Pigskin Holiness

1 Thessalonians 2:9–13 NIV

Surely you remember, brothers and sisters, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you. You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory. And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.

Two Athletes

Both eat well.

Work out daily

Work hard at practice

Amazing athletes on the field.

On the outside, we see both athletes as successful. But we don’t see their motivations.

One athlete: Does all of this because he LOVES the game! Eats it, breathes it, lives it…Wants to be the ABSOLUTE best that he can be. Get rid of every distraction, or any temptation that could take away from becoming the absolute best athlete possible.

But the other athlete: Does all these things for completely different reasons. Overbearing father who makes him feel inadequate. Threats, fears, guilt, and never good enough.

Question: Who will be most successful in the long haul?

I know a lot of commited Christians who genuinely want to change their lives that far more closely resemble the second athlete…Fear, guilt, frustration...

Call To Holiness

1 Thessalonians 2:10 NIV

You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed.

Paul helped found the church in Thessalonica, and developing a church is NEVER easy!

Part of Paul’s witness was the holiness he exuded in his dealings with the people of that church.

Sadly, the church returned to its pre-Christian ways, even attacking Paul, and Paul is writing this letter as an exhortation to call them back to the faith.

A point Paul reminds us of…Maintaining a vital faith is not a matter of outward sinlessness, but inward holiness.

However, a lack of inner holiness will ALWAYS lead us back to a life of sin!

Question: What IS holiness?

What Is Holiness?

Luke 1:49 NIV

for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name.

The first thing to understand about holiness is that it is the pursuit of God’s very Name and Nature!

Holiness of God is referenced over 70 times in Scripture.

Attributes of God’s holiness...

Pure, sacred, consecrated, set aside...

As followers, Christians are also called to be holy.

Leviticus 20:26 NIV

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.

2 Corinthians 7:1 NIV

Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.

To be holy, therefore, implies a certain sense of being set aside for purity, and sacredness...

And what are the qualities of holiness?

We are a set aside people who put aside everything that contaminates body and spirit. Everything.

Caution

Anything profane or impure by its very nature cannot be holy.

I have found that new Christians, in particular, take this call to holiness seriously because they have very often lived in the sickness of sin.

They see the contrast, and they want more of the holiness and less of the sickness.

That’s a good and beautiful thing. Oh that we would all seek the good things of God with such zeal.

At the same time, do not confuse a lack of contamination with holiness.

Heard someone say this week, you can clean a house of the dirt, but you don’t have a home until you fill it with something of worth!

DISCIPLINE WITHOUT DESIRE IS DRUDGERY.

How Do We Pursue Holiness?

First, we have to understand the character of a holy God.

1 John 4:8 NIV

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

Increasingly, my prayer is not primarily that God would rid me of sin, but that God would make me into a vessel of His Holy Love!

I want to be daily transformed by the renewing of my mind (Romans 12:22).

Not only do I not want sin, I want to love like God loves, I want serve like God has served us through Jesus Christ, I want to give like God gives.

In short, I want to be the absolute best spiritual version of Adam that God could ever possibly make me into!!!

And I want that transformation so badly, that anything getting in the way has to go. ANYTHING!

Dear friends,

What About You?

Do you want to a holiness that as absolutely transfixed upon loving like God loves?

Would you be willing to give up ANYTHING to become the absolute best version of yourself that you can possible be.

See, friends, the things about sin is that it creates a false self…A self of masks, lies and shame.

But a commitment to holiness is a commitment to being and living as you were created to be and live.

John Wesley - “Keep an even pace, rooted in the faith once delivered to the saints, and grounded in love, in true catholic love, till thou art swallowed up in love for ever and ever!”