God is Holy

Zec 8:17

Let none of you think evil in your [fn] heart against your neighbor; And do not love a false oath. For all these [are things] that I hate,’ Says the LORD.”

We are called to be holy as God is holy.  God hates evil and so should we.  If we hate evil we cannot participate in evil.

1Sa 13:13

And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which He commanded you. For now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.

1Sa 13:14

But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has commanded him [to be] commander over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.”

God is holy.  The consequence for not obeying God is given here.  Saul was picked by God, serving God but he disobeyed.

Psa 51:4

Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done [this] evil in Your sight– That You may be found just when You speak, [fn] [And] blameless when You judge.

When we participate in sin,  against a neighbor, loved one, family, we are doing so against God.

Rom 6:14

For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace

God loved us so much He sent His son and when we accept the sacrifice of Jesus we are covered by His blood and can be reunited with God.  He can look upon us.  For that gift alone we should be driven to avoid all sin in our lives.  We should strive to be like Him.  We should acquire the same distaste for evil that He has.

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What is holiness? Why holiness?

Leviticus 11:44,45 repeats twice the command to “be holy because I am holy.” Jesus states in Matthew and John that men are cleansed or defiled by the thoughts of their hearts and God will be worshipped wherever men seek Him in spirit and in truth. So I must be holy, it is a command and to be holy I must understand what holy is. In studying what has been written and looking at the definition of holy as it is used in the Old Testament, (Hebrew kodesh) and in the New Testament (Greek hagios) I find the following words reappearing consistently.

Separation, ethics, purity, consecrated, contrite, humble, conduct. Separation as in separating something from common use to dedicated use. Ethics as in a manner of action that is in total obedience regardless of the degree. Purity as in focus on things of God and not of self. Consecrated as in dedicated. Contrite and humble as in clearly understanding ones position in relation to the Creator. Conduct as in responsibility on my part, the part of mankind.

To put that into action I must place my focus on the Lord. I must become ‘obsessed’ with Him. I must see everything as an act of obedience to His Word. I will need an attitude change, from self-centered to God-centered. I will need to pick up my responsibility to act according to His Word. Therefore I will need to know His Word. I will need to assess every thought and action and see if it is obedient to His Will and I can know His Will by knowing His Word.

Obedience is obedience, not in degrees. In Eden there was plenty to eat, the tree wasn’t needed. The point was obeying the command to not eat from that tree. Knowledge of good and evil came about with the introduction of evil to contrast with the good. Disobedience brought sin. Disobedience is sin and all sin is disobedience. If I wish to be holy as He is holy, I must obey Him, the One who is holy. I must strive to be like Him.

I must become immersed in His Word.