Holiness – Separation between Light & Darkness - Part 1

1 Peter 2:5-9 You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.” Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, “the stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief Cornerstone,” and “a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

The Small group home Bible Study has moved from examining the “Be” attitudes to a new lesson on “being holy”. In today’s churches, far too often, the concept of holiness seems a bit archaic, “old School”. How often do we hear the word mentioned and do we know what holiness actually is? And on the rare occasions “holy” comes up in conversation, is what comes to mind a preacher in a robe, the thought of a perfect life that we will never attain or maybe a holier-than-thou attitude member of the piety police? These are mis-guided notions, and in fact a life of true holiness is the key to true happiness. Yes, the pursuit of happiness is found in the pursuit of holiness. Not in some arbitrary standard set by the church or an unreachable goal of sinless perfection, holiness is about pleasing God, about living in such a way that’s it’s clear you belong to Him. Abiding in holiness is what makes the Believer unique and easily distinguishable from the unbeliever. The discrimination of the holy politics of God is the higher standard and mark of the Kingdom of Heaven, set apart in a lost and dying world, guiding the daily life of the Christian. It’s as clear as black and white, darkness and light, right and wrong. “Holy” is defined as (1) Regarded as inviolate for ordinary use and set apart for religious observance. My dictionary of Bible Words lists “holy” as pious, godly, sacred, to be or make clean, purify or consecrate, hallowed, and set apart for God. I’ve heard it said this way: Set apart by God, for God’s purposes, according to the Word, not the World.

Genesis 1:3-5 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day. The first recorded words of God are “Let there be light.” His first act was to separate physical light from physical darkness. And spiritually speaking, He has been separating light and darkness ever since. Ezekiel 22:26 Her priests have violated My law and profaned My holy things; they have not distinguished between the holy and unholy, nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. What distinguishes us from the world around us?

We'll look at this, next time.

In Christ, Brian