The Beauty of Holiness

The following is a pre-recorded program. Today, I want to give you an invitation into the beauty of holiness. It's time for The Line of Fire with your host, biblical scholar and cultural commentator, Dr. Michael Brown. Your voice for moral sanity and spiritual clarity. Call 866-34-TRUTH to get on The Line of Fire. And now, here's your host, Dr. Michael Brown. Hey friends, Michael Brown here.

I will not be taking calls today. This is one of those days we're going to dig into the Word together, sit back, enjoy the broadcast, tell a friend, go ahead, click share, click thumbs up on YouTube, share this with others. And if you're listening on podcasts, share it with others afterwards.

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Click on, right on the home page to sign up for the Frontline Newsletter, the lead article. Good things take time. I think we'll really minister to you, bless you, encourage you, help you. All right, today, as it is always our goal to infuse you with faith and truth and courage, to help you stand strong on the front lines as together we are all in the line of fire, today it's on my heart to share with you the beauty of holiness and the call to holiness. Many times when we hear the word holiness, we think of legalism, we think of restrictions, we think of bondage, we think of condemnation, we think of anger, we think of self-righteousness, we think of hypocrisy. But biblically speaking, holiness is a beautiful thing. I mean, just think for a moment that when Isaiah the prophet sees the Lord high and lifted up in his temple, and he hears the seraphim and their voices, the whole place thundering, kadosh, kadosh, kadosh, adonai tzvaot, l'chol ha'aretz kavodo, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the Lord of armies, filling the whole earth with his glory.

Isaiah is undone by it, but it's a glorious, beautiful thing when the 24 elders and the angelic creatures are on the throne of God in the book of Revelation, proclaim God is holy, and the elders throw down their crowns at his feet. Holiness is beautiful. If God was not holy, he would not be worthy of worship. If God was not holy, being with him forever would be absolute terror. Holiness is beautiful, and the call to holiness is a beautiful call.

So I want to open this up scripturally to you. Now I'm quite aware that naturally speaking, just from a human viewpoint, in terms of people spotting this title on YouTube, those listening on radio or podcast, you should know that we do a live stream on YouTube and Facebook every day for those that want to actually watch. So those that are going to find this on YouTube or Facebook, this is not clickbait. The beauty of holiness is not clickbait. If it was clickbait, we'd put something scandalous with it. We'd put something salacious with it, and then everybody would go, oh, I want to go there. I want to find out what that's about.

So this is not something you put out. We're going to do a series on holiness because we want to grow the church membership. We're going to do a series on holiness because we want to increase our social media presence. So this is what you do to honor the Lord and to help the people of God. And as Leonard Ravenhill used to say, you take care of the depth of your ministry, God will take care of the breadth of your ministry. Leviticus chapter 19 verse 2, speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them, be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.

The Hebrew word kadosh, it means distinct, separated. But the question is when we're speaking of God, if we say separated from sin, but he's more than that. Before sin existed, he was holy. So to think of holiness simply as separation from sin and separation to God, which is true for us as holy people, we are to live lives separated from sin and separated to God. Yes. Amen.

For sure. At the same time, when we speak of God being holy, it can't simply mean separated from sin and separated to himself. He has always been holy. It speaks of his characteristics of moral and spiritual and ethical perfection. It speaks of his perfection in love and justice and mercy and truth. It speaks of his very being and we are called to be holy because our God is holy. Let me give you a very, very simple secular illustration. So on a scale of one to a hundred, if God's holiness is a hundred, my illustration is a one. Okay.

But I just want us thinking in a certain direction. You have been hired to work on the side of the road, digging ditches, making minimum wage, and you work through the day. There's no lunch break. You don't get any holiday pay. You don't get any vacation pay. You get paid when you work. Well, you're going to show up wearing your worst clothes, your dirtiest clothes, your loose-fitting clothes, because they're going to get dirty.

They're going to get filthy every day. And you're hardly making any money doing this. Now let's contrast that with you get hired fresh out of law school to intern at the most prestigious law firm in your state. And the lawyers there make millions of dollars. And when they sit with someone just consulting, the billable time per hour is astronomical. And you're going to start in as an intern. I have no idea what salaries are.

I'm just making this up. You're going to start in as an intern, maybe $150,000 a year. And everybody in that law firm dresses to the max. They look sharp. When you go out on a call representing that firm, you have to look sharp. In fact, if you come riding up in some dumpy car, they're like, you don't bring that to one of our appointments lest our clients see it. You're going to have to step up your game here. So now you think, okay, boy, I got to make some mess, but I got to get some nice outfits, some nice clothes. I got to get my car all cleaned or even just rent a car if I'm going on appointments so it looks new and spiffy.

Why? Because you're called into this firm and everything has to be done at the highest level of good appearance. It's like I said, that's a one compared to our calling to be holy because God is holy.

But you get the picture. This is the family that we are called into. It's something sacred. It's something beautiful.

It's something glorious. You say, well, that was Old Testament. Well, Peter, many believe writing to Jewish believers, many others believe writing to Gentile believers, let's say writing to Gentile believers in 1 Peter 1, he quotes Leviticus and doesn't apologize for it. He doesn't say, by the way, that was just Old Testament stuff or under the law.

No, he quotes it. But just as he who called you is holy, 1 Peter 1, 15-19, 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.

Let's put different words in there. Be kind because I am kind. Be loving because I am loving. Be fair because I am fair. Be compassionate because I am compassionate.

Be truthful because I am truthful. You hear that and you think, oh, yeah, I like that. I want to I want to be that.

I want to do that. Now we're getting more of the feel of it. Be holy because I am holy. Peter continues, since you call on a father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver and gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Messiah, a lamb without blemish or defect. Think of the high and lofty and glorious and beautiful price that was paid for our redemption. Think of the kindness and mercy of God beyond our imagination that was displayed to bring us from death to life, from sin to purity, from pollution to holiness, from condemnation to redemption.

Wow! That's the power of the blood of Jesus. And if you've never experienced that redeeming power in your own life, call out to him right now, God, cleanse me. God, wash me. God, save me. God, forgive me.

God, give me a new start. He will do it as you cry out from your heart and put your faith in Jesus who died for your sins and rose from the dead so you could die to sin and live a new life in him. So the question is, why does holiness get such a bad rap? Well, one reason is because people love sin.

People are worldly. It's often been said that the moment we preach biblical holiness, people call us legalists. So, holiness gets a bad rap because people love sin. What does John chapter 3 say?

That men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. So when someone begins preaching holiness and the fear of the Lord and the love of God and the power of the Spirit, that message will get resistance because the flesh loves to sin and the flesh wants to cover up sin and the flesh does not want to come clean before God. But holiness also gets a bad rap because of legalism. Holiness also gets a bad rap because of churches preaching in a superficial condemning way. Holiness also gets a bad rap because of the hypocrisy that's often in our midst. How do we define legalism?

I've simply defined it as this. It is laws without love. Legalism is laws without love. Legalism is rules without relationship. Legalism is standards without a savior.

Can I repeat that? Legalism is laws without love. Legalism is standards without a savior. Legalism is rules without a relationship.

And legalism, in short, is externally imposed religion ultimately judging people by what they do not do. There's the old story of two farmers standing by their property one day and one farmer says to the other, I hear you're a Christian. The other farmer says that's true. The first farmer says, well what does it mean to be a Christian?

The second farmer thinks for a minute. He says, well, I don't drink. I don't smoke.

I don't run around with the ladies. The first farmer replied, well, I guess my mule is a Christian because my mule doesn't smoke or drink or run around with the ladies. But that's how we can often define things. And if our church has particular customs, the women have to have hair a certain length or skirts a certain length or the men can't wear jewelry or you can't have certain musical instruments or whatever the particular church tradition is, you can be a godly, Jesus-loving person and if you don't conform to that one thing you'll be judged as unholy. Conversely, if you conform to those outward things and you're a gossip and a secret pornographer, you'll be considered holy because you meet those standards. That's what legalism does. Legalism is destructive and so also is lifeless. So also is giving yourself over to sin. That is absolutely deadly.

Holiness is beautiful and the call to be holy is God, is hope. It's The Line of Fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown. Get on The Line of Fire by calling 866-34-TRUTH. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown.

Welcome back to The Line of Fire broadcast. You know, the Hebrew word for holiness or the root kadosh and then the kadesh, to make holy or kadosh, holy, holy or kedushah, holiness. Those words do not really intersect with wholeness.

They have to do more with separation and distinction. Some of the words having to do with wholeness tie in with the shalom root from which we get shalom. That's the word that has to do more with wholeness. But the bottom line is, God's desire is for us to be whole in spirit, soul and body.

That's his desire. That we be whole people. Now certain things we won't be fully whole until the resurrection, right? That our bodies need repair and our bodies will ultimately die and some of you have a disability or a sickness in this world that doesn't get healed and that physical wholeness will come with a brand new body. And we're never perfectly whole in every way that we are sin free forever in this world or fault free forever in this world. So our ultimate wholeness is in the world to come. But to the extent we can achieve wholeness here, all the more is that something beautiful and important.

Wholeness in spirit, wholeness in mind, wholeness in body. And that's why God helped me make a radical life transformation over nine and a half years ago to get rid of all the unhealthy food I was eating and only eat healthily in a radical way. It's been a miracle. It's been his grace all glory to him.

But I feel like I'm aging in reverse as I just turned 69 years old. That's why Triveda is our co-sponsor because they have these same principles. Spiritual first, mental emotional second, bodily third. But they're committed to that. So take advantage of the great wellness products from Triveda. It's through their generosity that run many of these stations.

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Use the code BROWN25. It gets you the biggest discount. And as you know, 100% of your first order and more than a tithe of all subsequent orders is donated back to the line of fire. So returning to the subject of holiness, we know that there is a battle. Galatians 5 17 says this, For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh. For these are opposed to each other, to keep you doing from the things you want to do, meaning in the flesh.

However, Galatians goes on to say that as we walk in the Spirit, we have crucified the desires of the flesh. Think of it. How many strongholds were there in your life in the past where maybe you were addicted to a drug, or addicted to drinking, or addicted to gambling, or addicted to sexual immorality, or some other fleshly thing that ruled you. You were out of control with your temper. You were out of control with violence. Whatever it was, and the Lord set you free.

That's not who you are anymore. You're no longer addicted to that. I was addicted to the needle. I was a heavy drug user over 52 years ago, and Jesus set me free. I was a chocoholic. I was addicted to unhealthy foods, and Jesus set me free of that almost 10 years ago. I had a horrific temper, an ugly, ugly temper. I would just change into another person's angry, jealous temper, and Jesus gave me victory over that.

I mean, in the last 52 years, it's flared its head literally a couple of times that I could remember. I don't mean I haven't lost my temper at all, but I mean that extreme thing. Thinking of one or two times after the Lord set me free in my early days in the Lord.

How about you? Yeah, we're not where we want to be yet, right? A famous quote was that John Newton, I'm not the man I want to be, but I'm not the man I used to be.

You may say to yourself, I'm not the woman I want to be, but I'm not the woman I used to be. So, we are works in progress. Sanctification is past, present, future. It's past, and that we were saved, set apart to God from sin, set apart as holy.

It's present. We are being sanctified. We are growing in grace, and in the knowledge of the Lord, and in the image of the Lord, and its future, we will be fully and ultimately and perfectly sanctified in the world to come.

But there's growth. There is a lot of ugliness in me that isn't there now. Oh, when I get really close to the Lord in prayer and the refiner's fire is there, I see ugliness now that needs to go. And I believe that'll be the case until I see him face to face. But I'm sure not the person I used to be, by the grace and mercy of God.

How about you? Are you seeing his transforming power? Are you seeing his transforming grace in your life? So, holiness is a beautiful thing. And when I thought of a simple definition of holiness, I thought of this. Holiness is becoming like Jesus in thought and word and deed.

Chew on that. Holiness is becoming like Jesus in thought and word and deed. So, what holiness is not, holiness is not legalism, which is binding, not beautiful. Holiness is not a system based on fear and characterized by joyless judgmentalism, producing futility instead of freedom. Holiness is not a man-made brand of religion governed by law and not love and mere following of rules without a relationship.

Let me give you some definitions of others. Ralph Cudworth, the Puritan. I do not mean, when we speak of what holiness is not, I do not mean by holiness the mere performance of outward duties of religion, coldly acted over as a task, not our habitual prayings, hearings, fastings multiplied one upon another, though these be all good, as subservient to a higher end, but I mean an inward soul and principle of divine life. Romans 8, 1-5. That spiriteth all these. So holiness is not the former, but this is what holiness is. An inward soul and principle of divine life. Romans 8, 1-5.

That spiriteth all things that that makes these things happen within us. Samuel Logan Brangle, one of the early pioneers of the Salvation Army, which rose up as a holiness preaching, evangelistic, mercy-giving, socially transformative work. It's deviated from much of its mission over the years, but there are still true-blue Salvation Armyists out there today and Samuel Logan Brangle's works are still highly prized. He was a famous holiness preacher in the Salvation Army. You know how Brangle described holiness? First time I ever saw this definition when I found it, oh, over 25 years ago when Leonard Ravenhill began to share with me the writings of Samuel Logan Brangle. Brangle said, holiness is pure love. Chew on that one. I mean, this is radio.

You don't want to just have dead air time of people switching around like, oh, I guess there's nobody there on that station, but this is one I just like to stop and pause and chew on and meditate on. Holiness is pure love. Wow. Samuel Lucas, the essence of true holiness consists in conformity to the nature and will of God. The essence of true holiness consists in conformity to the nature and will of God. I mentioned one of my definitions earlier. Holiness is becoming like Jesus. In fact, I'll expand it a little here. Holiness is becoming like Jesus in thought, word, and deed, in heart, mind, and conduct.

Let me share that again. Holiness is becoming like Jesus in thought, word, and deed, in heart, mind, and conduct. Or, a common definition, holiness is being separated from sin and separated to God. Separated from sin and separated to God.

When we come back, I want to share a few more definitions about the beauty of holiness, holiness being our destiny, and then I want to bathe you in scripture, the call to holiness in the Lord. And if this talk just makes you feel unworthy and condemned, present your whole life to God. Just say, God, I'm struggling. I feel messed up.

I don't know the way out. I confess my sin to you. I recognize it's wrong and I ask you for help. I ask you to grant me a spirit of repentance. And then, friend, whatever step you can take in the right direction, take it.

However small it is, draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. We will be right back, friends, on the other side as we break as we talk about the beauty of holiness. It's The Line of Fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown. Get on The Line of Fire by calling 866-34-TRUTH.

Here again, it's Dr. Michael Brown. Welcome back, friends, to The Line of Fire, my profound joy to spend this time with you. Some of you have been listening to the broadcast since 2008, when we first launched on the Truth Radio Network. We've been on it ever since to this moment, working together with our friends based in Winston-Salem.

We're a little outside of Charlotte, but from here going around the nation and around the world. Some of you followed me back since the Brownsboro Revival in the mid to late 90s in Pensacola, and some of you have followed our ministry in years before that, and some of you just tuned in for the first day, the first minute right now, and what are we talking about? Holiness, the beauty of holiness. You know, we have, I think, over 6,000 resources free on our website, The Line of Fire. It's an overwhelming number, taking many years to go through it, but search for what you're interested in, and you'll find relevant videos, relevant articles, controversial political issues, cultural issues, theological issues. We tackle them all, and we do it in a way that hopefully glorifies the Lord and edifies you. So, go to thelineoffire.org, search to your heart's content, share it with your friends, and if you're not getting our impartational, informational, inspirational monthly frontline newsletter that'll help you stand strong on the front lines, go to thelineoffire.org.

Sign up today. Talking about the beauty of holiness. Holiness is good. It's not legalism, it's not bondage, it's not condemnation, it's not hypocritical, angry preaching. Holiness is good. Listen to what some of these Puritans said. William Jenkin, there is nothing destroyed by sanctification, but that which would destroy us.

I love these quotes. I hope they're ministering to you. Listen again, there is nothing destroyed by sanctification, but that which would destroy us.

Oh, that's rich. George Swinok, there is a beauty in holiness, as well as a beauty of holiness. Have you ever seen some young woman, some young man come to faith, or maybe they're older, and they look dirty, they look dirty on the inside.

Maybe they were really bound by drugs and selling their bodies sexually, they were degrading themselves, and you could say they looked much older than they were, they had no life in their eyes, and it's kind of like living death. And then they get wonderfully, beautifully saved. And now you see them, maybe you haven't seen them for a couple of months, and you see them, and they're beautiful.

I don't mean that they're like, wow, I've never seen someone so handsome or so pretty. No, I mean there's life, there's wholeness, there's purpose, there's joy. It's because they've been made holy, they've been born from above, they've been changed. There's a beauty in holiness, as well as a beauty of holiness. Let's say it like this, everything holy is good, nothing unholy is good. Everything unholy is bad, nothing holy is bad. Holiness is our goal, it's our destiny, it's our portion, it expresses the very essence of the nature and character of God and describes the highest level of spirituality obtainable by man.

Holiness is just plain wonderful. Ephesians chapter 1 verse 4, for he, God our Father, chose us in him, in Jesus, before the creation of the world, to be holy and blameless in his sight. Oh, he didn't just choose us to have our sins forgiven or to be, quote, saved. He chose us. Let's not even worry about debating predestination and what it means and implications of it and free will.

Let me think about that right now. Let's focus on the holiness aspect. For God chose us in Jesus before the creation of the world.

Why? To be holy and blameless in his sight. That's our destiny. Forever and ever and ever we're going to be holy and blameless. We're not going to be repenting, we're not going to have to be grieving over sin, we're not going to be dealing with the consequences of sin, there's not going to be any guilt, there's not going to be any conviction of the Spirit because there's not going to be sin.

Wow. Ephesians 5, 25 to 27. Ephesians 5, 25 to 27. Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy. Jesus died for us, died for the church so we would be holy. Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, washing with water through the word and to present her to himself as a radiant church without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish but holy and blameless.

Oh, the bride one day is going to be without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, holy and blameless forever. Joseph Carroll said this, perfect holiness is the aim of the saints on earth and it is the reward of the saints on heaven and the saints in heaven. I love to think about that because holiness is a reward. How many times do we think of holiness as a reward? We will be rewarded one day with perfect holiness forever and you know with holiness is joy, with holiness is peace, there's no strife of sin, there's no anxiety or fear because all of us is well, well with God, well with our soul, well with our relationships.

If everyone was holy, there's no fighting, there's no killing, there's no jealousy, we go on with thousands of things that will not be because there will only be holiness forever and ever. John Whitlock, the Christian's way is holiness, his end, happiness. Or John Wesley put it like this, those that bring the most holiness to heaven will enjoy the most happiness there. Those who bring the most holiness to heaven will enjoy the most happiness there. By the way, if you get my book Go and Sin No More, which you can get on our website thelineoffire.org or wherever you get your books online, Christian book or Amazon or Barnes and Noble, Go and Sin No More, every one of these quotes, everything I've said thus far in terms of quoting scripture, these Christian quotes, some of my own quotes and words, they're all in Go and Sin No More, Call to Holiness.

So if you don't have that, it came out in 1997, by all means get a copy of the book, it'll bless you. Oswald Chambers said it like this, God has one destined end for mankind, holiness. Yet we need to change the way we think about it. It's not be holy and there's a whipping, I'm trying God but I can't. No, try harder, be holy, I'm really trying but I'm even messing up more. Now be holy.

That's sometimes the way we've heard it in our own minds. Maybe we had an abusive earthly father, maybe we sat under abusive leaders, maybe we're so self-condemning and haven't gotten the revelation of the love of God, whatever it might be, whatever it might be, we need to renew our minds to the beauty of holiness. And remember, where I started the show, when we proclaim God is holy, you sing songs, holy is the Lord, holy is the Lord, it's a beautiful thing. We're not singing holy is the Lord, oh he's bad, he's like a tyrant, he's mean, oh he doesn't give you any slack, holy, holy, oh no, no it's holy, holy is the Lord, oh you're so holy, you're beautiful, you're beautiful beyond description because you're holy. And the full expression of holiness in earthly form, that's Jesus.

Wow. God has, this is Oswald Chambers, I cut the quote off, let me read it all, God has one destined end for mankind. Holiness, his one aim is the production of saints. God is not an eternal blessing machine for men. He did not come to save men out of pity. He came to save men because he had created them to be holy.

Hmm, think of that. He didn't just save us out of pity, he felt bad for us. Obviously he loved us enough to send his son to die for us. But it wasn't just out of pity, it's that he made us to be holy. Now we were a race of rebels and sinners, miscreants, guilty and potentially guilty and capable of every imaginably and unimaginably evil act on the planet. His mercy and grace, his mercy and grace, he showered us with his goodness, not just to save us from sin, but because he wants us to be holy.

He made us to be something beautiful. Are any of you builders, painters, artists, creators, and you made something, you designed something, you had a particular goal for something and it got messed up? Maybe someone else took over the project or took over the thing you were developing and it went in a totally different direction. It's like, no, this is not what I meant for it. You know, it's almost like you were developing something that was supposed to be a way en masse to treat people of a particular sickness and instead it got perverted and now this is a way to poison and destroy. It was going to be this great biological cure and it became a biological weapon.

No, no, no, no, you want to see that thing used for the right purposes. You want to see that thing redeemed back to what it was supposed to be, to bring healing and not destruction. So, that's how it is with God. He made us for a purpose. He made Adam and Eve perfect and gave us free will and put us in a glorious place in the garden, but we chose sin. We chose rebellion and because of that destruction and death came on the human race.

Just think of it. Immediately after sin there's fear, there's shame, there's the break of communion with God and then excuse making and finger pointing. This is all what happens when sin enters the world. And then the very first two sons born to Adam and Eve, the older one kills the younger. I mean, how many worse things could a parent ever imagine? Not just for a child to die, but for a child to die at the hand of another child.

For your first born to in cold blood kill your second born. That's what happened to the human race. And by the time of the flood, God's heart was so grieved that he regretted making us.

Oh, he knew what was going to happen, but it was pain that was that palpable and real to him. And it'll wipe out everything he made except Noah and his wife and their three sons and daughters-in-law. They're grieved in pain in the heart of God. By sending his son to die for us, which was planned out before the foundation of the world, God makes a way for us to come back. And in fact, we end up with a greater relationship with him than Adam and Eve had. We end up with a greater holiness than Adam and Eve had. And we end up with a greater gratitude than they could have had because they did not experience the fullness of the cross and the full revelation of the cross in their own lives as we can fully appreciate it. Or I should say, as we can appreciate it now, it'll take eternity for us to fully appreciate what was done.

Not just out of pity, it's because of the purpose of God made call to be holy. All right, we've got some more scripture to share with you and a couple of helpful principles as we talk about the beauty. It's The Line of Fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown. Get on The Line of Fire by calling 866-34-TRUTH.

Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Thanks for joining us here on The Line of Fire as we are here five days a week by God's grace here to equip you, empower you, help you engage on the front lines where we are all called, whether we are homeschooling moms, whether we are kids going to middle school, whether we are university professors, whether we are preachers behind a pulpit, whether we are holding down two jobs in the workplace, we're on the front lines as followers of Jesus. Whether we're shut-ins in an elderly home, we are on the front lines. That's the nature of spiritual warfare. And here we are, send us Lord, use us. I haven't taken any calls today just digging into the word, not talking about anything happening in the world around us, just digging into the word together as we talk about holiness. Hebrews chapter 12 verse 4. Hebrews, excuse me, chapter 12 verse 14.

Strive for peace with everyone and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. It doesn't mean that you have to reach a certain level of holiness in this world for God to say, okay, you're in. No, you're just a little short that thought you thought the other day. No, just you're disqualified. Oh, you said that wrong word. No, you shouldn't have done that.

You're out. No, no, that's not it. That's not the way it is. We've been made holy by the blood of Jesus and unless we reject the grace of God, unless we cast off the grace of God and walk in intentional disobedience and sin and refuse to repent, we are saved by the blood and grace of the Lord. What this is saying is we are called, this is our calling, no one sees the Lord without holiness. We've been set apart to be holy so strive after that. Pursue that. That's the direction your life is going.

Pursue that. Psalm 24 verses 3 and 4. Who may ascend the hill of the Lord, who may stand in his holy place. He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false. Psalm 24 verses 3 and 4. These are the things we aspire to by the grace and help of God. Psalm 15 speaks to that as well as do many other passages in the Old and New Testament. I'm going to put a bunch of verses together for you and read them. We used to be enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Titus 3-3, Ephesians 2-3.

But now we have been washed and renewed. Titus 3-5. Sanctified and justified. 1 Corinthians 6-11.

Rescued from the dominion of darkness. Colossians 1-13. And raised up with Christ and seated with him in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 2-6. Therefore, sin shall not have dominion over us because we are empowered to holiness by the grace of God.

Romans 6-14, Titus 2-11-12. We are new creatures in Christ. When the Word of God says sin will not have dominion over us, we're not under the law, we're not under grace, it doesn't mean sin won't have dominion over us because we can do whatever we want because we're under grace. No, it means we're not under the condemnation of the law anymore. We're not under the law as a system of righteousness. We're not under the law as a tutor or guardian to bring us to the Messiah.

Right? We're not under the law but we're under grace, this new system which only forgives us but also empowers us. The old quote maybe goes back to John Bunyan, to run and work the law commands it gives us neither feet nor hands but better news the gospel brings it bids us fly and gives us wings. Praise God. Oswald Chambers, holiness is the characteristic of the man after God's own heart. Of the woman after God's own heart.

M.P. Horban, true holiness is learning to enjoy friendship with God. I hope these quotes are helping you see holiness in a different light. Again, friends, all of these quotes, every single one of them, all these verses are referenced in my book Go and Sin No More, Call the Holiness which I'd really encourage you to get hold of wherever books are sold online where you get your books or on our website thelineoffire.org. Remember if you're a torchbearer you get 15% discount on everything in our online bookstore.

Don't forget that benefit if you do order from our bookstore. God calls us to do the following to present our bodies as living sacrifices on his altar holy and acceptable to him. Romans 12 1. To purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit perfecting holiness out of reverence for him. 2 Corinthians chapter 7 verse 1.

He calls us to be sanctified by avoiding sexual immorality and learning to control our own bodies in a way that is holy and honorable not in passionate lusts like the heathen who do not know God. 1 Thessalonians 4 3-5. He calls us to die to sins and live for righteousness. 1 Peter 2 24. To be kept blameless through and through body soul and spirit until the coming of our Lord Jesus the Messiah. 1 Thessalonians 5 23.

2 Peter 3 verses 10 through 12 say it like this. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar. The elements will be destroyed by fire and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. I have just personally been super edified encouraged challenged as I've been sharing this with you digesting this these words have been words of life the words of scripture the quotes from these men of God who lived in the past that they're challenging me they're encouraging me they're giving me this beautiful image of making my life more beautiful before God and people making my life more beautiful before God and people oh friends I hope you take hold of this with me some some practical thoughts some practical thoughts you have been if you're a follower of Jesus if you've been born again you have been born again into a new life in Jesus the spirit lives within you and you are empowered by God's grace let me say that again you have been born again into a new life in Jesus the spirit lives within you and you are empowered by God's grace the Greek word Charis doesn't simply mean unmerited favor it also speaks of God's empowering when Stephen Stephen is filled with Charis and power the Charismata the the supernatural gifts they they are divine empowerments grace empowers us to live above sin so we remember that we've been born again into a new life in Jesus we're not who we used to be the spirit lives within us we're empowered by God's grace and then we need to do foundationally is cultivate intimacy with God through the word and prayer whether it's five minutes a day where you start and it grows from there becomes communion through the day start somewhere and take steps to daily be in the word and spend time with God in prayer and then let it be the most special time of every day not to throw away time not wake up in the morning right before I fall asleep at night I've done that many a time let it be the best time we give to God we cultivate intimacy with God through the word and prayer we we renew our minds and we consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God dead to sin and alive to God we renew our minds to say that that's not the person I am anymore I don't do those things I'm not a pornographer I'm not immoral I'm not a liar I'm not a thief I'm not an addict I'm a new creation I'm dead to those things I'm alive to God in Jesus and then be practical be practical what's written in 2 Timothy 2 22 Paul's counsel to Timothy flee youthful us there there are times you don't walk into a sinful temptational a sinful environment filled with temptation and so I'm gonna fight it no get out of there get out of there you know dr. Brown well I go to the beach man I see all these ladies in bikinis and girls in bikinis and I just get so full of lust I'm so full of bad thoughts I'm so I'm so weak are you stupid you're stupid don't go there you can live without swimming if you got a swim go where nobody is find a pool where nobody is where the senior citizens pull or you know it just we're not gonna be tempted just swim there all right I like to get Sun it's better to keep yourself free from sin there other place you can get Sun other than the beach flee youthful us I cut off the offending hand Jesus didn't say cut it back but cut it off the thing causes you the sinners the thing causes you to mess up cut it off better be safe than sorry well we were committing adultery but now we just text a couple times with no no no no you don't text you don't have any communication you make a break you make a break remember that sin is never ever good for you it leads to death not life just remember after you sin you regret it you wish you hadn't done it but when you resist it you're so glad you're so glad sin will take you farther than you plan to go it'll keep you longer than you plan to stay it'll cost you more than you planned to pay that old saying is true and then where we started holiness is beautiful oh I love teaching on this it is so life-giving it is so encouraging it is so life-transforming Lord wash us all clean cleanse us a fresh heart mind that we may walk in the beauty of holiness it's just like you've been out working hard getting dirty filthy or all sweaty in a workout you come out of the shower oh you feel clean and fresh Lord wash us bathe us that we can shine for you that that Jesus can be glorified in us that people will look at us and see your son may it be so will we fall short give us a real spirit of repentance change our hearts maybe never justify sin may we hate it return from it receive fresh cleansing glorify you my friends don't forget visit us at the line of fire.org search for holiness search for being holy and find a lot of great resources to help you.