Living for the Lord in holiness is the most fulfilling way to live life. Satisfying the commission and design of our Creator brings the greatest joy and enables individual potential to be maximized. While there are many roads to travel, only one leads to eternal life. Yes, it is a narrow way and few there be that find it, but it is a good way. Walking on the highway of holiness brings true rest and peace to the spirit, for it is in the presence of the Lord that one finds true satisfaction.
We can only find the Lord in a life of holiness, for He is a holy God. Many seek to find God by mingling the spirit of the world with good principles of living. This is exemplified by much of the “religious” music and worship of the world that use godly words coupled with music of the world to pull on the emotions. True, lasting fellowship with God is not found in this mix but in purity and holiness.
From the beginning, God’s purpose was to have a people that were separate and holy, dedicated to worshiping Him. The essence of Christ’s teaching was centered in holiness. He instructed His disciples how to reflect the glory of God to a lost world.
“As he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy”
(1 Peter 1:15-16). We are called to an experience and life of holiness, for without it we cannot live in a state of reconciliation with God. True holiness, which comes from the presence of Christ, enables and empowers us to walk pleasing to the Lord. We are to live holy in every area of life. Holy not only denotes “sanctified” but “the same throughout.” The life of a Christian is to be thoroughly of the same spirit and purpose inwardly and outwardly.
1 Corinthians 6:20 states: “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” Glorifying God is the umbrella which covers all areas of life: from what motivates our decisions, to the words we speak, to the attitudes we carry, to the way we dress outwardly. Children of God are called to glorify God in every way, every day.
The enemy will try to portray holiness as living in a straitjacket. “You can’t do this, you can’t do that. You can’t go there, you can’t listen to that,” etc. The enemy is a liar. Holiness is liberating, not confining. Holiness through Christ enables the Christian to be free from the powers of this world that are driving and controlling people. True salvation and holiness deliver us from fear and torment. It brings, as one song says, “freedom from hatred, envy, and strife.” Holiness is more about what we can do in Christ than what we can not do in the world.
Living a holy life is a high calling, and it rises far above the way most people are living around us. It takes courage and boldness to respond to the call to be separate, but the rewards are eternal. It is vital to answer the call to holiness, for without it “no man shall see the Lord”
(Hebrews 12:14). ■
