09.16.13 - Holiness From The Inside Out

1. I. What Does It Mean To Be Holy?

1. a. What is your definition of holiness?

1. i. In the KJV, the word defined means to be ceremonially clean, to be consecrated, it is used in the sense of a sanctuary.

1. ii. Webster's dictionary defines holiness/holy as - devoted completely, 

1. 1. How does our definition of holiness match to the Biblical definition?

1. b. Many times holiness is a word used to describe a method of dress, or a classification of a worship style.  Those raised within the a full gospel church may sometimes look at someone's dress and come to the conclusion that they are "holiness folk."

1. c. While dress code, worship style and church attendance may be related to holiness, those things do not in any way make one holy.  

1. i. People may dress a certain way and appear on the outside to really be walking with the Lord, but on the inside could be unforgiveness, hatred, pride or any number of issues that are not holy in the eyes of God.

1. ii. Remember that John the Baptist was dressed in leather and ate bugs, but was inside very holy man and lived a very holy life, but the Pharisees and Sadducees dressed in a manner that all would look upon them and think that they were holy, but inwardly there were many issues that were not holy. 

1. 1. The following questions are meant to assess attributes only, and not people.  Be careful that as we are looking at these questions we are looking inwardly to ourselves and not outwardly at other people.

1. 1. Given the Biblical definition of holiness, what are some aspects of a persons' life that might lead you to believe they are in fact living a holy life?

1. 2. What might be aspects of a person's life that would lead you to believe they would not be living a holy life?

1. II. The Furnishings

1. a. We earlier saw that one of the KJV definitions noted that holiness corresponded with a sanctuary.  The New Testament teaches us that we are literally sanctuaries for Him.

1. i. 1 Cor 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? KJV

1. ii. When you consider that the Holy Ghost desires to live inside of you, how does that make you feel about choices we may make on a daily basis? 

1. 1. Such as what we watch on television, what we listen to on the radio and what we might read.

1. b. Recently my daughter came home to tell me that her friend from school made a comment to her something like this" Catherine, you smell like you house and I like it!"  While I'm not entirely sure what she meant by that, I would like to think that our home smells good.  The point here is that what is on the inside of our home can be sensed by those that are around us.  What is on the inside of our lives can also be sensed by those around us.  Holiness cannot be faked to someone who really has Christ working in their lives.  A home with a fireplace that is used in the winter to warm a house will likely still smell faintly of smoke even in the hot summer months.  If "fires" are allowed to burn in our hearts, fires of unholiness,  fires of passion, lust, greed and self will, then even in times when those fires are only smoldering others can "smell the smoke."

1. c. The things that we put into our "temple" are just as important as the things we put on it.  

1. i. What are some "furnishings" one might put inside their temple that are holy?

1. ii. What are some things that one might put inside that are unholy?

1. III. Holiness Is Not Perfection

1. a. Rom 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous , no, not one: KJV

1. b. Somewhere some of us have given in to the idea that because we are imperfect and sometimes falter we are not holy. That is not true.  White it is certain that we cannot maintain holiness with rampant sin in control of our lives, just because we are not perfect does not mean we are not holy.  

1. c. Looking back at the original definition, complete devotion is not perfection. You may have a puppy that is completely devoted to you and loves you unconditionally, but when you leave the room may chew on your shoes.  We are to be completely wholly devoted to our God, we are to love Him with all of our hearts and all that we are, but if we walk long enough, sooner or later we may step in a hole and stumble a bit, that does not mean we have lost our devotion to God, nor does it mean we have lost our holiness!

1. i. When we stumble in our walk with the Lord, how does it usually make us feel about being holy?

1. ii. Is holiness a feeling or a fact?

1. iii. If holiness if a fact (and it is, more a description of one's life) then what degree does our "feelings" affect it?