A Holy Life and Marriage

What is holiness?

Holy

Common

Profane (Unclean)

What is the difference between a holy life and a moral (religious) life?

A moral life is focused on outward forms. (Example - youth who go to church are considered godly)

A holy life is a life that is separated from the world and set apart for God.

Holiness is more about what you are living for than what you are not doing.

When we live the same as our lost neighbors, with the same goals, spending habits, time management, and conflict resolution, then we are living a common life, not a holy life.

It is so easy for us to move from living a holy life to simply a religious or moral life.

How do we determine if we are living a holy life?

Have we replaced intimacy with Jesus with outward forms of religion?

Examining our calendar and our money can help reveal the type of life we are living.

What can cause us to move from a holy life to simply a religious life?

Separation from Christian community.

Sin

Addiction

What is addiction?

Being enslaved to a substance, thing, or activity.

The actual thing we are addicted to may not be sinful, but becomes sinful when we are enslaved by it.

1 Corinthians 6:12 ““All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.”

Signs that we are addicted:

We try to hide our activity.

Completely hide

Try to minimize how much we:

Do the activity

Spend on the activity

The amount of time spent on the activity

We explain away our involvement in something.

We manipulate others to allow us to continue with our addiction.

Asking for help with the electric bill when we have cable TV.

Our participation in something hinders us from obeying God.

We don’t provide the way we should for our family.

We don’t give the way we should because of our addiction.

We miss out on ministry because of our addiction.

We become angry if confronted.

What addictions do church members and leaders deal with here?

How to deal with addiction:

Confess it.

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Remove the sin from our lives.

Matthew 5:30 “And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.”

Get accountability

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”

Addiction steals the abundant life.

John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

The difference between the Ethiopian refugees - those who walked with Jesus and those who didn’t.