Title

Holiness Is Not An Option

Scripture
For I am the Lord who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.
(Leviticus 11:45)
Devotional
Holiness is more than a list of do’s and don’ts. Holiness is Christ-likeness. It is the goodness that comes from Christ alone. Jesus Himself said, “No one is good but one, that is, God.”(1) Our holiness is, therefore, directly proportional to our relationship to the Lord. Holiness is based solely on relationship. Because I love Jesus, I will always endeavor to do and to fulfill His will for my life. This is true holiness.
Holiness is not merely piety. Piety is good, but there are many pious people who are lost. The apostle Paul said in true holiness, “For I am determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”(2) Holiness realizes that Christ has delivered us out of bondage to be our God; that we would desire to be conformed to His image. Holiness is more what happens on the inside than what we portray on the outside. “Be holy, for I am holy.”

(1) Mark 10:18, (2) 1 Corinthians 2:2
Text For The Day
Leviticus 11:45: “For I am the Lord who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall, therefore be holy, for I am holy.”
Thought For The Day

“People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.” D. A. Carson, research professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois.

Questions To Ponder
·         How is holiness to be measured? Is there any other standard than that of the Creator? Consider Romans 3:10-18.
·         Can holiness be attained aside from a relationship to Christ?
·         If not, then how do I increase that relationship?  Meditate: “You shall, therefore be holy, for I am holy.”
Morning Study Guide
Defining:  Under the Law, holiness was obtained by what one did. Under grace, it is obtained by our relationship to Christ. Nevertheless, the one does not nullify the other.
 
Referencing: “As He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy,” 1 Peter 1:15-16
 
Applying: Pursue holiness. See Hebrews 12:14-17.