1 Peter 1:14-16 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written, “Be holy, because I am holy”

The devil, and because of him human society, is dead set against holiness, to the point that the desire and effort to be holy is seen as somehow perverted. That is of course the opposite of how God created us, but the Bible also says, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” (Isaiah 5:20) This isn’t a new phenomenon! We have been deceived into thinking holiness is out of reach, and so isn’t worth the struggle. Historically, “saint” is a term reserved for only very special people, when the New Testament consistently refers to all believers as saints. We are saints by definition! Of course, in our human weakness we can’t live up to that on our own, but as Paul said, “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24) The point is to not be satisfied with anything less, but repent immediately when the Holy Spirit points out our sins to us, so that we may consistently move toward our role model, Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord. Just yesterday I was seeing articles about the normalization of perversion in society, and it is sickening. We have long had expressions like “goody two-shoes” and others that imply that goodness is unnatural, but that too is a lie of the devil. We are imperfect, but we are created for fellowship with our Creator, which requires that we be holy as He is, just as Peter says here. We need to be grateful that “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) If we are cleansed, that means we are holy!

Of course this applies to me, just as it does to everyone. I could not begin to even calculate how many times I have acted in an unholy manner, and I have had to learn that when God says I’m forgiven, I’m really forgiven. At the same time, I’ve also had to learn that everything God created is good, and when used as God intended, is holy and pure. The devil hates the marital relationship because it is a picture of Christ and the Church (Ephesians 5:25-28), and so does everything he can to misrepresent and disturb the various facets of that. I’ve had almost 55 years of learning the beauty and purity of it, if it is received as God intended. And it’s fun! Just because something is fun doesn’t mean it’s unholy. That’s another frequent lie of the devil. As a pastor I need to be an example of enjoyable holiness, if you will. I don’t have the wisdom to do it on my own, but God can do it through me.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Help me indeed be holy, but not holier-than-thou, down to earth and yet pure, countering the lies of the devil by living out Your truth, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!