Be Holy!
Be holy! The Bible calls us to be holy as God is holy.The Apostle Peter commanded us to be “like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior” (1 Pet 1:15). This might sound far fetched. But think about it! God wouldn’t command us to do something if it were not possible. On that basis, it must be possible to become holy as God is holy.
I grew up in a religious home. We attended church every Sunday. We prayed and read the Bible at meal times. But yet I struggled with trying to figure out godliness. My dad would often say to us, "No one is perfect. We are all sinners!" Yet from what I observed from how my dad behaved in life, I concluded he told us that to excuse his sinful behaviour. He might have been religious but he was not a godly man. Yet the Bible I read told me to "aim for perfection..." (2 Corinthians 13:11) Did not the apostle John tell us that "we know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin" ? (1 John 5:18) That is what I wanted! And still aim for. To be perfect. To discontinue sin. Not to use my sinful human condition as an excuse for being ungodly. Should this not be our aim: to be holy as God is holy?
As churches we go on record to say that our aim in life is godliness. The primary task of prayer urges us "to call upon God for such an outpouring of his Spirit that his people will be assured of his love through his Word, seek to please the Saviour in all things, manifest the godly life...." This is our Christian manifesto: to please Jesus in all things. The evidence is the godly life. To be holy as God is holy.
What does godliness look like? Don Miller writes, "When I begin by asking what godliness looks like, I have the wrong end in mind. It is the process that is godliness, not so much the end result. A godly man will involve himself in the process of being godly. For godliness is not so much a place where we are going as it is the going itself." (Prayer and the Art of Volkswagen Maintenance) I find this very helpful. We make it our aim to be holy as God is holy, recognizing that we are on a journey toward godliness. And the journey is what is important. As the apostle Paul reminds us: "And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." (2 Corinthians 3:18) Becoming holy is a journey of an ever-increasing holiness.
Paul's reminder to the Christians in Corinth also shows what godliness looks like. For too many years I thought godliness is looking like other Christians. Becoming like the godly men and women I admired around me. Yet every Christian is but a poor reflection of perfection. Including me. We are not being transformed into the likeness of other Christians but the likeness of Christ. And this transformation happens in the context of the local church, as Paul reminds the church in Ephesus: we are "to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:12-13 ) The church is there to assist people to attain the target of godliness: to become like Jesus! That is what godliness looks like. People having an ever-increasing reflection of the perfection of the fullness of God himself.
This is our aim, and this should also be the aim of our prayers as well as the aim of our church life! We are to be holy as God is holy! Will you join me in prayer calling upon God to pour out his Holy Spirit in such a way that we the people of God will please our Saviour in all things and grow in godliness, showing an ever-increasing reflection of Christ to the world around us? In the words of the hymnwriter James M. Gray: "O Lord, send a revival, and let it begin in me!"
About the author
Jack De Vries was hired on by the Christian Reformed Churches of Australia and began his work as Ministry Training Coordinator in January 2008. In 2012 this role shifted to that of Ministry Development Coach.
Jack came from Canada where he pastored three Christian Reformed churches: Alliston CRC, Alliston, Ontario(1983-87), a church plant: New Life Community Church, Pickering, Ontario(1987-95), and Bethel CRC, Listowel, Ontario (1995-2007). Jack is a graduate of Calvin Theological Seminary (Master of Divinity - 1983) and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (Doctor of Ministry - 2003) Jack and his wife Jeannie currently live in Petrie, a northern suburb of Brisbane in Queensland. They attend and are members of Bray Park Community Church. They have four adult children and seven grandchildren living in the USA and Canada.
In Isaiah 58:11 we read: "The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail." Australia has seen times of drought and floods. There is another type of drought in Australia; there is a spiritual drought. But God promises to provide refreshing rain, a never ending supply of refreshing water. The water he provides will satisfy the needs of all Australians. As we take up the missional vision God has given us we extend the life changing invitation of Jesus: "Come! Whoever is thirsty, come, and take the free gift of the water of life!" (Revelation 22:17)
