16.
And what agreement hath the
17.
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye
separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean
thing; and I will receive you.
18.
And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall
be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
1.
Having therefore these promises, dearly
beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit,
perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
4.
To an inheritance incorruptible, and
undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in
heaven for you,
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he very title of
today's message to the Church, "Perfecting Holiness" is contrary to
the thinking of many. Despite what Scripture teaches, most of the
"saved" of God do not accept the idea of a perfect being (outside of
God). Largely, the controversy comes from the ignorance of those who don't
believe. Their ignorance is based upon not understanding what perfection is.
What scripture teaches and what is true is that as we have reverence for the
Lord, we conduct ourselves in "perfect holiness." Perfect holiness
means sinlessness.
In that we have
been called to be perfect, holy, sinless and blameless before God, we are to
live perfect lives before those around whom He places us. The reason we have
been called to be "our brother's keeper" is so that we can fulfill
our commission to bring souls to Christ.
We have no choice
but to accept this responsibility. We have no choice because we accepted
salvation. This is the way God has set up His plan for us. We only have
problems with God's way when we are preoccupied with our way. Too many
potential saints have become confused about "God's way" through
watching saints who "do their own thing."
People (both
saints and sinners) are being deceived at an alarming rate by false religions
due to an attitude of unrighteousness amongst the saints. As opposed to the
love of truth motivating the redeemed, it is a love affair with evil and a need
for justification. Therefore, we have God's people working very hard to excuse
unholy lifestyles. We must realize that this is only possible when we feel we
have a right to live as we please.
Jesus saved us
from condemnation. It makes absolutely no sense to go right back under that
from which we have been delivered, yet this is what we do when we insist upon
living after the flesh.
Even though it is
common for us to acknowledge and talk about the fact that though redeemed,
God's people can maintain habits of the flesh, it is not excusable. We must
come to the place where holiness is perfected in the fear (reverence) of God.
We now know, unequivocally, that we cannot
live as want.
It has been
boldly proclaimed by the Lord that behavior must change. His people (if they
truly intend to be numbered among His people) cannot continue to fellowship
with those from whom we have been called out. It is a fallacy and a lie from
the pit that we are all "the same."
People, today,
are setting their own standard of what is necessary for salvation. Once staunch
apostolics have now received revelation that
drinking, smoking and even extramarital affairs are all
"ok"—sometimes.
We know that our
call is to holiness—not just a visible standard, but a way of life. The "right"
living we are to do covers conduct, attitude and
yes, even the way that we think. In that we are called to be holy, we are
required to be perfect (that is, to maintain a perfect position in the Lord).
In short, if we intend to behold the Lord, we cannot stop short of "perfecting
holiness"—for God will not accept anything less than the sinless life.