Q2. Holiness

[juwulz]

In your own words, how would you define "holiness"?

To be holy is to be free from impurity and sin, and set apart for God.

In what sense are you (by definition) holy now?

Being human, I try for moral purity and to avoid sin, but the Lord knows my flaws, which I confess, and thank the Lord, are forgiven.

In what sense must you be obedient in order to become holy?

Following the Lords commands, and guidance set forth within the scriptures.

What is your biggest struggle with holiness?

Following the Lords ways, rather than societies ways. It is easy to get caught up in what society says is moral and right and necessary, rather than what I know in my heart is really the correct thing.

[Helen]

I meditate a great deal on this word "holiness". I get terribly excited about it and thank God constantly for His holiness, which seems to me to be the whole essence of everything. To say it is the Almighty Energy for everything good, wonderful, beautiful, noble, excellent, joyful, gentle, adorable, heroic, pure and unblemished, creative, futuristic, is to undermine its worth terribly, because our imaginations cannot yet awaken to its whole meaning. "When we've been there ten thousand years" we might just begin to understand. What an adventure, finding out!.

Isn't it amazing? God chose me for holiness before the foundation of the world, and He will do it!

1Corinthians 13:1-3 puts it in a nutshell. If we do not love, we are nothing but a hateful caccophany, a frightfully noisy jangle. We always obey, imitate, excitedly anticipate, follow, communicate with those we love. For a child it's mother or father, for a teenager it's a pop star or mentor, for an adult it's football, business, materialism, pokies, what other people think. Obedience/serving is part of loving. Love doesn't exist without it. My little ***** (right sense of the word!) loves her puppies, cares for them, serves them, meets their needs, answers their cries, protects them. It is wonderful to watch her. There is no holiness without love, and no love without obedience/service.

My biggest struggle with holiness is getting my mind around the word, let alone imitating it. But I love that word. Maybe that is a start!

[Kim E.]

Called to be holy. Called by God, saved by Jesus, counseled by the Holy Spirit. I would have to say that all of these are present in holiness. Knowing that these things are true through faith I know I have been called to be a holy child of God. God loves me so much that He has provided me with an extrodinary sense of holiness. The Holy Spirit directs me to have respect for my body, Gods' temple, to keep it holy. I must have the saving grace of Jesus and the direction of the Holy Spirit to clean my house so to speak. In the world we should recognize what is not holy and flee from it. At one time in my life, I either didn't recognize what was unholy or I didn't want to see it that way. Now I'm filled with joy to flee from unholiness. That's how I know that God is working in me. He has called me, I have repented and He has given me to His Son and the Holy Spirit has been counseling me to bring me to the holiness God has set me aside for. I have found in Gods' Word a wealth of lessons for the someone who is willing to follow Christ. He even tells me how to follow Him. If I can follow Jesus, I can be obedient and holy in this world. My biggest struggle with holiness is now just being obedient to Gods' Word. His work in me has begun and I am but a babe I fear, but in my longing to be in Gods' will I sometimes run ahead of Him and get myself in hot water. He is always and I mean always telling me to not get ahead of Him. I've paid with some heartaches because I have this tendency to run ahead of the Lord. I pray God will lead me to a sensible, loving, patient, simple, holy life in Christ everyday.

[djmclaren]

Q2. (1:15-16) In your own words, how would you define "holiness"? In what sense are you (by definition) holy now? In what sense must you be obedient in order to become holy? What is your biggest struggle with holiness?

Holiness is not something that we can conjure up by some pious effort which amounts to will worship. Holinessis the believer reflecting Jesus in them. It is the believer living their life with their affections set on those things above, not as an act of self will but as one whose focus is on Jesus. Holivess to me is taking God at His Word, believing it and walking in it allowing the Holy Spirit to have His way in sanctifying and working obedience ino a desperately wicked heart. Holinessis receiving that we are separated from this world unto God's purpose and looking for and learning what is the will of God for us in it.

I am holy now in that I have been translated into the kindom of God's Son where I now dwell. I am holy in that the blood of Jesus continually cleanses me. I am holy now in that in Christ I am crucified and so am dead unto sin and alive unto God separated unto His purposes to do His will. I am now a child of God and as such I have no citizenship here in this world, I have been separated from this "kosmos" or world system and it is alien to the spirit that is alive within me.

We have been given these great and precious promises that by them we might be partakers of the divine nature. We gave been born again of incorruptible seed and have been given all things that pertain to life and godliness. II Peter 1:3; Eph. 1:3; 1 Cor 1:5 This being true, obedience dictates that we lay hold on these promises by faith so that we might be purged of whatever the Spirit of God reveals to us is not in agreement to the Word of God.

My biggest struggle with holiness is in trusting God. He tells me that all things are working for the good in me, but I still tend to want to have my hand in there, manipulating. I repent of these things. The struggle in me is to let go and trust completely in Him.

[Suzzanne]

These questions are hard!

1. Purity.

2. Being alert to making Godly decisions in everyday living.

3. Obedience is greater than sacrifice.

4. Not letting "compromise" enter into my decision making.

[HsSrvt]

In your own words, how would you define "holiness"? In what sense are you (by definition) holy now? In what sense must you be obedient in order to become holy? What is your biggest struggle with holiness?

Holiness...that which has been imparted to us through redemption. It is that quality of our Heavenly Father that was first shown us through the Perfect, Moral, Sinless and Pure life that Christ lived while making His dwelling among us. Christ knew He was special and set apart for His Father's will. No, we can not conjure up holiness that pleases Him. Even when our holiness seems to be good and pure to the world, God does count it as " fiilthy rags" if our motives or motivation is wrong. Are we doing it to be good because we are told to be 'nice' or doing it to bring glory and honor to HIM and His Name?

Those of us who have been re-born can now share in the Holiness of God. We have been called to a higher standard of living. To live as Sons of God. We have been given," A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so must you love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:34... WOW, talk about being different then those of the world. As the song goes,"They will know us by our love." I love because I first was loved.

Also we have been given new duties, a different 'job description, a commission, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations...and I am surely with you always, to the very end of the age." Matt. 28:19-20...I minister to those who struggle with an addictive personality, and many of those do not know Christ and to have the priviledge of sharing Jesus with them just overwhelms me. God has set me apart for this mission field and without His love, His Holiness, I am a failure.

God has given us His Holy Spirit to guide, teach and comfort us in times of doubt. I have to go that next step, further then what the world expects or says I should go. Christ, in the Sermon on the Mount, gives us clues as to what true obedience to what God calls us to be is. The world may tell us to cook a meal and share it with a friend. God says invite your enemy over, cook them a meal and then serve it to them on your best china. Trust and real faith in God's Spirit and to be dependent upon Him. to not only commit our lives but to surrender it to His will and plans, will allow us to hear and feel the work of the Spirit changing us from glory to glory. Hallelujah!!!!

Struggles. Dying to self daily. I admit that I have to carry a cross with to remind me that it is no longer I that lives, but Christ that lives in me that gives grace and mercy, new every morning, to enable me to live a life, holy and pleasing to God.

May I share this with you, lest we forget.

" We, servants of Christ Jesus, called to be amdassadors and set apart for the gospel of God--the gospel He promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding His SON, who as to His human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of Holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead: Christ Jesus our Lord. Through Him and for His name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ." Rom. 1:1-6...emphasise and translation mine.

[Robkevbri]

Q2. (1:15-16) In your own words, how would you define holiness? In what sense are you (by definition) holy now? In what sense must you be obedient in order to become holy? What is your big-gest struggle with holiness?

Holiness is being set apart

[Janice]

HOLINESS IS THAT STATE OF BEING JUSTIFIED BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS--JUST AS THOUGH I HAD NEVER SINNED--. IT IS RIGHTEOUSNESS BECAUSE HE DECLARED ME RIGHTEOUS WHEN I WAS BORN ANEW BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD. IT IS NOTHING THAT I HAVE DONE OR COULD DO. IT IS ALL OF HIM AND NONE OF ME. THEN SLOWLY MY CHARACTER IS BEING CHANGED FROM GLORY TO GLORY, AS I IMITATE THE ONE I SPEND TIME WITH.

I AM HOLY NOW BECAUSE HE DECLARED ME HOLY. I AM CHANGED AS MY CHARACTER BECOMES MORE LIKE HIS CHARACTER.

MY BIGGEST STRUGGLE HAS BEEN TO BE TO QUICK TO JUDGE OTHER CHRISTIANS FOR THEIR MISTAKES, LOOKING AT THEIR DEEDS INSTEAD OF WHO THEY ARE THROUGH THE BLOOD OF JESUS.

[Sassyblue8]

Well, I have always thought that holiness was being without sin. God is without sin so He is holy. He is morally perfect. I am holy in the respect that I am clothed in Christ's righterousness. I am positionally holy because I am a saint in Christ. Now, that's the good part.

Here's the kicker, I don't feel holy and sometimes I don't act holy. Ugh!

A lot of times, I am downright sinful but I don't want to be and I strive not to be but this here old nature won't stay down sometimes. I know that I am saved by God's grace through faith in Jesus and that's salvation but the next step is sactification and that's hard but I am believing God that He will perfect me in this also. It's a matter of trust!

And oh how I trust Him!

Just my thoughts,

Sassyblue8 aka DRB

[Julie]

Holy- to set yourself apart from the world, to not be as the world, to be loving, forgiving, compassionate, giving, humble, meek, slow to anger, longsuffering, sober, self-controlled, peacemaker, fair, honest, in other words to be like God.

I would like to believe I am loving, compassionate, giving, humble, meek, sober, fair, honest, and strive for peace.

By asking for forgiveness

My biggest struggle would be patience and control of my tongue.

[AngelOnLine]

Q2. (1:15-16) In your own words, how would you define "holiness"?

Holiness is being as much like God as we possibly can; walking in His footsteps, studying His word, and obeying His commandments

[annk]

Holiness is to be above the normal. To try and lead the life God wants for you and to avoid the sins of this earth. Being human this is very difficult. But one can try to live a holy life. I try to do that which is right-- not exalt that I am better than others.

I must work towards the expectations God has for me. You must continually struggle against sin in this world, strive for the best.

If I am not obedient and instead lead a sinful, lusty life how can I achieve a holiness. Perhaps one of the biggest struggles in trying to live an honest and just life - working for the Lord- in this alien world - is being judged by others - who mock you or avoid you because you try to follow the teachings of the Lord. I often feel that if I try to do something that I think will help in the community or my church people look down at me with the expression 'who does she think she is.' Still I believe in my own heart that I am walking with the Lord and doing what he expects of me AND when things are really difficult 'He carries me in his arms like a shepherd carrying his lamd to safety.' I often find it difficult to talk about my faith as again what comes into my mind is 'what do people think of me, however, I believe in this area of my life I am slowly growing.

[Linda Stanley]

Holiness is free from sin.Jesus gave his life for us.We accept him as our savior.Christ comes into our life.We still tend to want to do things that are not right,feeling the want to take back old ways.We can not become holy on our own.God gave us the Holy Spirit to help.To help us obey and give us power to <overcome sin>.We must set ourselves apart.You know,be diffrent.One of our struggles is an old saying"Go With The Flow".hang loose and waving,slipping into sin.We must pray for strength to overcome the sins of the world,"Be Overcomers"! We must be obedient.When you know something is of a wrong doing,Dont do it.You will feel much better knowing you walked away from something sinful.Call on Gods Power to free you from sin's grip.

There is also another phrase that I see and hear a lot "WWJD?",What Would Jesus Do?If you turn it around backward it goes this way""DJWW,which means "Devil Just Wont Win"Amen

[Dick Ross]

Holiness to me is being able to walk as exactly as possible in the footprints of Jesus. While we KNOW we will fall way short, it should be our endevour to overcome the weak body and gain a strong spiritual communion with him.

I am "holy" now only in the sense that I recognize Lord Jesus as my personal savior, through whom I may gain eternal salvation. My bodily lusts still overpower me all the time, but I keep getting back up and trying again.

God has told us, and Jesus has showed us how to be holy. We must be obedient to Gods commands, if we are to be accepted by Him as his loving children.

I am way to quick to judge others (especially in traffic!), give into temptation too easily, and I am too ready to ignore my own faults.

[sbuthpstr]

2-1 In your own words, how would you define "holiness"? Pure without spot or blemish, absolute truth, set apart for God's use and God's purposes, complete light where there is no darkness at all.

In what sense are you (by definition) holy now? I am holy only by the work of the cross. Only by the covering of Christ's blood over my life can I be holy practically. I can for a time act righteouslessly, but because I am weak in my sinful nature, and hav not yet attained a full measure of maturity, I fail the Lord.

In what sense must you be obedient in order to become holy? I must be obedient to the Word and to Christ at all times. My holiness comes from Him. If I am completely obedient to Christ, holines will come from it. For to be obedient to Christ is to be holy.

What is your biggest struggle with holiness? Pride. Pride that somehoe within my own trength, will, or power, I can somehow attain the holiness God desires in me. It is like the story of the man that drowned. That sad part is not that he drowned (well okay, yes, that is sad, but...), but that he drowned during a lifegaurd convention. It is when we feel we have acheived some great work for God that we are potentially our most vulnerable. My deepest prayer is that God will keep my humble and broken before him...clay in the hands of tthe potter...an instrument in the hands of a great musician. That I am only what He makes of me, and am that only by His work, and not of my own.

[MoZes Marius]

To me, holiness simply means being free and rid ourselves from sins. When Moses approached the burning bush, God asked him to remove his sandals. This is symbolic to entering the state of holiness. Moses needed to remove all the dirt that he has been draging in his sandals before God could allow him to step into the holy ground. In the same manner, we should rid ourselves from life's dirt before we could have intimate fellowship with God.

I feel unworthy and undeserving to be attached with the word Holy. But in order to cleanse myself of "dirt", apart from the blood of the lamb, I immerse myself in God's words and try to put into practise what they say, . . . that is being obedient to the word.

My major struggle is discipline. Sometimes distractions around me could cause me to loose focus. Please pray for me!

[dantanc]

1) Holiness is to be set apart for Jesus Christ away from sin in mind, body and spirit. And trying to live Christlike with the help of Holy Spirit.

2) I am holy now because by HIS blood I am sanctified, redeemed and forgiven.

3) To be holy, I must be totally obedient to the teachings of Jesu Christ and follw them in all situations of my life.

4) Impure thoughts and hasty mouth are my biggest struggles to live a holy life.

[tteal]

Holiness is being set apart from this world and conforming to the standards of God. I am holy because Christ has washed me in His blood. When we were transformed in the renewing of our mind and spirit, this made us holy in the eye sight of God. Sometimes, I get caught up in situations where I let the flesh take over, and this sometimes brings me out of the ark of salvation.

[gatetrek]

Holiness to me is being like Christ and having his traits such as being pure in are

actions and thoughts. It is giving our whole life to Jesus from are family, jobs, things ,

talents and even our ministries. Giving our lives to Christ is the only way to holiness because only through Jesus' power and the Holy Spirit leading can we live a holy life.

How am I holy now? I am not perfect now and will never be on this planet but in God's eyes he sees me has holy because of Jesus' gift of enteral life and I have him as

my savior. In other words, I am striving everyday and moment to be like Jesus but this

does not always happen. This is my biggest struggle with holiness I cannot be perfect

always in my life daily, so I have to learn to trust and let Jesus led me and give me the

help to live a holy life.

[jbwalya]

I would define holiness as the quality of being separated from the common or profane in dedication to God. I am holy because of my union to Christ through whom I have died to the evil desires and passions of this world and awakened to God's righteousness. Our union with Christ, comes as a result of obeying His word, the gospel of truth which purifes us. Thus His word purifies us from all unrighteousness and we should daily seek to obey Him. My biggests struggle is separate myself from the profane, the secular. I find myself being pulled into unholy associations at work and with certain friendships.

[Tom Nabors]

Q2. (1:15-16) In your own words, how would you define "holiness"? In what sense are you (by definition) holy now? In what sense must you be obedient in order to become holy? What is your biggest struggle with holiness?

Holiness is absolute purity, absolute righteousness. God is holy because He is perfectly good. His love, mercy, grace, justice and wrath are all perfectly good. Because of that His holiness separates us from Him. In a similar manner we are to be separate from the world if we are to be holy. We can only be holy through Jesus Christ. By ourselves, it is impossible. Jesus Christ has given us His witness, the Holy Spirit, to make us holy. Obedience is required and joyfully accepted because if we believe and put our trust in Him we will be obedient.

My struggle is with the influence and allurements of the world drawing my "fleshly" side to it.

[Pastor Sherry]

Holiness is being in Christ and Christ in me, forgiven and saved by grace. REDEEMED BY HIS BLOOD

I am holy because I have received the gift Christ willing gave me , His grace. In all things we must be obedient to the will of God, walking humbly with God. to be willing to follow God's direction and learn to look to God for all things in all things- not relying on my own wishes and ways.

[Berachah]

Holiness is separation unto the Lord. I am holy in that I am in Christ and He is perfectly Holy. However as long as I live in this world I will have to deal with the flesh and crucify it daily in order to live a holy or separated life unto God. One way to live a holy life is to make my lifestyle one that shows Christ to others. Obedience to the Lord is all important here and I must follow Him in order to live a crucified life. I am to live out a life of holiness and love in this world. My biggest struggle with holiness is the flesh which I must deal with daily.

[Marilyn Rivington]

Holiness to me means spiritually whole or sound.

The shed blood of Jesus makes me holy

[HENRY WONG]

"to be holy" to me means to make that conscious effort to be set apart from the world yet to be in the world but not of it. A continuous process of living a life declaring the Lordship of Christ in all that I do.

I am "holy" now by the grace of God becos of the indwelling of the the Holy Spirit in me. Obedience to the Holy Spirit is essential , if not we fall prey to the carnal nature in us.

One struggle is the inability to see life as temporal and the reluctance to invest in things of eternal value.