In Christ: Called to a Holy Life
Everything in the Old Testament begins and ends with the holiness of God. That emphasis is not lost but expanded in the New Testament. Holiness is what God is. Holiness also comprises his plan for his people.
In Christ Jesus, you were chosen by God to receive His grace for a purpose. That purpose is to live a “Holy Life.” 2 Timothy 1:9a states – “He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus…” This way of life is distinctly different than the world around us – 1 Cor 4:17.
The Gospels make clear that Jesus came to save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21; Luke 1:31-35 ). The crucifixion is portrayed as Christ shedding His blood and giving His body for the remission of sins (Matthew 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:19-20). Faith in Christ is portrayed as acceptance of His full atonement for sin (1 John 2:2; 1 John 3:5; Revelation 5:9). Through this acceptance, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in and becomes the Agent of Holiness in the life of the believer (1 Corinthians 6:19).
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. – 1 Peter 2:9-10
You are called to holy living (1 Corinthians 1:2; 1 Corinthians 3:17 ). You are to be set apart as His special possession. The main idea behind holiness is the idea of “apartness.” God is separate, different from His creation, both in His essential nature and in the perfection of His attributes. Instead of building a wall around His apartness, God calls us to come to Him and share His apartness. He says to us, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
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BUT JUST AS HE WHO CALLED YOU IS HOLY, SO BE HOLY IN ALL YOU DO; FOR IT IS WRITTEN: “BE HOLY, BECAUSE I AM HOLY.”
1 PETER 1:15-16
