Committed To Biblical Holiness

11 For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. 12 And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, 13 while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed. 14 He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.

What does it mean to be committed to Biblical Holiness? And why on earth would we do that?

Fallen Condition: Two equal and opposite errors- pursuing holy behaviors in our own strength disconnected from the grace of God, and using the grace of God as an excuse to continue sinning. We are not committed to biblical holiness- but half-heartedly pursue what commands we find easy to follow. We don’t go for it. We pick and choose and use grace as an excuse to not pursue holiness.

Heart Longing: Why do we struggle against commands to holiness- we think we know best how to find the place where life flourishes- that God is withholding something good from us- rather than looking to God

Christ Solution- the past revealing of the grace of God in Christ and the future revealing of the glory of God in Christ empowers us to live holy lives in this present evil age.

Introduction- something about the stuffiness of holiness. Thats why we don’t pursue it- we are missing out on something!

Remembering The Past revealing of the grace of God in Christ

this transforms the law

The law indeed condemns sinners until salvation

4 stages of freedom according to Augustine

Innocence: able to sin and not sin

Fall: unable to not sin

Redemption: able to sin and not sin

Glory: unable to sin

What gets us out of the fall- Grace- only grace!

Tell the gospel story- the revealing of God’s grace

After salvation- Now that we are saved- what good is the law? Instruction. the law of God, because of the grace of God- instructs sinners in the way of righteousness

Looking Forward to The Future revealing of the glory of God in Christ

Why do we cling to holiness?

Because one day, when Jesus comes again in glory, our lives of holiness will be vindicated- we hope

Tell of Jesus’ glorious return and his deity

Holiness in This Present Evil Age

“The best way to live now, in this present age, is to learn to do spiritually what is impossible physically, namely to look in opposite directions at the same time.” -John Stott

Already and not yet- what does this evil world mean?

Diagram

When Jesus came- the end times broke into the present- the present is dying and the new has already started. Show diagram

Not that this particularly time is more evil- different evil- each culture and age uniquely displays some common grace and some common fallenness- we ought not to pine for the old days- when sin looked different but pine for the glory days coming when sin will be eradicated.

What is this holiness that we have been talking about?

Total

- covers thoughts, actions, things done and things left undone

encourage Larger catechism reflection- 91-150

Negative and Positive

Negative- turn from godless living and sinful pleasures

Renounce ungodliness in all its forms- What are the particular things we are prone to?

sexual sin (all forms- lets just say if we only speak about the sexual sin of folks who sin not like us and not of those who sin like us we aren’t doing it because the Bible condemns it but because we condemn it) thats a bid difference, so friends- if we want to speak holistically about sexual ethics- lets first and foremost be concerned about what goes on in our lives before we are concerned with others lives, also- lets be consistent- if we as the church idolize marriage we communicate that it is somehow less than a full expression of God’s design to be single- if we do that friends we strengthen the cultural narrative that to be fully human one must necessarily include sexual activity, right- thats what our culture says about sex- its communicated in commercials, in entertainment, in classrooms, in music, and in the way we talk about relationships. So friends when we renounce sexual sin- lets make sure that we are renouncing the notion that sex completes us as humans- we follow a Savior- Jesus Christ who was fully God and fully man- fully- not mostly or partially- but fully and without sin- and the ideal man- not only is he the exact imprint of God- he is the better Adam, defining what it should mean to be human. And he never had sex. Friends that ought to change everything we believe about sex. Certainly not making sex evil, but also not making it essential. This friends makes the biblical restraints around sex to one man and one woman in monogamous marriage and nothing outside of that in thought, word, or deed possible. You are not giving up being human or missing out on some essential element of life. That is a lie- that we ought to renounce- maybe more strongly than we renounce the lie that you should act on every sexual desire you feel, whether that is same sex or opposite sex.

And we ought to be consistent about this- friends- lets not see sex as entertainment- that flaunts rebellion before our God. Christians ought not be engaged in pornography whether thats the kind culture approves of (hint- game of thrones) or the kind that we know intuitively we ought to hide. Porn Kills conference.

gossip- this temptation is huge in light of our internet shaming, behind the back working culture- we should vigilantly pursue this, renouncing the ungodliness of our age

greed- wealthiest people in history- we ought to live remarkably different lives than the world- renouncing shameful gains of money that fraud people or sell them a bad product, good rule of thumb- we should look at people with similar incomes as us who are not christians- our lives should look different- we should sacrifice more

bitterness/ self-centeredness- you think your life is hard- let me tell you about my life-

arrogance- smartest people ever to live- renounce this foolishness\

Positive-

wisdom- proverbs, ten commandments- not just a negative but a positive as well. Should not be content with just renouncing- but must put on love

for instance- the larger catechism says that the sixth commandment to not murder is to be obeyed not simply by me individually not murdering but also promoting the flourishing of all human life around me. When life is unjustly taken, whether that is in the womb or at the hands of a corrupt system in the form of police brutality- the christian ought to out of their personal obedience to the 5th commandment- you should not murder- rise up to see to it that those things not happen.

lets not renounce the sin of the world unless we are also willing to put on the love of Christ and treat all people made in God’s image with the dignity and respect that deserves

Righteousness- this is the holiness of God.

Fruit of the Spirit-

Galatians 5:19-22

Galatians 5:19–22 NLT

When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

these negative works of the flesh and these positive fruits of the spirit- not how we think that should be done- but how Jesus did it. gospels experiment

Devotion to God

Private and Public

Sometimes holiness is seen as merely private- friends there is no private sin- there are personal and corporate sins- but don’t think that personal means private- every sin has public ramifications- if I privately lust my capacity for love is hindered and I am unable to love women made in God’s image as they need to be loved- everything has a public dimension

Community Project

a new people

For the grace of God to have the training effect that Paul intends he must elevate their vision beyond their lives in “this present age” to the great redemptive-historical realities of Christ’s work.

Rooted in the grace of God in the past

- you are saved- not by works done in righteousness- Titus 3: 3-5

Titus 3:3–5 NLT

Once we, too, were foolish and disobedient. We were misled and became slaves to many lusts and pleasures. Our lives were full of evil and envy, and we hated each other. But—When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.

Empowered by the grace of God in the present

- Titus 3: 6

Titus 3:6 NLT

He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior.

Looking forward to the grace of God in the future

- Titus 3: 7

Titus 3:7 NLT

Because of his grace he made us right in his sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.

“It is important carefully and attentively to enquire on the difference between these two things: the possibility not to sin and not having the possibility to sin… The first human being had the possibility of not dying, of not sinning, of not abandoning good… Thus, the original freedom of the will was the possibility not to sin; but the final freedom will far exceed it, for it will be not having the freedom to sin. The original immortality was in being able not to die; the final will be not to be able to die.” Augustine of Hippo

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