I am calling all those who claim to follow Christ, to live pure and holy lives. We are called to live like Christ.
“As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins. There is only the terrible expectation of God’s judgment and the raging fire that will consume his enemies. For anyone who refused to obey the law of Moses was put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Just think how much worse the punishment will be for those who have trampled on the Son of God, and have treated the blood of the covenant, which made us holy, as if it were common and unholy, and have insulted and disdained the Holy Spirit who brings God’s mercy to us. For we know the one who said,
“I will take revenge.
I will pay them back.”
He also said,
“The Lord will judge his own people.”
It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
So think clearly and exercise self control. Look forward to the special blessings that will come to you wait the return of Jesus Christ. Obey God because you are His children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of doing evil; you didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God-who chose you to be His children-is holy. For He himself has said, “Be holy, as I am holy. And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites when He judges. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of Him during your time as foreigners here on earth. For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom He paid was not in mere gold or silver. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but he has now revealed him to you in these last days.
Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God.
I could go on with Scripture. We are called by God to live pure and holy lives. To flee from sin. To flee from everything evil on this world. We are not of this world so why conform to it? Now, you may ask, isn’t it impossible to live 100% pure and holy, we can’t be perfect.
You are correct in saying we are all sinners and we cannot be perfect. But that does not mean we can’t live pure and holy lives. Paul said we (the apostles) come to you with a clean conscience. what this means is, they did not live with unrepentant sin in their lives. what this means for us as believers, is we do not go to sleep with unrepentant sin from that day. The very moment we realized we have sinned, we need to confess it to God. This is not a suggestion, this is a command from God. Living with no unrepentant sin in your life, walking away from evil things, this is living with a pure heart and living holy.
So, why do I, a fellow believer see when going to other believers FA pages, see comments saying something is a guilty pleasure or a vice. Why do I see fellow believers making light of porn, lust, and sexual immorality? You should know, and do know that these things are wrong. Why do you do nothing about it? We as Christians cannot continue to live in sin. If you know you are sinning, then do something about this very moment. This is not a suggestion, but a Command from God.
Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?
So, stop intentionally living in sin. You know its wrong, you know you need to stop, stop putting it off to the next day, and the next day, and the next day. Just because we are not perfect, is not an excuse to continue to live in sin.
Remember, in the old testament, there was the tent of God. Unintentional sin defiled to two outer parts of the temple, but intentional sin (which was only forgivable once a year on the day of atonement) defiled the holiest of hollies. Intentional sin, is a direct affront to the throne of God. It infuriates God. And because we already know the Truth, we cannot claim ignorance of the Law. Which makes it worse when we intentionally sin.
Conclusion
Yes, we are sinners, and we will sin in the future. It is inevitable. But when we do, we need to confess our sin to God immediately when we realize we sinned. Do not wait, for that is living intentionally in sin. Living with a clean conscience and a pure heart is living holy. And that is what it means when we say we are dead to sin-living with a clean conscience, not intentionally living in sin.
Comments by Rukh Whitefang