Being and Becoming Holy, Part 2

“If the root is holy, the branches are too.”
Romans 11.16

“But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, ‘YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.’”
1 Peter 1:15-16

Why is having the right understanding of our true reality important? How does knowing we are in fact holy before God aid us in being holy in this life. The realization of who we actually are should spur us on towards attaining that reality. We have two choices in this life? We can choose to fight or we can choose to give in. If we look at ourselves as “only human,” we will give in to what we think we cannot defeat. On the other hand, if we know the truth about ourselves, we can fight to become more of who we actually are.

All of us have character flaws, or weaknesses. Most, if not all of them are sensual. Paul termed these faults “the desires of the flesh.” In Galatians, Paul outlined a long list of the “deeds” of the flesh. (Gal. 5.19-21). Everything in that list and the ones in Colossians (Col. 3.5, 8) are sensual issues. Indeed, as the Apostle declared, “the flesh sets its desires against the Spirit.”

We react to these desires, flaws and weaknesses in a variety of ways. We say we are “only human.” When we give in to one of these desires, we declare, “you don’t know what its like,” meaning, if others knew what we were dealing with, they’d excuse us for what we do. We even say some things are simply a part of being human and as a result, we must act in certain ways. Well, we are only human, no one truly understands our situation, and some things are a part of being human. None of these statements, though, excuse failure.

James made an interesting statement. “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.” A couple of verses later, James wrote, “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.” Let’s focus on the “He Himself does not tempt anyone,” and the “with whom there is not variation or shifting shadow.”

God made us the way we are. He made us to be physical and sensual, as well as intellectual, social and spiritual beings. All of our desires, whether for food, sex, creature comforts, power, money, etc., are the result of how God designed us. Yet, the Lord did not make us sensual beings in order to have us be trapped by our desires. Just because God gave us a sexual urge does not mean we should indulge that desire indiscriminately. Along with the desires, the Lord gave us commands through which we are able to understand how to express our sexual desire. By giving believers the Holy Spirit, God has made available to power to overcome natural desires. By making us sexual beings, God was not “tempting” us with sexual immorality. Since the Lord is without “variation or shifting shadow, we can know he has no hidden agenda. He does not call us to holiness, on the one hand, yet set us up to fail on the other.

Peter said we are to be “holy in all our behavior” in the same way the One Who called us is holy. Peter made that statement because he knew, from his own actions, how believers can be unholy in their behavior. We are to strive to overcome our physical desires. God does not want us to fail. He did not instill in us a variety of physical desires to insure we would fail. He gave us these things as “good things and perfect gifts.” We, then, are to use them in that manner. Hunger is not an excuse for gluttony. Food serves to keep us healthy so we might better serve the Lord. To abuse food leads to poor health and an inability to serve the Lord as well as we should.

Fleshly desires are a part of being human. My circumstances, sometimes unique to me, are not an excuse to indulge my weaknesses. Just because I am “only human,” is no justification for continuing in a self-destructive behavior. What destroys me will in turn destroy the relationships I treasure most, and will keep me from being the faithful servant the Lord wants me to be.

Over the years, people have said to me, “Preacher, you just don’t know what its like.” Okay, maybe I don’t. Yet, whether or not I understand anything is no excuse for anyone to act in ways keeping that person from becoming holy. We might be “only human” right now, but in the ultimate reality, we are holy and blameless before God. We, then, should live in such a way to see that holiness manifested in our daily conduct.