Tag Archives: holiness

How to Hallow God’s Name — from Matthew 6:9-13

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First of all we should discuss why we should hallow His name?  There are several reasons to hallow His name.  Two reasons stand out to me.  First, the most obvious reason is because He deserves it.  He is God and He is holy; therefore we ought to treat Him as holy.  He is the one that is high and lifted up.  Hence we ought to cry out daily (in our mind or even verbally) as the angels do, saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory” (Is. 6:1-3).

A second reason to treat God as holy is so that others around us will treat Him as holy, and likewise, believe and obey Him.  For when we show God (or anyone) respect, others who observe us will tend to follow our example (Heb. 13:7).  But when we disrespect God…

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Complete Holiness

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The nature of holiness is that it is not satisfied to be in just one area.  It wants to penetrate into all areas; it wants to purify the whole; as light it wants to brighten every corner and crack.  In this study of personal holiness, I want to discuss every possible area of holiness in our lives—complete holiness.  As I see it, there are generally two areas of personal holiness: outer holiness, or holiness in the body, and inner holiness, or holiness in the mind and the spirit.

HOLINESS IN MIND AND SPIRIT

 These areas of our inner being must be considered of primary importance when it comes to holiness; for without holiness in these areas, the outer body will neither be holy.

 The mind.The mind is that place from where we think and reason and imagine.  And though we believe that these things originate in the brain…

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Practice Keeping Your Eyes Pure: Fighting Against Pornography

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This post on sexual purity is part of my category on holiness. I wrote it over ten years ago and is an excerpt from my book on prayer. We all need this more than ever these days.

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 Some would say, “It is impossible these days to keep your eyes pure, because there is so much pornography out there; we see it practically everywhere we go.”  But I want to tell you that with God’s help, and with practice, it is a battle that can be won!           

In this post we will talk about how people get trapped into viewing pornography, then about its results, and last, about how to fight against it.           

 

How People Get Trapped Into Viewing Pornography

 

The reason why people (both men and women) get trapped into viewing pornography is because they have not been warned against it, and they are unprepared to face it.  Satan comes against them as an angel of light to deceive them and trap them, and as a roaring lion to devour them.   And the reason why they continue in it is because they find…

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Practice Right Thinking For Holiness–Philippians 4:8

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 The practice of meditating on the Word will be most beneficial for right thinking, because when you are meditating on the scriptures your mind is occupied with right thoughts.  And the scriptures will also guide you in what else to think about in the world besides the scriptures.  One of the passages that specifically tell us that is Philippians 4:8.  Here Paul outlines for us seven things we should think about; or I think we could also look at it as seven qualities or virtues we should seek out and think about in different things in the world, such as in people, books, movies, and institutions. 

But we are not to just casually think over them; the word translated “think on” or “meditate on” (logizesthe), suggests more than just thinking.  The word actually means to take inventory, to reason, to reckon, and to esteem.  Adam Clark suggests that…

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7 Things to Practice for Holiness

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1.  Practice consecration with prayer.  Consecration is the act of giving ourselves completely to God through prayer for His will and service, recognizing that our life and all that we have is His. E.M. Bounds has said: “Prayer enters into every phase of a consecrated life…Consecration is really the setting apart of one’s self to a life of prayer.”

 And how does all this affect holiness? If affects it directly and in every aspect. We cannot be holy without it.  Why?  Because consecration is that which prepares the heart for holiness.  It is the act of giving ourselves to God by bringing our desires in line with His, thus by making our attitude right before him.  Moreover, by consecration we both prepare ourselves for holiness and we enter into that holy life.  A holy life in every phase is a life of consecration with prayer.

 2.  Practice…

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How to Be Holy: The Process of Holiness

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 Holiness is a process, which means that it takes time and continual effort.  It doesn’t happen all at once.  It is a process of transformation by renewal (Rom. 12:2).  Renewal starts with the mind and then works into the character.  The objective of renewal is always to renew the whole person: spirit, mind and body (complete renewal, however, will come after this life on earth; read 1 Cor. 15:51).

 Have you ever seen an old building being renovated?  All the old rotten material is removed and new material is put in its place.  Sometimes it is found that the entire building must come down and be replaced.  And so it would be a process of starting over.  That is the picture of what renewal is.  It is a renovation process.  The old comes out and the new is put in its place.  Hence, with us, all uncleanness and…

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God Has Gifted Every Christian for Holiness

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 Sinceit is God’s will for every Christian to be holy, He has given us the following gifts as necessary resources for holiness.

 

Jesus Christ

 

 When you were saved you received Jesus as a gift (Jn. 1:12).  In Him you were justified and made righteous—absolutely holy.  “For He [God] made Him [Christ] who knew not sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21).  Hence, His righteousness is credited to us.  That means that positionally, we are eternally righteous and holy before God; we were made holy forever in Christ.

 Now, though we are holy and sinless in our position or standing before God, practically we are not sinless and holy.  In fact, though we have a new nature and desire not to sin, we still have our old sinful flesh; and so we find that…

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Six Reasons to Be Holy

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Not everyone desires holiness. But just in case you do, just in case God has put it on your heart to be like Him, I think you will find these point helpful. Here are six reasons to be holy.

1.  To be like God.  God created man and woman in His own image, according to His likeness (Gen. 1:26).  This of course included His holiness.  God wanted all mankind to be holy like Himself.

After the fall of man sin marred that image.   But God’s purpose for us did not change.  He has always wanted us to be holy like Him, even in a sinful world (Gen. 2:14, 15).  In fact, throughout the Old Testament He commanded His people to be holy, saying to them, “Be holy because I, The Lord Your God, am holy” (Lev. 19:2, NIV).

And we can be holy!  God has provided a way for us…

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The Meaning of Holiness

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I think we have a good definition of holiness in Psalms 15:1-2.  Here David asks, “Lord, who may dwell in Your sanctuary?  Who may live on Your holy hill?  Then he answers himself: “He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous” (NIV).  Hence holiness is two things: being blameless, or not doing what is wrong; and it is also doing what is right. 

We have this same definition in Job 1:1. Here we read, “In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job.  This man was blameless and upright; “he feared God and shunned evil” (NIV).  Thus, those who are holy fear God—have a reverent respect for God and seek to obey Him in everything.  They also endeavor to conform to His holy character, which would include shunning or hating sin

In the simplest terms, holiness is living “without sin.”  That is what…

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Jesus and the Pharisees: from Matthew 23:25-26

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This is our eighteenth study. Please click HERE for an intro to this study.

Matthew 23:25-26

25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

Observations

The Pharisees lived as if external appearances were more important than what was inside of the life. They cared more about appearances than about the heart. They cared more about the body than the soul. Of course, they cared nothing about the soul because they were not converted; they had no spiritual life in them. All they knew to do was to clean up what they could see and what other could see. They were blind to God. They had no spiritual eyes.

Application

If we want to be pure and holy for the Lord we must start with the inside of the live. First, give yourself to God and His son. Believe in Him. Then use His word to clean up your heart and soul, and your mind and thoughts. And pray regularly.  As you do this you will find that your body will be healthier too.