Friday, February 1, 2013

Be Holy, for I am Holy!

In "I Call it Heresy!," A.W. Tozer writes,
You cannot study the Bible diligently and earnestly without being struck by an obvious fact—the whole matter of personal holiness is highly important to God! 
Neither do you have to give long study to the attitudes of modern Christian believers to discern that by and large we consider the expression of true Christian holiness to be just a matter of personal option: "I have looked it over and considered it, but I don't buy it!"... 
Personally, I am of the opinion that we who claim to be apostolic Christians do not have the privilege of ignoring such apostolic injunctions. I do not mean that a pastor can forbid or that a church can compel. I only mean that morally we dare not ignore this commandment, "Be holy."... 
But, brethren, we are still under the holy authority of the apostolic command. Men of God have reminded us in the Word that God does ask us and expect us to be holy men and women of God, because we are the children of God, who is holy. The doctrine of holiness may have been badly and often wounded—but the provision of God by His pure and gentle and loving Spirit is still the positive answer for those who hunger and thirst for the life and spirit well-pleasing to God
 I don't have anything deep or thought-provoking to add. I share them because they struck me, deeply. I read these words and felt immediately convicted. Is personal holiness what I truly see in my personal life? It if isn't, why not? I don't know if I really want to go down that road and answer that last question.

Maybe that is the challenge for each of us. We don't need to determine what we do or don't do. We already know that. The greater questions is, "WHY DO I CONTINUE TO DO THIS THING." Or, "WHY WON'T I DO THIS THING?"

But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy." —1 Peter 1:15-16

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