Living a Holy Lifestyle
Sunday, September 21, 2025
Welcome:
Announcements: a wonderful week at the IMA Conference. I mentioned it last week and it came up again throughout the entire conference-let us be a people who pray often and pray fervently over all the things of God-not just for our wants, but for the will of God. Let’s stir each other up to pray more across all aspects of our lives, our nation, our world, our church…let us pray and watch our God move.
Call to Worship:
Psalm 86: 9-139 All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, Lord;
they will bring glory to your name. 10 For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God.
11 Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart,
that I may fear your name.
Join with me in saying this together:
12 I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever.
13 For great is your love toward me;
Revelation 4- “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.”
Let’s pray.
Praise Songs
Intro:
Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty.
We must never forget the holiness of our God; this must never become common or watered down in how we revere Him. He is holy! There is no one like Him! There are no other gods above Him. He is unique and set apart and thus as we belong to Him, He calls us to live set apart and holy. Only when we choose to see and worship Him for who He is, will we ever choose to live as He calls us to. If we don’t consider the holiness of God and our Lord Jesus Christ, then we will not hold Him in awe and wonder. We will not fully open ourselves to be led by our Lord and thus transformed into His image-holiness in us, for we will be holding on to the value and images we mimic in the world around us.
Everywhere I go and everything I hear or read right now is reminding me of God’s holiness and His purpose to have us, His redeemed children, living holy, set apart lives. Why? So the broken world around us-including us many times- can see Him and His kingdom that is filled with hope. If we look exactly like the world in conduct, speech, and character we are not standing out, we are not set apart, and we don’t show others the path to hope through Jesus. However you view what is happening in our nation right now, as believers in Christ, we must all agree, this world needs the hope of Christ. They won’t see it or find it, if we conduct ourselves exactly as the world around us. For when we live as set apart-not self-righteous-there is a HUGE difference- set apart by God, for His glory, not ours, for His kingdom, not building ours, for His light to shine through us, that is what the lost and seeking will see-a glimmer of light and a path to hope- in the darkness they are wandering in.
If we have allowed ourselves to become desensitized to His Holiness, I’m calling all of us to repent of that and look again at the One who rescued you from despair and saved you from death. Look again who created this world we are living in-who keeps it all spinning in harmony as it should. Look again and see the imprint of the Holy One on everything.
Let’s take a moment in fact and pray right now- asking forgiveness if we have allowed ourselves to become callous in any way towards the holiness of our God; Israel did over and over again. It shouldn’t surprise if we fall into that as well. But we can become aware and return with humble hearts.
THIS is what will bring a move of God in our nation-acknowledging truly who He is and allowing Him to impart His holiness into our hearts and minds.
We are called to live a holy lifestyle. Does that sound intimidating to anyone? Does it seem impossible to do? It should! For holiness is not a human attribute; it is divine and can only come through the divine One, who is holy.
But I don’t want anyone to be intimidated by this word or attribute. I want us to have right understanding so we embrace the gift we have been given and to live a holy lifestyle, for when we do, we are surely living in peace, joy, and hope. This is what our world needs to experience more than ever right now. When we are living a holy lifestyle, we are surely living life abundant in Christ! We as believers need to experience this more than ever now! We need Jesus and the world needs to encounter Jesus through us. The only way to bring this about is to follow Jesus and live a life that is holy.
First, we must have right understanding of holiness as defined by God. If we are looking at holiness from a worldly view or definition, we have taken what is divine and reduced it to something human-which then becomes flawed. We must always go to God to see what He says about anything and then compare His definition to what the world says and see how they align or differ. We trust and follow what God says and here is why. He is holy. He is the standard. We read this from the prophet Isaiah. Remember God gave prophecy to His chosen vessels and Isaiah was one of them, who then shared truth about who God is and always will be. Time changes-God does not. He remains the same.
Isaiah 40: 10-14, 18, 25 NIV
10 See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and he rules with a mighty arm.
See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.
11 He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.
12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,
or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?
Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance? 13 Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord,
or instruct the Lord as his counselor?
14 Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge, or showed him the path of understanding? 18 With whom, then, will you compare God?
To what image will you liken him?
25 “To whom will you compare me?
Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
I AM Holy-
The Great I AM-meaning He is, was, and always will be over everything. Space and time do not contain Him, He is infinite in power, knowledge, and wisdom. He is supreme in authority. He can’t be compared to anyone for He has always existed and is sufficient in every way. He said, whom will you compare Me to?
I AM also gives Himself the name the Holy One.
Because He is the standard. He is the source of all created things. He is the sustainer of all living things. He is pure, truth and light. In Him there is no darkness.
1 Samuel 2:2 “There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.
He is supremely and exclusively God. He has no rivals and He is in His own category. The Bible refers to God as the Holy One over 50 times and the Spirit of God as the Holy Spirit over 90 times.
Psalm 89: 34-36 34 I will not violate my covenant or alter what my lips have uttered. 35 Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness— and I will not lie to David— 36 that his line will continue forever and his throne endure before me like the sun;
In biblical times to ensure an agreement was sound people would swear by someone more powerful or higher than themselves. God swears by Himself, because there is no one higher or more powerful to swear by. He is making a promise to uphold a covenant and to ensure He would keep His Word, He chooses the highest authority to speak on and that is Himself.
God is the supreme authority. He says in Isaiah 48:11 “My glory I will not give to another.”
So let us first take in as best as our minds can process and let our hearts respond in reverence to the awesomeness of who God is. There is no one to compare Him to. He dwells in the high and lofty places and also in the hearts of the contrite. We can’t possibly fathom the greatness of who God is, yet we have this word “holy” that tells us He is distinctly different and because of that, He is worthy of all honor, praise, and worship.
Do you hear that today? He is worthy. Every day of our lives, He is worthy. Not just when we are getting what we want; even in our darkest moments, He is worthy of our devotion and worship.
Holiness is to be Set Apart.
To understand proper context, it can be really fun and important to look back at the Hebrew or Greek languages and compare it with Old English that has brought about much of the vocabulary we are familiar with.
The English word “holiness” comes from the Old English halignes (“without blemish”) but in Jewish and Christian Bibles the Hebrew word (kodesh) (normally interpreted to mean both “set apart” from common use and “dedicated” to God) and the Greek (hagios) (often interpreted to mean “different” or “other”). “Holiness” is closely associated with the English word “sacred” from the Latin root sacr- (normally translated as “holy”)
So we see holiness as God intends us to understand it, means to be set apart and dedicated to God. Being set apart makes someone or something different as well. It separates something common from something sacred. Our world can be common or sacred-depending on God’s purposes and how we partner with Him.
God can make things sacred or holy such as every piece of material used to build the Temple and all the serving pieces within the Temple. Every bowl, basin, candlestand, altar….all of it. On their own they are just materials- wood, bronze, gold. But when God puts His anointing upon them as they are used to bring glory to His name and worship His holiness, they become sacred.
God called the people of Israel to be holy and stated He had set them apart from all the other nations. He wanted the other nations to see in little Israel-the underdog, that the Lord God is supreme in power and His favor is with those who love and follow Him. So He set apart this nation and taught them how to live differently, how to live holy from their world around them. He chose and called them to live a lifestyle dedicated to Him and to be recipients of His divine grace and favor. By Israel’s example He desired other nations to see and be drawn to a relationship with Him as the One True God and Lord over all. This is still the same today.
Leviticus 20:26 26 You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own.
Jesus spoke of being set apart by His Father to those who said he was blaspheming God. He told everyone He was set apart from all others to come and do the Father’s will, which we know was to be our sacrifice and atone for the sins of mankind. God chose to set apart His Son and send Him into the world to be the visible image of the invisible God. To live a holy lifestyle dedicated to God, set apart for His purposes and glory-He showed us how to do this by staying near to God and listening to His voice.
John 10:36 36 what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’?
Everyone of us, all believers all over the world, are chosen and set apart. We are to live differently from the world. We are set apart from living in sin and called to live in righteousness, that we only find in Christ Jesus.
If we try to be holy on our own, we will surely fall flat because holiness is not a human attribute; it is divine. So it must come through a divine source.
Jesus is the Holy One who Makes Us Holy.
Who can stand in the presence of a Holy God? Only one can stand on His own merit- Jesus.
We are told with the arrival of Jesus being born, He is the holy one.
Luke 1:35 35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
God set apart His Son and sent Him here as both the sacrifice and the redemption of mankind. It was in His death and resurrection that He is able to dwell in the heart of every believer through the Holy Spirit and impart His very nature to us. The divine, holy nature of God.
1 Corinthians 1: 28-30 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.
Hebrews 10: 8-10 8 First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. 9 Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Thank You Jesus.
You see, holiness has nothing to do with us and our ability to be pure and has everything to do with who Christ is and His very nature living in us. What a beautiful gift we have been given.
How then do we respond to such a gift?
Our Response: Receive and Revere.
1 Peter 1: 15-16 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
When God gives us a command, we are to follow it. He tells us to be holy for He is holy. If we strive to be holy in our own ability, we will be sorely disappointed and likely upset many people around us because it will come off as being self-righteous. Holiness is not lording over others, or arrogant or self-seeking.
However, when we read this as God intends us to understand, the only way we can ever be holy is by receiving His Son who is the holy one and being joined with Him, then this is no longer intimidating and is an easy command to embrace. We are holy as we abide in Christ and walk closely with Him. When we keep in step with the Holy Spirit and let the Spirit be our guide. The Holy Spirit will always be in alignment with the will of God and manifest His character or essence for they are one. As we abide in Christ, we have His mind, which means we can process situations and issues we encounter through His wisdom and discernment; through His holiness.
We first receive it and then we embrace it.
1 Corinthians 3: 16-17 NASB 16 Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.
Ephesians 4: 22-24 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
To live a holy lifestyle is granting God your heart and surrendering to His molding and transforming bringing us into His likeness. When others look upon us, they see Jesus. When others interact with us, they experience Jesus.
There is a reason we are called to be set apart, to be holy. For how else will our broken world know who to turn to for hope, if we look and live like everyone else? How will our lost world know who to seek to be found? When the foundations of the world are shaking beneath, how will others know who their solid rock is to stand on? When darkness continues to push in, how will others know who to look to for light? When someone finds themselves in the pit of despair, how will they know who to cry out to and to whose hand to reach up for?
You and I are ambassadors in this world of Jesus Christ. As Christ was the visible image of our invisible God, so we in Christ, are the manifestation of His Spirit at work in and through us-reaching to the world around us. Those who are desperate and seeking will know of the name of Jesus; will know His heart; will know of His loving care; and His hope through our example as we let the Spirit teach us how to live holy.
To increase holiness flowing through our lives, we frequently ponder, meditate, and praise who God is, the Great I AM, the Holy One who was, is, and is to come.
Revelation 4:8 8 Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.
Conclusion: God is holy, set apart from all creation. Yet through His Son Jesus, He invites us to live in His holiness, also set apart, so all the world might see the riches of His grace and the depths of His love for them, through us.
Let us purpose to live the Jesus Way. Let us purpose to let’s God’s Spirit flow through us and show the world who Jesus is, the Holy One now and forevermore! Let’s pray.
Offering: Let us be grateful and bold in our prayers for God’s provision.
Final Song
Final Blessing: 1 Corinthians 1: 2-3 2 To those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours: 3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Live holy, for He is holy.
