“It is the will of God that you should be holy” (1 Thessalonians 4:3), and
“Put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24).
Holiness is a biblical term and means to be separated for God’s purpose. Of course, this meaning clashes ever so often with our personal desires and interests, which seek self-gratification. While we may strive to honour and please God, the demands of our self are, in fact, ever stronger.
We are inclined to compare ourselves with other humans, and that may be satisfying to a certain extent. But God judges us by His own divine standard. Too many people are wrongly taught that if 51% of what they do complies with God’s laws, it will suffice to take them to paradise or heaven. What God wants is our whole heart:
“Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking the whole of it” (James 2:10).
This verse reveals to us the desperate state we find ourselves in. We must understand a fundamental truth: We are not sinners because we have sinned. But we sin because we are sinners!
Sin comes naturally. It is in our nature. We need no training to do it. Whether we like it or not, in each of us is, deeply rooted, the irresistible urge to sin. Sin is all that is contrary to God’s nature. It begins with unkindness and failure to love, which turn into hatred, discord, jealousy, gossip, envy, greed, and fits of rage and covetousness, not to mention the more serious sins. Yet deep in our hearts we want to be pure.
It is touching to read a Psalm of a broken-hearted David, which he prayed after having committed adultery. He had just one wish:
“Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin . . . Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight . . . Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God . . . ” (Psalm 51:2, 4, 9 – 10).
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