How to Grow in Holiness

My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

John 17:15–17

In John 17, we have a record of Jesus’ prayer on the night before His crucifixion. And do you know what He prayed for? Knowing that He is about to leave them, Jesus prayed for His disciples and for those who would believe in Him through their testimony (that’s you). He asked God to protect us from the evil one and to sanctify us (or make us holy) so that we will live differently than the rest of the world does. 

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And what is it that Jesus asks the Father to use to make us holy? What is supposed to be the means of your sanctification? It’s God’s Word! 

When you read the Bible it changes you. It sanctifies you. Reading God’s Word has a purifying effect on your life; it increases your holiness.

Robert Saucy in his helpful book titled Scripture says this, 

“The testimony of an old Scottish Christian finds an echo in every believer’s heart: ‘I have a most depraved and sinful nature, and do what I will, I find I cannot make myself holy. My friends cannot do it for me, nor do I think an angel in heaven could. One thing alone does it -- reading and believing what I read in that blessed Book; that does it.’”* 

‌God’s Word is sanctifying! ‌

Peter was one of the 12 disciples that were with Jesus on the night He prayed this prayer, and he must have understood that Scripture sanctifies us, because he urges believers in 1 Peter 2:2 to “crave pure spiritual milk like newborn babies, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.” ‌‌What could this pure spiritual milk be but God’s Word? 

Think about that metaphor for a moment. When a baby drinks milk, it nourishes him and causes him to grow. That’s what reading the Bible is like. It’s your spiritual food. Reading it nourishes your spirit and helps you grow in your salvation. It helps you mature. That’s why reading your Bible is so important, because God’s Word is powerful! Reading the Bible makes a difference in your life. In fact, I would go so far as to say, that if you aren’t feeding on the Word then you are not growing.

‌‌So let me encourage you to read God’s Word, because it is one of the main ways you grow in holiness. And ‌have a plan for how you are going to go about reading the Bible. The Bible is too important a tool in your Christian growth to be so haphazard with it. There are all sorts of different ways you can go about it but here's a link to the Bible reading plan I am using. It'll take you through the entire Bible in a year, or (if you prefer) you can do just one testament or the other this year and make your way through the entire Bible in two years. It doesn't matter what plan you use as much as it matters that you read the Bible. 

*Saucy, Robert. Scripture: Its Power, Authority, and Relevance. (Thomas Nelson Publishers: Nashville, TN) 2001, p10-11.

Not Even a Hint

But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them.
Ephesians 5:3–7
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We are called to fight the sin in our lives so thoroughly that there wouldn’t even be a hint of it left among us. There shouldn’t even be a hint of sex outside of a monogamous heterosexual marriage in our churches. There shouldn’t even be a hint of any kind of impurity or sin. Not even a hint of greed. Not even a hint of obscene or foolish talk, or coarse joking.

‌Why? This passage gives us two reasons. First, because “these are improper for God’s holy people.” And second because “no immoral, impure or greedy person… has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” In other words, these are the kinds of behaviors that lost people engage in, and it’s because of these behaviors that God’s wrath is coming on the world. ‌You can’t expect to live like a lost person without bringing your salvation into doubt. And you can’t expect to live like a lost person without risking sharing their fate and suffering God’s wrath. 

Now, this passage isn’t saying that anyone who ever commits any of these sins isn’t saved or can’t be saved. If that was the case, then we’d all be bound for Hell. But, what this passage is saying is that anyone who continually lives in ongoing, unrepentant sin like this isn’t saved even if they call themselves a Christian. Saved people just don’t live like that.

Many people think they are saved and treat their salvation as a free pass to sin. But, this passage reveals the hard truth that their sin has blinded them to the very real danger they are in. They can’t see that they aren’t Christians at all. They can’t see that they are actually lost and are storing up wrath for themselves for the day of God’s judgment. And that is a dangerous place to be. Don’t let your sin blind you into thinking you are safe when you are not. A tree is known by its fruit. You can't live like the Devil and think you are safe from God's wrath.

Striving After Holiness

For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

Hebrews 10:14

We are not perfect now. We still sin. And yet, this verse says that Jesus has already made us “perfect forever.” How can that be? 

This verse is talking about the sanctified perfection that believer's will experience forever in heaven which Jesus has already purchased for us. We only know that perfection in part now, but Jesus in us is the guarantee that one day we will know it in full. One day every Christian will be made perfectly holy forever.

‌‌This is an incredible promise that ought to encourage us in our fight against sin. If you are like me then you probably feel like you lose more battles with sin than you win. And it can be very tempting to throw in the towel and give up in your fight against sin. But this promise shows us one major reason why we shouldn’t give up. You shouldn’t give up fighting sin in your life because one day you will win the fight. One day you will be completely victorious. One day you will be made perfect, sinless.

‌‌Until that day, we strive after holiness. We attempt to live as aliens and strangers, pilgrims passing through a world that is not our own. We seek to live holy lives that are set apart and different from the world around us. ‌We continue to fight against the sin in our lives and we ask Jesus for help to do so.  

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I want to challenge you to pick one sin in your life to go to war with today. Pick something to cut or prune out of your life. Pick one way you can strive after holiness.