"For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing...For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy" (Lev. 11:44-45).
Some Christians have the idea that because we are under grace and not under the Law that we have a license to live worldly lives. In fact, you rarely hear in churches today a call for Christians to live holy lives. But holiness is not just an Old Testament concept. The Apostle Peter wrote, "As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy" (1 Peter 1:14-15).
Many today are wallowing in the filth of this world and then coming to God seeking for Him to bless them with this or with that. But we need to be reminded that God is more concerned with our holiness than He is our happiness. Many are turning from a life of holiness in order to find their own happiness. But actually true happiness is a byproduct of holiness. The Psalmist puts it this way: “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper” (Psalm 1:1-3). Happiness is a byproduct of holiness.
In the above text God said to Moses, "For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy." God brought the Israelites out of bondage to be their God. In the same way God has set every Christian free through the redemptive work of Christ from the power of sin and death. If you’re a Christian today God has saved you to be your God—so that you would live a life that is pleasing, honoring and glorifying to Him. “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's” (1 Cor. 6:19-20). You were redeemed for God. Therefore be holy, for the Lord your God is Holy.
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