MOTIVATION FOR HOLINESS Text: 1 Peter 1:15-16 We began looking at certain truths about holiness and established the relationship between holiness and beauty. Today on SPIRIT SWORD we examine why a person has to live the holy life – the motivation for holiness. (1) GOD’S NATURE IN MAN When God made man He did in His image and that image included His nature of holiness. And so, it is required that man live holy. To live short of that is living below God’s original purpose for mankind. 1 Peter 1:15-16. (2) EXPRESSION OF LOVE TO GOD AND ALSO RECIPROCATION OF HIS LOVE – HE FIRST LOVED US. Don’t live holy just because you want to escape hell but because you love God. If there were no hell, would you still fear (God)? Love and not (just) fear should be your motivation for living for God. The desire to please God is the proper motivation for living to please God. This is what makes it easy to live holy irrespective of where you are and who is watching or not watching you. Some people are not sinning simply because of what people would say. Some people are not sinning because it is wrong to sin. When there is an “opportunity” to sin, the former will take advantage while the latter will stand for God. If Joseph lived holy because of people around, he would have slept with Mrs Potiphar. The reason many people fall into sin is because their minds are not made up for God, and so sin take advantage of their minds (Isaiah 29:13). (3) BECOME A STANDARD FOR THE WORLD The devil has his children scattered everywhere promoting the kingdom of darkness. They are no more in the dark, they are out sinning freely; moving nakedly, and doing their thing. However, the children of the Light (believers) are afraid to declare stands for God and for good. It is time to step out of “hiding” and be a standard for God in the world. We must teach them how to dress and live and not vice versa. (4) PRE-REQUISITE FOR MAKING HEAVEN (Hebrews 12:14) After all said and done, this is the truth – without holiness, Heaven is impossible. What will count in eternity is not the size of your church or its seat capacity; it is not the amount you have in the bank account; it is not even the number of souls you reached, it is if you had lived holy, not before men, but before God. If for nothing, this should drive and keep you on path of holiness. (5) ESCAPE THE ANGER OF GOD AGAINST THE DEVIL AND SINNERS IN THE PLACE CALLED HELL This is one truth many do not want to hear and others do not like to talk about. But whether or not we talk about it, it does not change the truth that there is hell, and the way to escape it is to make Heaven. And the way to make Heaven is to live holy. HOW TO BE ABLE TO LIVE HOLY: 1. Become truly Born Again 2. Ask God to help you 3. Do the right things: get away from wrong friends, cease from wrong places, do restitution, dress well and be determined to live right * SPIRIT SWORD DAILY DEVOTIONAL is produced courtesy of THE HILL CITY, TREASUREDHOUSE CHRISTIAN CENTER, FCT – ABUJA. Thursday, 31st July, 2014.
Posted on: Thu, 31 Jul 2014 09:36:50 +0000
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