Note to the teacher: the objectives of this class are (1) to increase the student's understanding of holiness; (2) to make the student aware that he or she can be considered holy by God only because God forgives sin; and (3) to make the student realize the only proper response to being made holy by God is to live and behave as a holy person.
A man wants to buy some sports equipment that he cannot afford. Each month he sets aside some money to be used for that purchase. He refuses to use any of that money for any other purpose. A woman wants to buy some new living room furniture that she finds especially attractive. The budget will not permit the purchase. Monthly she sets aside some money to be used to purchase the furniture. She refuses to use any of that money for any other purpose.
If you understand dedicating something to a chosen purpose, you understand the concept of holy. The process of making a person holy is called sanctification. A Christian is holy because God used Jesus Christ to sanctify him or her. God's sanctification set the person apart from sin for exclusive use in God's purposes (Titus 2:11-14). The Christian was forgiven [made holy] in order that he or she could live exclusively for God. He or she surrenders self to God's standards, to God's use, to God's purposes, to godly purity, and to godly behavior and relationships.
Holiness involves the following: (1) the person accepts and enters God's forgiveness [which places the person in the state of holiness]; (2) the person sets his mind, heart, and body apart from the functions of evil and ungodliness for the functions of God's purposes [that is a life long discovery and pursuit]; (3) the person changes his or her thoughts, choices, and behavior to be consistent with the holiness God makes possible [that is an unending process of learning, understanding, and changing].
God's holiness and a Christian's holiness differ. Holiness is a part of God's divine nature. God did not become holy; God is holy. God is holy because He is absolutely, completely free from evil. What does that mean? In every sense, God is the opposite of evil. God is exclusively pure. Evil is God's enemy, an enemy that repulses Him. He has no desire to embrace evil. He is beyond temptation, and He never uses evil (James 1:13). God is holy because He is sinless.
A Christian is holy because he or she is cleansed. Jesus' atoning blood destroyed the person's sins through forgiveness (Ephesians 1:7). Divine forgiveness destroys human sin. Every person who lives in Jesus Christ is holy because he or she exists in God's forgiveness. The Christian is holy only because he or she is forgiven. The Christian is never holy because he or she has not sinned. While God always has been, is, and will be holy, the Christian is holy only because he or she is made holy through God's forgiveness.
Holiness is both a state of existence and a commitment to action. It is evidenced in the absence of evil behavior. It also is evidenced in the Christian's godly actions. A Christian does not demonstrate holiness by doing nothing. Resisting evil acts proves little if the person also rejects godly behavior. A Christian does not demonstrate holiness by godly acts. Performing godly deeds proves little if the person condones ungodly behavior. The Christian who performs godly deeds while refusing to resist evil behavior misunderstands holiness. Human holiness is demonstrated by combining the two: resisting evil and serving good.
Read 1 Peter 1:13-21.
First note that a commitment to holiness involves preparation for mental action, sober decision, human hope, God's grace, and the anticipated return of Jesus Christ.
Gird your minds for action. Prepare your minds to do manual labor. Most of their work in their agricultural society was manual labor. The common clothing was a robe. A robe was not good for "work clothes." It was common to prepare for manual labor by gathering the lower portion of the robe and tucking it in the girdle (belt) around the waist. This freed the legs and kept the robe from interfering with the task. The dedication to holiness is earnest work.
The Christian commitment to holiness is a responsible commitment to be assumed seriously. It matters! The Christian who values and appreciates God's forgiveness wants to demonstrate to God that he treasures God's forgiveness. The primary ways that a person can express love and appreciation to God are limited. That limitation arises from the fact the everything belongs to God. The one thing that is God's only if the person gives it to God is his or her will. One significant way that the Christian can demonstrate that he or she treasures God's forgiveness is by devoting his or her will to holiness. A Christian can think, choose, and behave in ways that are consistent with the holiness God gave him or her. By doing this, he or she declares appreciation for forgiveness and reconciliation.
Their hope was to be placed firmly and completely on God's grace. It was 100% God's goodness and 0% their worthiness that provided them forgiveness. They were holy because of God, not because of themselves. The motivation for their obedience was an awareness of God's goodness. It was not the deceitful idea that God "owed" them for what they did. They hoped because they had confidence in the God who forgave them. God's grace would be revealed in its completeness at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
They were to be obedient children.
They would not conform to the strong desires that ruled their lives prior to God's forgiveness. They would not yield their minds or their bodies to desires that opposed God's rule and God's purposes.
The Holy One [the Holy God] called them. Every time a person was in the presence of God's holiness, the person was devastated by his unholiness [See Isaiah 6:1-5]. Only God could cleanse the unholiness [See Isaiah 6:6,7]. The awareness of God's holiness challenged and motivated them to dedicate themselves to holy behavior.
"You shall be holy, for I am holy." People who are unconcerned about holy thinking and holy behavior are incapable of serving the Holy God.
If we dare call the Holy God Father, we should live in profound reverence of God. This reverence arises from deep respect and genuine appreciation. God wants a father/child relationship with us, but He wants our respect and appreciation in that relationship. As the Christian grows in the awareness of God's natural holiness and our natural unholiness, he or she is awed that the Holy God would permit us unworthy ones to call Him Father. [Read Revelation 4 and marvel that the Holy God would permit physical people to call Him Father!]
The fact that God will impartially judge every person's work motivates us to behave in the fear of reverence. The fact that we call Him Father will not blind Him to our behavior. The fact that we call Him Father will not hide hearts and minds that seek to abuse His grace and forgiveness.
God did not ransom us from Satan's control with money or precious metals. They [and we] tend to think of a ransom payment in terms of money or some form of wealth.
The ransom price God paid to free us from evil was much more precious than any amount of money or precious metal. God paid the ransom price with the lifeblood of His guiltless, sinless [holy!] son. Jesus' innocent blood was uniquely God's to give. Jesus did not deserve to die. Neither justice nor evil had a claim on Jesus. Jesus belonged exclusively to God. His life was God's to give. Of all living things ever to live on earth, Jesus' life belonged to God in a unique sense. God made His own innocent son His sacrificial lamb to ransom us.
Before creation, God knew how He would respond to the problem of evil in human existence. This does not mean that God forced people to yield to evil. It does mean that God knew how He would respond to the problem if people chose to rebel against Him. Even before the creation, God knew how He would respond if people used their freewills to yield to temptation.
Jesus Christ made it possible for them to believe in God.
God raised Jesus from the dead and glorified him.
God gave us a choice. We could place our faith and hope in Him because of what He did in Jesus.
No one is holy by accident. It is not convenient for anyone to be holy. It is not easy for anyone to be holy. Holiness demands that the person resist evil as well as serve godliness. Resisting the evil within our minds and hearts is difficult. He or she who resists the evil within self must (1) identify the evil, (2) honestly label evil as evil, (3) understand what he or she does to encourage the evil, and (4) refuse to justify the evil. Resisting evil in our hearts, minds, actions, behavior, and relationships requires deliberate decisions and choices that reject evil. Serving good requires a similar identification process and similar deliberate decisions and choices. Allowing God to reveal and identify good is a challenge that continues throughout life in this world.
Stress this fact: a holy life is the result of commitment and effort, not the product of an accident.
That is difficult! That is costly! That runs counter to our emotions and desires! That requires complicated decisions! That requires undesirable choices! That requires changes in how a person lives! That requires changes in associations and involvement!
Stress this fact: the call to holiness is the call to sacrifice. Holy existence is not pain free or struggle free.
To be holy, a person must surrender to holiness. He or she surrenders to holiness because (1) he or she belongs to a holy God; (2) he or she serves a sinless Jesus; (3) he or she values God's grace, Jesus' redemption, and the peace and joy of reconciliation to God; (4) he or she wants to be ruled by God and serve Jesus; (5) he or she rejoices in the freedom created by God's grace and Jesus' forgiveness; and (6) he or she wants God's Spirit to live in his or her life without opposition.
Stress this fact: the commitment to a holy life is demanding. It is a chosen life. It is a doable, possible life, but it is a life that is willing to pay the price. God paid the price to allow us to become holy. We will pay the price if we live in holiness.
Surrendering to holiness is a sobering matter. He or she surrenders in the awareness this is a surrender to God as the person makes a positive commitment to an eternal destiny. The Christian never forgets what human holiness cost God. God's cost will always exceed our cost.
Stress this fact: the commitment to holiness is number one on the Christian's list of priorities.
Link to Student Guide
Quarter 3, Lesson 7