Holiness: To honor him Part 1
God is God (and I am not)
God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.
And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years,
קֹדֶשׁ
Qodesh (kō'·desh)This Hebrew word for holy denotes sacredness, and something that is apart from something else.
apartness, holiness, sacredness, separateness
apartness, sacredness, holiness
of God
of places
of things
set-apartness, separateness(reference, http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H6944&t=KJV)
God is so serious about holiness that he says:
Hebrews 10:1a (NIV)
The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—...
God wants us to understand the principle of holiness and apply it to every area of our living. God, who is a Holy God, and in whose image and likeness we are to exhibit, deserves and demands a holy people.
Holiness means we are not conformed to the world. Holiness demands a transformation in us. They way we think, they way we reason, has to be renewed.
Here are a few verses on separation that should inspire us to examine ourselves. Are we holy unto the Lord?
Deuteronomy 22:9-11
New King James Version (KJV)
9 “You shall not sow your vineyard with different kinds of seed, lest the yield of the seed which you have sown and the fruit of your vineyard be defiled.10 “You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together.11 “You shall not wear a garment of different sorts, such as wool and linen mixed together.
9 “You shall not sow your vineyard with different kinds of seed, lest the yield of the seed which you have sown and the fruit of your vineyard be defiled.10 “You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together.11 “You shall not wear a garment of different sorts, such as wool and linen mixed together.
So wait, are we dishonoring God by using mixed materials and plowing with two different kinds of animals? What does the bible say?
The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—...
 |
| image from the web |
God wants us to understand the principle of holiness and apply it to every area of our living. God, who is a Holy God, and in whose image and likeness we are to exhibit, deserves and demands a holy people.
Holiness means we are not conformed to the world. Holiness demands a transformation in us. They way we think, they way we reason, has to be renewed.
Here are a few verses on separation that should inspire us to examine ourselves. Are we holy unto the Lord?
Ezra 6:21So the Israelites who had returned from the exile... together with all who had separated themselves from the unclean practices of their Gentile neighbors in order to seek the Lord, the God of Israel.
Ezra 9:1 After these things had been done, the leaders came to me and said, “The people of Israel, including the priests and the Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the neighboring peoples with their detestable practices, like those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians and Amorites.
Have we failed in being distinct from those around us? Are we a beacon of light in this dark world? Or do we blend in?
John 17:15-16 (KJV) 15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
2 Corinthians 6:17 Therefore, “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”
Did you catch that cause and effect there? Be separate...and I will receive you.
Ezra 10:11 Now honor the Lord, the God of your ancestors, and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples around you...
Comments
Post a Comment