me around Abba Father and make

me whole in Your sight so I may glorify Your Holy name.”

“It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has

become for us wisdom from God--that is, our

righteousness, holiness and redemption.” I Corinthians

1:30

So, what is holiness? For many Christians, holiness refers

to the idea of being good and morally upstanding. When

referring to the holiness of God, though, the holiness

definition takes on a much richer meaning. God's holiness

is His defining characteristic. The holiness of God is a

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term used in the Bible to describe both His goodness and

His power. It is completely unique, and utterly all-

powerful, radiating out from God like an energy. In fact,

God's holiness is so overwhelming, that it can actually be

dangerous to approach. It's helpful to think of God like the

sun. The sun is so bright and powerful that its energy

radiates out through the solar system. It's a good, helpful

thing to be within the sun's energy, but the sun itself is so

powerful that it's dangerous to get too close. In holiness

scriptures, where we see examples of mortal men

approaching the presence of the Almighty God, the exact

same scenario that this metaphor depicts is played out.

Remember the story of Moses and the burning bush. As

Moses approached the burning bush (which as we know is

the presence of God), God told Moses to take off his shoes

because he was on holy ground and warned him not to

come any closer. It's an intense example of just how

overwhelmingly powerful God's holiness is. Other

examples of God's holiness in the Bible can be found in

verses depicting the Holy of Holies, the inner room of the

Israelite temple where God Himself resided. Because the

Israelites, and especially the priests that worked within the

temple, were in such close proximity to God's holiness,

they had to take great care in order to keep themselves

pure. For the Israelites, keeping oneself pure involved not

only trying to remain morally pure but also ritually pure as

well. The rituals that the Israelites had to follow in order

to stay pure were numerous and included things such as

staying away from dead animals, certain foods, and certain

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bodily fluids. While becoming ritually impure was never

defined as being sinful, the problem was that the Israelites

were not able to exist within such close proximity of God's

holiness if they were ritually impure.

The narrative of God's holiness doesn't end there, though.

Instead, later on in the Bible, we see incredible stories of

God's holiness expanding out from the temple and

purifying things that were otherwise impure. Isaiah, for

example, has a vision where he enters the temple impure

but is purified while he is there by a burning coal - a

physical embodiment of God's holiness. Later on, Ezekiel

also has a vision where the holiness of God pours out from

the temple like a river, revitalizing and purifying all the

land it comes into contact with.

These examples of God's holiness purifying impure things

all lead up to Christ. Christ, who is God's holiness in

human flesh, goes out into the land, healing the sick,

raising the dead, and casting out demons - all of which are

examples of God's holiness now purifying the things it

comes into contact with. Through all of these examples,

we are able to piece together a compelling picture of the

holiness of God.

God's holiness is a powerful force that must be treated with

the utmost respect. At the same time, God's holiness is a

gift, able to heal a broken and impure world. Best of all, as

followers of Christ, a part of God's holiness now resides in

us as well, making it our mission to go out spread the

holiness of God to all the world.

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To be holy is to be distinct, separate, and unique

The basic meaning of holy in the Bible is to cut away or to

separate, it is "a cut above the rest." So when we say God

is holy, we're not talking about one characteristic out of

many about God; we're talking about the character of God

Himself. Holiness, when applied to God, means that He is

utterly unique, incomparable, matchless, without parallel

and without peer. In Isaiah 40:25, God Himself issues the

challenge: "Who will you compare Me to, or who is My

equal?" asks the Holy One." And we must answer, "There

is no comparison." God is not just a super-sized version of

you or me. He is transcendently separate, in a class by

Himself. He is subject to nothing. He answers to no one.

This is who our Holy God is.

When Hannah rejoiced in God for answering her prayer

for a son, she prayed, "There is no one holy like the Lord.

There is no one besides You! And there is no rock like our

God." 1 Samuel 2:2

David's confidence in God was fortified by considering

His holiness: "Lord, there is no one like You among the

gods, and there are no works like Yours. All the nations

You have made will come and bow down before You, Lord,

and will honor Your name. For You are great and perform

wonders; You alone are God." Psalms. 86:8-10 Even the

name God gave to His mighty archangel Michael testifies

to this truth. The name is translated, "Who is like God?"

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Here's the first strand of meaning in the Bible about the

holiness of God: He is not like anything or anyone we can

come up with. He is above us. He is beyond us. He is so

different and so rare that no one in the Bible, regardless of

how devout or learned, failed to crumble in fear and

humility and repentance when they caught a glimpse of

this holy God. When God met with Habakkuk the prophet,

he described his reaction like this: "I heard, and I trembled

within; my lips quivered at the sound. Rottenness entered

my bones; I trembled where I stood . . . " Habakkuk. 3:16

He was shattered by what he saw. When we see Him as He

is, it traumatizes us because we immediately see ourselves

for who we really are, and the incongruence is

overwhelming.

Brothers and sisters, there's a lot of religious technicians

out there today whose goal is to make you feel comfortable

with God at almost any level. They want you to feel like

God is someone we can hang out with, confide in, and call

on when the going gets tough, regardless of your

relationship with Him or what kind of life you're leading.

Last week, I heard a prominent pastor refer to God as

Jesus' "Old Man."

Contrast that “trivializing, bumper sticker, next-door

neighbor” view of God to what God Himself said to Israel

in Psalms 50:21-22, " . . . you thought I was just like you.

But I will rebuke you and lay out the case before you.

'Understand this, you who forget God, or I will tear you

apart, and there will be no rescuer.'!" It is a dangerous

thing to forget that God is holy. We trifle with the living

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God to our own peril. He is not our Buddy. "Our God is a

consuming fire," friends Hebrews 12:29. Let the mystery

of Who He is strike you today. He will not fit into our neat

theological formulations. He cannot be defined in finite

minds. That's part of what it means to say He is holy.

To be holy is to be absolutely pure

Holiness is being set apart from anything impure in order

to be completely given over to what God says is pure.

When you apply this meaning to God, His holiness points

to what 1 John 1:5 says: "there is absolutely no darkness

at all." James tells us that "God is not tempted by evil, and

He Himself doesn't tempt anyone." James 1:13 and

Habakkuk 1:13 adds that God's eyes "are too pure to look

on evil, and [He] cannot tolerate wrongdoing." In a word,

God is perfect, without sin, flawless.

So blazing is God's purity that the sinless seraphim who

serve Him in heaven cover their faces with their wings.

Isaiah 6:2 and Job 4:18 declares, "God puts no trust in

His servants and He charges His angels with error . . . ."

It is said that, "As there is no darkness in His

understanding, so there is no spot in His will; as His mind

is possessed with all truth, so there is no deviation in His

will from it. He loves all truth and goodness; He hates all

falsity and evil." With the concepts of purpose and purity

in God as established, how does that relate to us as every

day Christians? The leap from those heights are almost

incomprehensible to consider because God is so far over

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us and beyond us, all we can truly do is obey His wishes

and live in purity and holiness at our level.

Purity carries with it the idea of cleanliness or

spotlessness, in the sense that we can easily and commonly

understand it. It means to be genuine, free from things that

would adulterate something and make it impure; as in the

purity of gold. It is similar to the concept of holiness.

Stainlessness and immaculateness come quickly to mind.

When we think of purity of heart, perhaps we think of

someone whose motives are pure, who possess no guile or

malice. Someone who is good natured and may even be

somewhat innocent. But that is not exactly what our Lord

is talking about here. Within the context of what our Lord

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is saying, He is speaking about the heart of someone

whose sins have been forgiven and whose heart has been

made new, whose purity comes, not from themselves, but

from the presence of Jesus in their lives. Is this you? Or,

do you still find reason to sin, knowing that each evil

thought you have can easily be converted into sinfulness

in real life, outside your head and mind?

Someone said to me in the past, that whenever they think

of purity, they always think of milk. Just think about it, a

tall cool glass of clean, white tasty milk; its color testifies

to its purity. Now you let some foreign object falls into

milk, say, like a fly and it becomes readily noticeable that

this impurity has contaminated the entire container of

milk. Nobody I know wants to drink milk that has had a

fly in it. But let someone remove the fly and once again

the milk appears to be pure, although there are now things

in it you cannot see, unseen contaminants that make it

impure. However, I may still want to drink that glass of

milk if it is icy cold. Ummmm!!!! But, would its

consumption be really worth it? I doubt it.

That was the problem of the Pharisees in Jesus' day, and

it's still the problem with many people today. Their hearts

have been contaminated by sins no one else can see, and

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thus they give the external impression of purity. But within

them there is sin that remains uncleansed and continues to

contaminate their lives. Think of all the Christians you

know who are contaminated with various sins, yet walk

are as if they are pure white as snow.

Jesus spoke of this in Matthew 23:27-28 when He said,

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you

are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear

beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and

all uncleanness. "So you, too, outwardly appear righteous

to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."

A white washed tomb. Hmmmm???? That is

not you, is it?

The standards for citizenship in the kingdom of God are

extremely high. External, outward, human righteousness

might lead people to think you are pure, but that won't cut

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it with God who sees the heart. God says there has to be

an internal work, a transformation at the most basic level,

not only of what we do, but of who we are. The sins which

stain our hearts need to be washed away and only the blood

of Jesus can do that.

Isaiah 1:18 says, "Come now and let us reason together,

Says the Lord, though your sins are as scarlet, they will

be white as snow, though they be red like crimson, they

shall be as wool."

You see, within the course of His sermon here, Jesus is

saying that the pure in heart are those who are saved, those

having been washed in the fountain filled with blood

drawn from Emanuel's veins. As the song says, “Sinners

plunged beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains.”

BUT

Now we need differentiate between fixed in a proper place

or one of conditional purity. Fixed purity is what happens

when I am saved. When I am saved, God declares that I

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am a saint, I am fixed in a proper position of purity and am

holy. He has written my name in the Lamb's Book of Life

and declared that I am His. He has made me holy and in

my proper place of being pure. But, conditional purity is

another matter. Sometimes the condition of a Christian's

walk can be so corrupt, merciless, and/or immoral that

they can be way out of step with God due to the numerous

impurities in their lives. That does not change their

position before Christ, but it does affect their fellowship

because they are allowing things in their lives that are

contrary to the new, nature of purity they have in Jesus.

But, that status must change and one’s evil walk must

become cleansed and obedient to what the Lord desires.

So to be pure in heart speaks to one’s position as a

Christian before God and also to the condition of one’s

walk with God. It does not mean that you and I must be

perfect, it does, however mean that we have come to that

point where Jesus is firmly established as Lord of our

lives. Our sense of purity should be like that glass of white

milk; not butter milk, not chocolate milk, but fresh clean

and spotless white milk.

When I awake in the morning and begin my day, I always

begin my day thinking in tune with what the Lord would

want for me. I like being a decent man who loves others

unconditionally and does his best to accept them and make

them happy without recourse or motive. I allow my mind

to consider what it sees and evaluate my environment, then

I adjust to what that input into my brain was, and I act

accordingly as a loving and helpful Christian. There is no

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other walk with the Lord that I want. I’ve been just about

every kind of poorly acting Christian I can think of, and

then some more. But, now I want to walk in God’s light

every day and I desire to do His will for the benefit of

others (usually) but mostly for His purposes do I treat

others with goodness and kindness. This is how I walk in

purity. I don’t want to say things that are impure, yet I do,

and then I have to recant and repent for my mindless

stupidity. Unfortunately, for many folks, being impure in

what they say and do is a daily bad habit, and most folks

don’t even realize it. However, when you do wake up to

your impure stance with God, you are not only

embarrassed, but you are ashamed.

Having a passion for living holy, being pure and doing

your very best to be a righteous Christian, or child of God,

is a task that we must all be up to, and we have to attend

to this mission of life daily. It we fail to perform in loving

kindness or gentleness, it is because we have slipped off

of our mark and have jumped once again into the sand pit

of Satan. He’s just being hanging around and waiting for

you to come and make a new sand castle with him. Oh

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how fun! The most difficult behavior and trait I have to

deal with each day is not my attitude, as is the problem for

many Christians. However, it is my overall thinking

process of how I am going to use my mouth – is it for God,

or for something mundane and nonsensical, i.e., bad jokes

and casting nasties. When I comment of something, I have

to pre-think what my mouth may say. I cannot allow my

humming bird butt to overload my alligator mouth. Yet, I

do. I am human, but I am also aware to being a decent

talking and living Christian. So, where is your seat of

righteousness? Are you living purely, or has your sense of

purity become gobbled up with the corrupt world around

you? Do you have a real passion for being holy, or living

in His holiness? If not, you should.

How Can We Be Holy?

It is God’s will that we be should be holy. But, the

temptations of being unholy are all around us and they call

us to the desires of our heart, mind and body. How is it

possible to be holy? Although I Thessalonians 4:4 Paul

says, “each one should learn to control his own body.”

Let’s face it, without control we run rampant and out of

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sorts, trying to find something to latch onto, and it just

could be something sinful. You’ve done it and I’ve done

it, and we have to stop if from continuing to happen. We

must maintain control, yet we must follow God’s perfect

will and not our own imperfect will.

We must learn to know ourselves. This statement implies

two things. The first thing we need to learn in order to

control our own body and mind and heart, is to learn to

know ourselves. We need to know what things tempt us

and when and how. All of us are different and not

everything provides the same struggle for everyone. What,

how, when, where are the common questions we all need

to ask of ourselves in regards to our temptations in order

to learn to know ourselves. Consider the following

questions, and what will be your personal answers to each

of them. Take time before you just spit out a quick answer

and think about the SIN question carefully.

The Big Seven

1. Which day during your week are you tempted to sin

the most?

2. What time of the day are you tempted to sin the most?

3. Where are you when you are tempted to sin the most?

4. Who is nearby when you are tempted to sin the most?

5. What type of sins are you tempted to commit the

most?

6. How do you feel right before that sin?

7. Why does this sin give you what you want?

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These are excellent questions and if you are honest in

answering these questions, you will develop an

understanding of your weaknesses and vulnerabilities.

Until we know where we are weak, we

will not know how to overcome those

weaknesses.

We must learn to control ourselves. This statement implies

a second thing and that is that it is not enough to know

ourselves, we also need to develop strategies to control our

lives so that we are not so susceptible to fall into

temptation. There are several things that help us plan to

control ourselves towards holiness. Since we recognize

certain times and places of weakness, it makes sense to

compensate for those weaknesses. For example, if Friday

evening is a common time of temptation, then planning

something interesting and good for Friday evening (or any

evening for that matter) would help us avoid the

temptation.

If we use a sin to compensate at times when we are

discouraged, we need to substitute something else that will

encourage us whenever we get those feelings.

Furthermore, if we are not filling our mind with the Word

of God, we will leave it opened to all kinds of struggles.

So Bible reading, meditation and study are very important

as a way of focusing our understanding and strengthening

our resolve.

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Speaking to God by praising Him and seeking Him must

form an essential communication in our life. The more

securely we are related to the Holy One Himself, the more

faithfully we will be able to walk in holiness.

An open relationship to other believers - participation in a

church, participation in a small group and a more direct

accountability to one or two brothers or sisters is very

important. Having been in charge of and responsible for

72 small groups at one time, I quickly learned about

managing multiple godly relationships and how they vary

immensely. If we hide from relationships with brothers

and sisters and avoid accountability with other Christians,

we are setting ourselves up for a “big time” fall. Be open

always and be ready to help when needed.

A servant attitude, in which we know that we represent

Christ in our whole life and know that others are watching

us and acknowledge that we are openly representing Christ

wherever we go is also an important part of living in

holiness. Start your passion for living in holiness and

purity and in righteousness. Please begin today!

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Booklet Number 26

Covenant Christian Ministries

Belle Arden Run

488 Mountain View Drive

Mosheim, Tennessee 37818-3524

(423) 422-4711

www.thewatchmansentinel.org

Copyright 2018

Dahk Knox, Ph.D., Ed.D., D.Sc.

Jan Knox, Ph.D.

February 9-11, 2018

(Monetary contributions are welcomed and

appreciated for printing and postage expenses)

All Rights Reserved©