Tag: living sacrifice

47.i. “Wilderness” – 11.o. “And be holy to your God”

 

Num 15:37  The LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the people of Israel, and tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner. And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after. So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the LORD your God.”

 Leviticus 11:44    For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy

 Leviticus 19:2    “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.

 Romans 12:1    I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

 Ephesians 1:4    even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him

 1 Thessalonians 4:7    For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.

 1 Peter 1:15-16     but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,  since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

We should use every means of refreshing our memories with the truths and precepts of God’s word, to strengthen and quicken our obedience, and arm our minds against temptation. Be holy unto your God; cleansed from sin, and sincerely devoted to his service; and that great reason for all the commandments is again and again repeated, I am the Lord your God. (Henry)

But be found in the observance of every moral precept, and of every religious ordinance and duty: and be holy unto your God: as in his presence, according to his will, and for his honour and glory, by keeping his holy commands, and living an holy life and conversation, well pleasing in his sight. (Gill)

For I am the Lord your God.—As the Lord who is their God is Himself holy, His people, in order to enjoy perfect communion with Him, must also be holy. Hence they must abstain from all these objects of defilement which mar that holy communion. (Ellicott)

Ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy, for I am holy; that is, separate themselves from all other people, and be distinct from them. By observing his commands, and living according to his will, and to his glory, they would be holy in a moral sense, as they ought to be, who were under the peculiar care and notice of a holy God, and so highly favoured by him. (Gill)

 They were to sanctify themselves, that is, to avoid uncleanness, because God is holy, and they were God’s. (Unknown)

Do we give proper thought to the holiness of God? Do we even register a thought on being holy? Do we grow in our understanding of God’s Holiness by neglecting His Word? Are we ever growing in our knowledge of His holiness? Unless we grow in this knowledge we will never understand the depth of His grace, mercy, and love.

27.m. “I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called”

 

Ephesians 4:1  I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

 Romans 12:1   I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

 Acts 9:31   So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.

 Colossians 1:10  so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

 1 Thessalonians 2:12 we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

 2 Timothy 1:9    who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,

What does it mean to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called?  Our salvation is in Jesus Christ alone.  Nothing we could do or did do would add or take away from His complete work on the cross.  There is not a single “Good” person who has done good enough to merit what Christ did on the cross.  There is not a single “Bad” person who has done such vile bad things that the work of Christ on the cross will not save them completely.  The good and bad people are both sinners, lost, apart from God, walking in flesh and doing fleshly things, and in need of redemption, forgiveness, and salvation.  Once they have come to the saving grace knowledge of Jesus Christ, repent of their sin, and trust in, cling to, and rely on Jesus Christ they are saved, born again, a new creation.  The Holy Spirit is given to each one of them, to lead, comfort, and die them unlimited power to live in this world in a manner worthy of the price Jesus Christ paid for their sin.  So I ask again what does it mean to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called?

This is an ever-changing goal in the life of a Christian.  As we grow, here a little there a little, precept by precept, line upon line.  As we grow in our knowledge and understanding of God and His grace, mercy, and love, our understanding of what walking in a manner worthy will also grow.  That is why it is an ever-changing upward goal.  We do well to grow in our knowledge and understanding, precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little and there a little.  Too often our attainment of growth is limited because of our lack of knowledge and understanding of God’s Word.  Too often we neglect it.  Too often we are complacent.  Too often we get caught up in the busyness of life and worry about walking worthy of what our neighbors and family will think rather than the one who freely gave His life to redeem you.

20.v. “I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called”

 

 

Romans 12:1   I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 

 1 Corinthians 1:10    I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.

 Hebrews 13:22   I appeal to you, brothers, bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly.

 2 Corinthians 5:20    Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

 1 Thessalonians 4:10    for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more,

 2 Corinthians 6:1    Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.

 Ephesians 4:1    I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,

Paul’s plea was an urgent and earnest request, a cry from the heart.  He saw firsthand how people could be easily swayed by temptations of the flesh and this world.  Between his journey back to revisit the churches he planted, he would hear of issues within the church, problem people, neglect and complacency of following after God, and hearing of this or witnessing it first hand, he would urge them to get back on track with a life that humbly honors, glorifies, follows, rely on, clings to, trusts in, and obeys Jesus Christ. There were times when Paul would call people out for their selfish and devious acts but mostly he gave repeated urgent requests to turn away from foolishness, bitterness, division, fear, hatred, lusts of the flesh, and love for the worldly.  

I wonder what it must have been like living in a time where there was no electricity, iPhone, iPad, computer, TV, podcasts, radio, internet, movies, video games, televised sports, talk shows, social media, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, email, ebooks, news media outlets, ESPN, CNN, refrigeration, Amazon, FedEx, UPS, education system, hospitals, transportation, cars, trains, planes, industrialization, technology, etc….  Without any of this interference in their lives, they were still able to be swayed away from living for Christ.  There is some appeal from the fleshly and worldly that entices us to seek, desire, and chase after that which promises satisfaction to our soul but is never able to live up to the promises no matter how many times or how long we pursue them.  If they were enticed away without all of the mind-consuming technology we have now, how much more so can we be? What would Pauls’s appeal to us be?  I think it can be found in Philippians 4:8 Finally, believers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by God’s word, whatever is pure and wholesome, whatever is lovely and brings peace, whatever is admirable and of good repute; if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things [center your mind on them, and implant them in your heart].