“But as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’” 1 Peter 1:15 – 16
All religions divide the world into pure and impure. They have holy places and things that the impure and profane cannot approach. Instinctively, all people know that some things are pure and some things are impure. Religions differ on how they catalog these differences.
In the Old Testament, God describes/defines the Tabernacle and its content, inpart, by declaring certain places and objects holy. In the New Testament, the believer is the holy temple of God; God takes up residence in him. Thus God declares you holy in an act of His grace, and then commands you to live your life in conformity with His declaration.
Your reactions reveal more about your holiness than your actions, for the latter can be motivated by a variety of things other than true holiness. You may want to conform out of fear of what other people may say or think. Thus purity, in the final analysis, is first and foremost an issue of the heart. God lives in you to help you become holy, but the process requires your cooperation.
Two thoughts: First, God defines holiness. You become holy as you become more and more like God. The only way I know of how to do this is by time in Scripture, learning to think like God thinks. Second, God calls you to be in the world relating to sinners as His ambassador. As you seek to “become all things to all men that by all means you might save some,” 1 only you and the Spirit of God know whether your motivation for doing this comes from a desire to be like Jesus, or because you want to feed your carnal nature. Thus our sinful nature and the lure of worldly matters makes time in Scripture vital to the preservation of holiness.
1 1 Corinthians 9:22
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