Holy Jeans

Be Holy

Throughout scripture God calls his people to be holy. We see this call to holiness in Leviticus 11:44, and we see it again twice in 1 Peter 1:15-16 just to name a couple of places. How do we answer this call to holiness? Where does the work of holiness begin in our lives and how can we display more of it in our lives?

The word holy means to be set apart, to live differently. It means to live not as our society, or our selves encourage us to live but to live like Jesus Christ, God in human flesh, has shown us to live. To be holy doesn’t mean to live like the christian next you, it means to live like christ. Who reached out to the outcasts of his society, lepers, tax collectors, fishermen, prostitutes. Christ dared to live differently from what society expected, he dared to reach out to those on the margins of society, whom society rejected. Christ wasn’t just different by who he chose to reach out to, but by the grace love and compassion he displayed for the whole world when he poured out his love upon the cross while we were still sinners. God’s love and grace was there for both thieves on the cross, for those nailing him to the cross, and for those who were enemies of God. The life of Christ is what lived out holiness looks like. To live and love like Christ is to truly be set apart, to live differently. It is what it looks like to faithfully answer the call to be holy. Where do we begin to live like this? How do we continue to live like this?

Our text today is not only about how we are made right with God through faith in Jesus Christ, but it is also where the work of holiness in our lives begin. Galatians 2:20 sums it up “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me”. We can learn a lot about what this means simply by going to our dresser drawer.

New Jeans

Holy Jeans

Like a pair of jeans need us to literally live in and through them to show the marks of holey-ness. We need Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit to live in and through us. Think about how Christ displayed his holiness through his life, does yours measure up? Remember it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.

1 Peter 1:14–16 NLT

14 So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. 15 But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. 16 For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”

Where Holiness begins

BORN AGAIN. John 3:3-5 BORN OF THE SPIRIT

Today’s sermon text is a continuation of a conversation that began in Galatians 2:11. Paul and Peter had a disagreement over once again imposing Jewish law and traditions on the gentiles who were coming to Christ. The law that only condemned them because of their inability to keep it in its entirety. This law and tradition was treated by many as holiness checklist, as if keeping it could make them right with God. The law could not make them right with God it only pointed out their failings. We are made right with God through faith in Jesus Christ. Through faith in Christ he has forever made perfect those who are being made holy. This is where God’s work of holiness begins.

Paul was a devout Jew before embracing faith in Jesus Christ. He knew the law front and back. He knew from trying to keep the law the only thing it did was condemn him because he constantly failed to live up to it on his own. So what did Paul do when he embraced faith in Jesus Christ he died to the law. He died to the old way of living, a life that struggled to keep God’s law and failed every time. He died to a way of life that treated the law and traditions as marks of Holiness and embraced faith in Jesus Christ to be made right with God. This is where we can begin to answer God’s call to be holy.

Echoes of Baptism-Romans 6:1-11

Outward sign of what God has done and is doing.

Sinful nature dies, is crucified with Christ. (down in the water)

We rise from the water, a symbol of new life in the Spirit. It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.

In Galatians 2:20 Paul makes the bold declaration that it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. I have been crucified with Christ, that is the Paul who followed the law was crucified with Christ. He died to the law that he was powerless to keep and rose to new life following after Christ. It is no longer I but Christ who lives in and through me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. The journey of holiness began for Paul on the road to Damascus. It began when he made the bold statement in his life, “It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.” The same is true for us.

We are not made holy by keeping a checklist of do’s and don’ts but through faith in Jesus Christ, it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in and through me. As Christ, through the work of the Holy Spirit lives in and through us we are being made holy.

Living a Holy Life

How do we live this out?

To live a life of holiness is to deny how our humanity wants to respond, to deny how society expects us to respond and to embrace how the life of Christ, life in the Spirit, calls us to live.

Brothers and sisters holiness is a journey. The more we walk with Christ in this journey, the more we allow the Holy Spirit to live in and through us the more marks of holiness we will display in our lives.

Conclusion

The call of holiness is a journey. To answer the call to holiness is to make the bold proclamation it is no longer I who lives but Christ who lives in me. The journey of holiness begins here and continues until Christ completes it.

Remember the jeans. Most of the time a brand new pair of jeans does not display holey-ness in them, but as we literally live in and through them they become more and more holey. We like a pair of jeans need Christ living in and through us, by his Holy Spirit, to be made holy. Holiness for us like a pair jeans is a journey that begins through faith in Jesus Christ and continues through the work of the Holy Spirit.

Hebrews 10:14 NLT

14 For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy.