Holy, Holy, Holy (Hebrews 13:20-21)
Gary McManus, 07/11/2021Part of the New Life series, preached at a Sunday Morning service
July 11, 2021 Hebrews 13:20-21
Last time: painful details about Christian behavior
in our American history in the last 400 years.
--28 states still have blue laws
American Christians have done many wonderful
things in this country; love things, Jesus things.
.
American Christians have not YET demonstrated
that they do a good job at making the rules.
So, our problem? Holiness.
Holy/holiness, about 780 times in the Bible.
The letter of 1 Peter (1 Peter 1:15–16) quoted
Leviticus 11:44-45—repeated in Leviticus 19.
Both the Old and the New Testament stress the
the importance of cultivating personal holiness.
Jesus and the Apostle Paul:
pruning, fertilizing, grafting vines, olives.
Those are on-going activities.
So many American Christians have emphasized the
present tense of the to be verb in the scripture as in
. . .BE HOLY as in BE HOLY right now!
The emphasis in those churches and in those Christians is more often about OUR own efforts to reach a standard of holiness.
No disrespect to Holiness churches, but they can get themselves in a bind (theologically speaking).
The emphasis on holiness in these interpretations
is on YOUR OWN PERSONAL activity with
regard to holiness.
Jesus and Paul emphasized that Jesus would make
you holy. Then in prayer and with your church
decide how to behave.
Alcohol? Tobacco? Film? Television?
This example is a simple one:
You are holy, THAT is WHY you don’t go
to prostitutes. You don’t stop going to prostitutes
in order to become holy. You already ARE Holy.
(1 Corinthians 6:15-20)
Holiness changes behavior.
Behavior does not produce holiness.
Many American Christians need their church members to be holy and act holy YESTERDAY.
Look at some verb uses in the New Testament:
“BEING SAVED” Acts 2:47,
1 Corinthians 1:18, 2 Corinthians 2:15, “being reconciled”: Romans 5:10, sanctifying: Thessalonians 2:13, 1 Peter 1:2, “working”: 1 Corinthians 12:6.
Hebrews 13:20-21 (NIV)
“working in y’all that which is well pleasing in his sight”
Historical fact of the past: Jesus died on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins. Therefore, we are saved. That fact makes us HOLY to GOD.
While we are Holy to God, we are being made Holy,
sanctified in the world.
WE are being saved—all of us.
Saved=salvation=healing=salved!
Your faith has saved you= your faith has made you well, says our Lord Jesus.
Because NONE of us heals alone.
The Church is a part of everyone’s healing.
Jesus sent the disciples out in pairs and they healed people with another person. The disciples in pairs cast out demons.
"The church is not a museum of saints, but a hospital for sinners." Believe it. The Apostles did. Amen.
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