Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

The Holiness of God Pt.2

How're you all doing this evening? Okay, let's pick up where we were this morning, dealing with the holiness of God, just rejoicing in His goodness and in His majesty. Look over, if you would, at I Peter, chapter 1. What we're going to be going through tonight, I want to take a look at the different factors that cause this holiness to work in your life and in my life.

First, to follow-up on this morning, we need to see very clearly, here, from I Peter 1:15, the requirement that is placed on each of our lives as children of God to be holy. Remember the two-fold meaning of this holiness. Holiness means to be separate, to be set apart. To be set apart from sin. To be set apart unto God. When you refer to it in the sense of God, it's saying that He is completely separate. There is no one like Him. No person, no thing, nothing can be compared to Him. He is in a realm all to himself. He is the standard of holiness. He is the rule. There is no external rule that is put up to Him and say, "He is holy;" He is the source of all purity, the source of all holiness. Here in I Peter 1:15, he starts off and says, "But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye [What?] holy in all manner of conversation." In all manner of your lifestyle. In your thought life--How holy is your thought life? Many times, the battle for the mind, the thoughts, is one of the first places we need to look; because the thought life is something that can stay so well hidden from others.

It's amazing what you can put on and present outwardly, yet be harboring in your heart secretly. It's amazing how good you can look on the outside, but yet if your motives and thoughts, and the secret places of your heart were revealed--the absolute filth, pride and selfishness. So he is talking about a holiness that reaches into all manner of our lifestyle: our thought life, the inner most desires and feeling, the affections of the heart. The thoughts, the words that comes out of our mouth, the action, the choices and decisions that we make day-by-day. In all manner of your lifestyle, in every part of your life be holy and separate unto the Lord.

Let me ask you a question. How separate are your thoughts? How separate are the motives of your heart? Are you truly given to God, or are you living a lie, and acting one way outwardly but living something else inwardly? "...be ye holy in all manner of conversation." That holiness, that factor of not only being separate, but the factor, the second aspect of holiness, is the aspect of purity. In Him--He is light, and in Him there is no darkness. Absolute purity. We want both of those aspects to be at work in our life. We want, number one, to be separated to Him for his service, separated from sin. We want that purity. Don't you want to be pure in heart? Don't you want to have that purity at work in your life? "...be ye holy in all manner of conversation. Because it is written [and here is a flash back to the Old Testament:] Be ye holy; for I am holy." The principle here is a very simple principle. It's a principle that we find in Amos 3:3 with the rhetorical question, "Can two walk together, [except] they be agreed?" God is a holy God. He cannot walk with an unholy person. He is a holy God, and He can't have a relationship with anything that is unholy. That's fact! That's bottom line! If you boil it all down, that is what it all comes down too. So if you say tonight, "I want to have a relationship with God," then holiness has to be working in your life. Isn't that what Hebrews says? Look over there at Hebrews 12:14. "Follow peace with all men..." and not only follow peace, but follow holiness, because without this holiness no man shall what? Shall see the Lord! Can two walk together except they be agreed? No, they can't. So when He says, "Be ye holy for I am holy," that's the principle that He is expressing. I can't walk with you as a holy God unless holiness is at work in your life. So, if I am holy, you're going to have to be holy if you're walking with me. Follow holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.

Turn over to Psalms 15:1. "Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? [Not everybody gets to run up His holy hill. Who is going to abide in God's holy tabernacle?] He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart." There we see it again. That aspect of being holy in all manner of conversation--even the secret recesses of your heart. Who is it that has a relationship with the Lord? He that walketh uprightly, worketh righteousness and speaketh truth, even in the secret recesses where no one else can see. What kind of a man or woman are you in the inside? Without that holiness, no man will see Him. Two can't walk together unless they be agreed. That's the principle that we're operating off of. Very factual, very cut and dried, very matter of fact; but that is what it all comes down to. Now, how do we get this holiness to work in our life? If it is so important, and it is.

The way I organized my thoughts here, it would be very easy for you to follow along and take notes. If you care to take notes. What causes holiness to work in our life? If you're taking notes, you want to be sure to get these subtitles down.

1. Holiness is the result of justification. Look over at Isaiah 1:18. When you speak of words like justification and sanctification it helps to know a little bit, theologically, about what you're talking about. When you deal with terms like justification, we know that that's talking about the righteousness of God that's been imputed to our account. It's been credited to our account. This righteousness comes by our faith in Jesus Christ and our faith in his death and resurrection and what He has done for us. It's very much as if tomorrow morning you went to your bank and found out that someone deposited into your account a million dollars. You say, "Hey, how did that get there? Never mind! Don't tell me. I don't care. I just like it! Hopefully, another million will show up overnight." You didn't work for it, you don't deserve it, you didn't earn it; but somehow it was imputed, or deposited, into your account. That's what these words mean. So, justification speaks of an imputed righteousness, a righteousness that has been credited to our account without any merit from you. It's there by faith. It speaks of your legal standing with God.

On the other hand, on the flip side of the coin--the flip side of the coin of salvation that we're talking about--when you start talking about words like sanctification, it's no longer talking about the legal righteousness, now it's talking about your literal righteousness. It's not talking about what's been deposited into your account; it's now talking about what is actually lived out in your life day-by-day. Sanctification is the process where day-by-day you're being conformed into the image of Jesus by your thoughts and words and actions, and you are literally becoming more and more like Him. You're not just legally imputed with His righteousness, but now you're actually acting more righteous day-by-day. That's kind of the difference in terms of terminology between justification and sanctification.

When you talk about holiness or sanctification, as a rule, most of the time you really don't think about the legalities of what has been imputed to your account. I wanted to start off with that tonight because this is really the source of holiness in your life. This cleansing that takes place in Isaiah 1:18, where the Lord said, "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as [What?] white as snow..."

I think, to the Hebrew reading this, there are words and phrases that are used here that would have made this verse a lot more meaningful than it is to us. We can read it and appreciate, very much, what it is saying; but you have to understand some of the characteristics about the Hebrew language. When you speak of that word "scarlet", there, the word "scarlet" is referring to a specific color of red that they would use. It was prized very much. It was to them a very precious color. This cloth that would become scarlet was actually double-dipped. Because it was double-dipped it was said that this dye, this red, would almost look shiny. Scarlet, very bright, shiny in appearance. It was a permanent dye. There wasn't any soap, there wasn't any water, there wasn't any amount of washings that would wash this out. When you dyed it with this, it was dyed. Kind of the same concept when you accidentally put something red in with your white underwear, and you go to work the next day wearing pink. You hope that nobody sees. That is kind of what happens. It's that red that just bleeds. The dye that runs all over everything. It's very had to get out. That is what the Lord is saying here. He is referring to scarlet not only as the color, but he is talking to Israel, and He's saying, "Israel, your sins are so deeply rooted. You are so destitute, so depraved. Your sins are so deep routed that, apart from God, there is absolutely no hope for you; but I'm here to give you hope. I'm going to wash away those sins." We know what we're washed with. We're washed with the blood of Jesus. He said, though your sins be as scarlet and though your heart be so stained that it's a permanent stain--no hope--the blood of Jesus can make your heart as white as snow, and you can be clean again and pure again. You can become holy again in the sight of your Lord. Not because you merited or deserve it. Not because you did anything at all. It's because of the love and mercy of your Lord. That is called justification. That is righteousness that is imputed to your account. You didn't deserve it, you didn't merit it; but by faith you cried out to God with a broken heart; and He heard you and made you His child. He made you a son and a daughter. He washed you and made you clean again. That's the source of all holiness. That's the source of all purity.

I think, as you grow and mature spiritually, the further down the road of sanctification you go the more you know how much you need the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The more mature you get, the more you know how much you need that justification; because as you begin this process of sanctification, it's just any other growth process. I think we all go through an adolescent stage. Sanctification begins to work in our heart and we see our lives changing and we see ourselves actually improving, and we see ourselves getting freed from this sin or this habit, we start to get excited, and we go through an adolescence stage of getting a swelled head and thinking that it has to do with me! "I'm great, man! I'm just so spiritual and special!" But then, if you don't die in that process, and you grow on beyond that stage, then you go on to a maturity that realizes that no matter how much improvement you see in your life, you can never rest in that, and you can never trust in that. Though you see improvement in your life, and you rejoice and say, "Thank God for sanctification. Thank God for the literal righteousness that God has worked in my life." You become more and more keenly aware that salvation is only in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Though you rejoice in what God's doing in your life, your heart always goes back to the cross. You trust and hope in none other, because you realize that salvation is in Him. Salvation is about what Jesus did, it's not about me. It's not about the improvements that I see in my life. No matter how great they are, and though they may bring great glory to God, that is not my salvation. There is salvation in none other but in Jesus Christ and what He did on that cross on Golgotha. That is the source of the cleansing, that is the source of the purity, that's where it all starts, and that is the origin of holiness. Holiness is a result of justification, of your faith being firmly rooted in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the cleansing His blood.

I John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from [how much unrighteousness?] all unrighteousness." That's where holiness truly begins.

2. How does this holiness begin to work in our life?

A. It's a result of justification.

B. This holiness is a result of faith.

Look over at I Corinthians 1:30. I've broken this down real simply for us tonight. It might feel at times like we're taking baby steps. But, for our own review, I believe it will be very profitable. I Corinthians 1:30. The holiness that is at work in me--this process of sanctification--it's very important that we realize that sanctification is God's work, it's not my work. There's no gimmick. There's no formula. There's no spiritual discipline that I can apply to myself to make myself more holy. If you think, "I can pray for two more hours, or fast three more days, that will make me more holy," you're seriously deceived. Get that out of your brain! Holiness has nothing to do with you. If it's left up to you, you're a depraved idiot, and it won't happen.

I Corinthians 1:30, "But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us [What?] wisdom, and righteousness, and [What?] sanctification, and redemption:" Our only hope for holiness, for this sanctification to work and affect itself, is in Jesus Christ. So that has got to be a faith. We need to be believing God to make us holy. There needs to be an awareness of our need; and there needs to be an awareness of our utter powerlessness to produce any results. If there is any good that is going to come from me, if there is to be any holiness worked in my life, it is going to be God and God alone. So I'd better cling to Him instead of trying to activate my own secret little formulas of how I'm going to make myself holy. Jesus is made unto us righteousness and sanctification.

Look over at I Thessalonians 5:23. Don't ever become so deceived that you think that you can effect a divine work in your life. You can't! Holiness is a miracle! Just like faith is a miracle! It's supernatural. It's not going to be affected by any natural means that you try to employ. I Thessalonians 5:23, "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved [How?] blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." Now Paul's here praying, and he says, "I pray God that he would sanctify you wholly." Nothing you or I can do to affect this. Drives us crazy, doesn't it? It's got to be something I do. It's got to something I can do to help the process. What you can do to help the process is submit and die; because there is nothing your efforts can add to the work. This places us in a position, like we've been taught so well over this past year to year-and-a-half, we are utterly, totally, absolutely dependent upon Him minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour; without Him we die. So we are continually drawing upon His grace and mercy.

You don't have to turn there by Philippians 1:6, "...he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it...." We all know what we like to do. He starts the good work and we like to jump in somewhere in the middle and "help Him out". It doesn't work that way. Holiness does not come by spiritual discipline. Holiness does not come by trying harder. Holiness is a result of faith. You believe God You wait in His presence until you hear from God. You wait upon Him until He changes your heart. You wait upon God until He moves. You wait upon God until He tells you to move. Your holiness depends upon Him, and Him alone.

There is so much in this when you start to study it. We'll be going through a long list probably through Wednesday night; but it encompasses--so much of the New Testament is spent getting you into the image of Jesus.

3. Holiness is the result of the new birth. If you would, look over at Ephesians 4:24. Paul, here, is speaking of the new man. We know as he is speaking of the new man that he is talking about the spirit man. The spirit man that's been regenerated with the life of God. He says, here in verse 24, that you put on the new man, and this new man, your recreated spirit, is created after God. It's created in His image. It's created to look like God, act like God. This is the miracle of the new birth. When God infuses his heart into your heart, now for the first time, you begin to sense the feelings of God, the desires of God, the thoughts of God. What God hates you begin to hate. What God loves you begin to love; and for the first time you can actually hear the heart beat of your heavenly Father. That's the miracle of it. This new man is created after Him in his likeness. Because it's created in his likeness, it created in righteousness and also created in what? True holiness. When you're born again, that recreated spirit man is created holy, it's created in holiness. This is where holiness will begin to emerge in your day-to-day life. It has nothing to do with your spiritual disciplines and effort. It's nothing outward. It comes from the spirit of God within. That's where holiness comes from. It comes from His life that abiding within.

Look over at Titus 3. This talks more about this regeneration and the purity that comes with it. Titus 3:4, he says, "But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration...." Look at this, because this is very descriptive language. By the washing of what? Regeneration. The washing. It means to take a bath, the bathing. It means immersion. It can mean baptism. It is used in that way; but it's just talking about bathing, washing all the dirt away. He is likening that to regeneration. That when you were born again and created into a new man and old things passed away and all things became new, it was the Spirit of God washing you, washing the filth away, energizing you, recreating you with new life from Jesus Christ. "...and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour..."

Now, I want you to see something. Look over at Hebrews nine. What is that washing of regeneration? This cleansing? I think that Hebrews, chapter nine, gives us a glimpse into the washing of being born again. It's the washing of being made new. Thank God the old things are washed away! Aren't you glad you don't love the things you used to love, because all that filth has been washed away? Aren't you glad that now you have a genuine love for the things of God, and a genuine love for His presence, because He has washed you clean? The way this happens is found here in Hebrews 9:11. He is talking about Christ being our High Priest, and he is saying that He entered into a greater and more perfect tabernacle, verse 11. Verse 12, when He entered into this heavenly tabernacle He didn't go in by the blood of bulls and calves; but He entered in by His own blood which was shed on Golgotha. It talks about the blood of bulls and goats, the sprinkling, and the sanctifying in verse 13. Then he says in verse 14, "How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, [how much more shall that blood] purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"

Now, you have to remember who this verse is written to. What Book are we in? Hebrews! Who is it written to? Hebrews! These are people who are self-righteous. These are people who do a lot of good things--supposedly. They are not outwardly committing murders, adulteries, blasphemies and so forth. So what does he mean here by dead works? Dead works is actually a perfect description. Dead works is anything that originates in self, no matter how it appears. Remember all of Pastor's instruction on the difference between God and good! Dead works can be, apparently, very good works, good deeds; but, it is all of those good works that originate with self. Because they originate from self, they are dead. They are not alive with the presence of God. They are generated through self-righteousness and self-effort. Dead work is any work that self-generates.

He says here that now your conscience has been cleansed, purged, and this is this washing of regeneration. It's been cleansed from these dead works to do what? Serve the living God. You're no longer living by your own efforts and striving; but now you have been born again and because you have been born again it's no long you that live, but who is living in you now? Christ! He is saying that there is something that has taken place in your conscience. You know the "Let your conscience be your guide." The conscience that feels bad when you do something wrong? The conscience that rejoices when you do something right? What has this conscience been purged to do? What has this conscience been awakened, now, to do? It's been awakened to distinguish between dead works and living works. Remember, we said this morning--and we are going to talk about this more as we go through--I made the statement this morning that the process of holiness is a process of discrimination. How discriminating are you? How much do you scrutinize the fruit in your life? How discriminating are you of what you allow into your life from the world? How discriminating are your when you decide what you will allow to vex you or not vex you? How discriminating are you? Remember, we saw that one passage there in Leviticus where God said that in this process of holiness you are to go though and very clearly mark the clean from the unclean. There is to be a separation. That is what this recreated conscience has been born to do. It lets you know what--It allows--When you become sensitive in your spirit now, you know if self is producing this, and you know the difference between that and the Spirit of God is living through you. That's one of the greatest blessings of being born again. How many of you have learned--you know when the Spirit of God is doing something through you. You know those times when He's speaking through you. You know what you would do in and of yourself, and when you do just the opposite you know at that moment the Spirit of God took over. Isn't that a blessing? Isn't that a joy to your heart? Isn't it good to know that Jesus is alive and well on the inside of you? That's a blessing. That is what he is saying here. How discriminating are you with the thoughts and the words and the actions that come forth from you? Is your life full of just dead works: Self-effort, self-righteousness, self-striving? Are you still living in your own strength; or has your conscience been awakened to discriminate and say, "No, that is dead works. That is not me. I've been crucified and now Christ is supposed to be living through me. The words that I speak are to be living words. The actions that I do are supposed to be living deeds, not dead works." We're supposed to be alive and purged from dead works to serve the living God, verse 14 says. Number 3, very importantly, holiness is the result of the new birth. Holiness is the result of that recreated spirit man that has been created in the image of God. Holiness is a result of that conscience being purged; and now within your own heart you know the difference between dead works--what you produced--and what the Spirit of God can produce. As a child of God you long to die as deep a death as you can, so that Christ would be magnified in your body. That is your hope. That is your desire. How sensitive is your conscience? Do you know the difference between self-effort and Christ living in you? Holiness is the result of the new birth. Holiness is Christ living in you and living through you. There is no greater holiness than that.

4. Holiness is a result of the Word of God. Look over at Ephesians, chapter five, if you would. Ephesians, chapter five. We know very well--In your notes, you may want to write down John 15:3. We know very well the words of Jesus there, where he says, "Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you." There's something miraculous about the Word of God, isn't there? Something so powerful. It's like the Psalmist described. He said, "I was really having a hard time. I was becoming resentful and I was becoming bitter. I couldn't understand why the wicked were always prospering. This thing was a real aggravation, a real frustration, to me." He said, "I almost came to the point of losing all hope until I went into the House of God." What happened in the House of God? Who remembers? He was changed! He said, "There, in the presence of God, I saw the end of the wicked. Though they might have some pleasure in this life, I got a glimpse into what they will suffer for all of eternity. I saw the judgment and the justice of God. I saw the wisdom and the plan of God in allowing them to prosper in that way." He said, "I came out humbled." He said, "I couldn't believe how I was acting like a brute beast." He was humbled and changed. If you allow it to, the Word of God can have that same effect on you. How many of you ever gone to the Word of God in the morning or afternoon--your attitude stank, you had a hard day, you were frustrated, fed-up, and you just started to go through the Word of God, and before you knew it a verse, a phrase just leaped out at you? It calmed the savage beast, so to speak, and your broken heart was mended. You found that peace and that joy once again. What causes that? It's because this Book is alive. It's because this Book is the Word of God. It's because this Book goes straight to your heart, straight to the very center of any problem you could ever have. It's because this Book is the solution to every problem, every care, every worry, every fear, anything you could ever face this Book is the answer. When you finally find it in your moment of frustration, what joy, what relief, what release, it brings to you. It calms you, and you once again find your place at the feet of Jesus.

He says here in Ephesians 5:25-26, "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of the water by the word." You know, it's interesting--when we were preparing for Y2K and going through all of that survival stuff and learning how to live out in the woods. It was always interesting to read some of those articles that indicated that even in our day of all of the soaps and medications, and detergents, that water remains the Number 1 cleansing agent. There is nothing better than running water to cleanse and to purify and to wash away all of the filth. That is what he is describing here. Man made products can't even come close. This washing of the water. This continual washing of His Word. There is something about His Word. It's magical! It's supernatural! It's the power of God that comes into your soul and sets us free. It's coming to His Word and not just reading the black ink on white pages, but it's coming and getting to know His heart and His mind, and allowing His voice to speak to you through this Word. That is what sets you free.

Look over at Hebrews, chapter 4. It's great the way the writer of Hebrews expresses it. This is where our faith is. This is where our hope is. This is where we live day-by-day. How many times did the psalmist say throughout Psalms, especially 119(:25), he says, Lord, "My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word." My soul cleaves to the dust. I'm dying, Lord! I'm without hope. I'm frustrated, fed-up, broken-hearted, full of fear. Quicken me, because your word alone is the source of life.

Here in Hebrews, 4:12, this is why the Word of God is such a powerful cleansing agent. This is where holiness comes from: this washing, the purity of being washed. Here in Hebrews 4:12, it says, For the word of God is quick, means alive. It's alive and it's powerful. Those words, on the pages you're reading right now, are not like any other words in any other book. They are alive. They are powerful. Sharper than any two-edged sword. I know I've shared this with you before, but let me share this with you again just to refresh you. It says here that it's a sword that pierces to the dividing asunder. That word pierce doesn't mean that it makes a little dimple in your skin. That word pierce means it goes in one side and comes out the other. That is how penetrating the Word of God is. It pierces even to the dividing asunder. It means it's going to take you and cut you up into little pieces. Literally, that what it means. It divides asunder the soul and the spirit, the joints and the marrow. Not just talking about the spirit from soul; it talking about dissecting the soul and dissecting the spirit. Then it is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart. That discerner is a word that means to sift through. After it cuts you up into little pieces, it sifts through all of the pieces, judging, analyzing, discerning the very thoughts and intents of the heart.

(side 2)...the release and that's what brings the holiness. Don't ever discount the power of the Word of God as it's affecting the holiness in your life. Let's move on. Where does holiness come from and how does it affect itself in our life?

5. Holiness is a result of obedience. Look over at Leviticus, chapter 20. Holiness is a result of obedience. Leviticus 20:7 - 8, "Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the Lord your God. And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the Lord which [What?] sanctify you." He makes it very clear throughout the Scriptures that it is the keeping of His statutes that sanctifies us. Boy, isn't that the truth! How many of you have noticed that when you obey the Word of God, how different that makes you from your co-worker at work? How many of you stick out like a sore thumb, at work, because you dare to obey God and keep His commandments? They take great sport in how well they can deceive, and you obey the simple commandment, "Thou shalt not lie." They take great pleasure in how they flirt and commit adultery, and you believe very simply, "Thou shall not commit adultery." They love to hate and back bite and slander and kill their neighbor with their words and you very simply live by the commandment, "Thou shall not kill." Just in the obedience alone you are set apart, and sanctified, and there is something different about you. It's the wisdom of his commandments that sanctifies you and sets you apart. But I want you to see, I want to take it one step further tonight.

Look over at John, chapter 15. I want you to see that it's just not the very act itself that makes you holy; because, if that were true, then moral people who are out there who don't tell lies would be holy--and they're not! Just because you don't commit adultery, just because you don't tell a lie, just because you don't commit murder, those things are in and of yourself don't make you holy. What makes you holy is the source of your obedience. The source of your obedience is abiding in the vine. The source of your obedience is Jesus. The source of your obedience is what make you holy. It's no different than if you took your garden hose, stuffed it full of mud, and then attached it to your faucet and turned on the water. The water would start to run through. What would happen to all the filth on the inside? As that water started to run through, what does it do? Cleans everything out, doesn't it? That's what happens. When your abiding in the vine, you are no longer living by your own life force, you've now hooked up to a source that is greater than yourself. You're drawing upon His life flow and you've become that hose. A life force greater than you is now living through you, and as He lives through you He's flushing from you all of the filth. It's the source of your obedience that makes you holy, not the actual act. If that is the case, then all of the Pharisees who fasted and did all of their rituals--they would be considered very holy people; but they're not! We know what the Lord considered them to be. So obedience makes you holy; but it is not the act, it's the source of the obedience.

He says here in John 15:4-5, "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth [What?] much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing."

Galatians 2:20, you can just write in down in your notes. "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." Holiness is the result of obedience. Not because of the specific act, but because of who is living through you, enabling you to obey. If Christ be not in you, then it is impossible for your to obey; but when He is living in you, and well, and you've given Him the lordship of your life, then His life flowing through you is that continual cleansing and flushing, and you become more and more holy. Let's review, because we're going to stop there for this evening.

1. Holiness is a result of justification. No matter how improved you get as you go down this road of sanctification, always remember where holiness started. Always remember where holiness originated; and it originated in the washing and the cleansing of the blood of Jesus. Though your sins be as scarlet He washes us and causes us to be white as snow. That's where purity starts. That's the source of the holiness. We can never get our eyes off of that. As we begin to see improvement in our life, we can never, ever, begin to trust or rest in those improvements, to think that now we have arrived. Our salvation is in one place and one place only: the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is where our faith is.

2. Holiness is a result of faith. Jesus has been made unto us sanctification. It's not any effort, it's not by any spiritual discipline that we place ourselves under, it's not by any effort or self-righteousness. He who has begun a good work will finish it; and how dare we jump into the middle and try to help Him along in the process. We're completely dependent upon Him for holiness.

3. Holiness is a result of the new birth. Thank God that that Spirit Man becomes recreated in His image. We become born again, and that recreated spirit man is created in holiness. Your regenerated spirit is created holy; and now you can become discriminatory in your everyday life. What's a dead work? What's originating in self and what is a living work? What is originating from Christ in me. Your conscience has now been awakened to be able to tell the difference. Now with that awakened, purged conscience, you can let your conscience be your guide and make sure that what you're living and saying day-by-day is Christ in you, and it's not a bunch of dead works through your own self-effort and self-righteousness. That's where holiness comes from. It is a result of the new birth.

4. Holiness is a result of God's Word. The washing, the bathing, the cleansing of water. The Word of God being continually applied to our heart. Last for tonight, not last for the study. We'll pick this up Wednesday night.

5. Holiness is a result of obedience. Not the actual action, but the source of your obedience. Are you hour-by-hour being flushed out by the life of Christ living in you? That's where is comes from. Let's pray for this evening.

Father, we do thank You for the Word of God. Father, we so much want to be with You. We so much want to be like You, Lord. Father, what a dreadful thought of ever being without You. Yet we know that we can't walk with You unless we be agreed with You. Since You're a holy God, we too must be holy. Without holiness we have no hope of seeing You. So, holiness must be at work in our life. Holiness must be at work in our life, Father. If holiness is not at work in our life, then we have no hope, no hope of ever seeing You. Father, that terrifies us. We stand before You tonight, Father, sensing and knowing our utter hopelessness and helplessness to do anything about it. If our holiness doesn't come from You, then there is no other place it comes from.

We must have You tonight, Father. We need You so much. We thank You that Christ has been made to us sanctification. Father, we're so thankful for the work that You've started. We wouldn't be here tonight if You hadn't started a work. Lord, we commit ourselves afresh to shut up and die and not meddle with the process, but let You finish the work.

Father, live in us--live big in us. Be exalted in us. Be magnified in our lives. Let Your holiness reign in us, so that we can see You and live with You forever and ever; and for that, Father, we give You all of the praise and the honor, in Jesus' name.

Let's stand before the Lord and worship Him and sing to Him before we leave this evening.

Father, You are such a holy God. We give You praise tonight! Father, we look into your presence and we see the beauty of Your holiness, and along with the hosts of heaven we cry out, "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God. Great and holy is our Lord." There is none like unto You, Father. None can compare to You.

Let's sing it together as Gary leads us. "Holy Lord, Most Holy Lord." Great and holy is the Lord! Great and holy is the Lord! Great and holy You are. Beautiful in Your holiness. We thank You, Father. We give You all the praise and the glory. We magnify You, Father. Hallelujah!

Turn to one another before you go and say, "Be ye holy." God bless you. We'll see you Tuesday night.

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