Striving for a life of holiness is of utmost importance for us as the children of God. God did not send His Son to save us from the power of sin so that we could just go back to living how we always lived. The holiness of God demands that we live holy lives.
The Spirit, through Peter, makes this very clear to us. “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, 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 1:14-16, NASB). God wants us to be obedient children by no longer being conformed to our former lusts. To be conformed is to be shaped and molded by something. We need to stop being shaped and molded by the sinful desires that used to drive us. We need to stop being conformed to the shape of this world. Now that we are in Christ, God is calling us to be holy in all our behavior. God is holy, and He expects us to be holy.
What does it mean for us to be holy? It means to be set apart to God. It means to be set apart from the world around us. It means to be set apart from our former sinful pursuits. Simply put, it means that we are supposed to be different now! Because of the gift of Jesus—His death and resurrection—we are not supposed to think, speak, or act in the same way anymore. Let me ask you, is your life in Christ appreciably different from your former life? Can people detect that you are different from the world around you?
Holy living is a very serious thing to our Holy Father. He gave His all so that we could be holy in His sight. Now that He has made us holy, let us pursue holiness realizing that we were redeemed from our former life at countless cost, “with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.” (1 Peter 1:19, NASB)
—Scott Colvin
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