Why must we be holy?

[arunangelo]

We must be holy because God calls us to be holy and perfect, just like Him (Leviticus 19:1-2; Matthew 5: 48). The holiness of God is revealed in Jesus who sacrificed His life in order to compensate for the sins we committed against Him. In other words, He the victim compensated for the offenses we committed against Him. We must therefore, love our enemies; pray for our persecutors; offer the other cheek if slapped on one; walk two miles if forced to walk one; not ask back what others have borrowed from us (Matthew 5:38-47); not take revenge; and love others as we love our self (Lev. 19:18). The world may think we are foolish to follow such teachings; however we must remember that the wisdom of the world is folly to God. Furthermore, we may think that it is impossible to follow such teachings; however we must remember that because God’s spirit dwells in us (1 Cor. 3:16) with His help we can do it. All we need to do is to sincerely desire His holiness.

 

[Thankful 1]

We must be holy because God calls us to be holy and perfect, just like Him (Leviticus 19:1-2; Matthew 5: 48). The holiness of God is revealed in Jesus who sacrificed His life in order to compensate for the sins we committed against Him. In other words, He the victim compensated for the offenses we committed against Him. We must therefore, love our enemies; pray for our persecutors; offer the other cheek if slapped on one; walk two miles if forced to walk one; not ask back what others have borrowed from us (Matthew 5:38-47); not take revenge; and love others as we love our self (Lev. 19:18). The world may think we are foolish to follow such teachings; however we must remember that the wisdom of the world is folly to God. Furthermore, we may think that it is impossible to follow such teachings; however we must remember that because God’s spirit dwells in us (1 Cor. 3:16) with His help we can do it. All we need to do is to sincerely desire His holiness.

Amen!

 

[ThyWordisTruth]

Yes, I do believe there are two truths we must live by:

1.) To Be Holy (Through Christ). (Hebrews 10:9-10)

2.) To Live Holy (Through Love). (1 Thes. 4:7-9)

-God Bless, TBF. :)

 

[Disciple]

It is written..
'Be ye holy for I am holy, saith the Lord'
Think of it as a father-son relationship if the dad is something he wants or expects his children to do the same or something similar, they want the child to be a good example of themselves.

 

[TexUs]

Yes except he's more than a dad... He's the creator of all things that knows, more than we could ever imagine it, why being holy matters.

For him to say we must be holy is all the reason I need.

 

[aspen]

So - I noticed several examples of holiness mentioned in the OP, but what exactly does it mean to be holy?

 

[timf]

ἅγιος = hagios = holy = sacred (set apart), consecrated, pure, blameless

In Galatians we get a picture of the schizophrenic Christian torn between the flesh and the Spirit. The injunction to be holy is just one more admonition to self-examination and the rejection of fleshly and worldly influences.

2 Corinthians 6:11-18 Our mouth is open to you, Corinthians [we are hiding nothing, keeping nothing back], and our heart is expanded wide [for you]! There is no lack of room for you in [our hearts], but you lack room in your own affections [for us]. By way of return then, do this for me--I speak as to children--open wide your hearts also [to us]. Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers [do not make mismated alliances with them or come under a different yoke with them, inconsistent with your faith]. For what partnership have right living and right standing with God with iniquity and lawlessness? Or how can light have fellowship with darkness? What harmony can there be between Christ and Belial [the devil]? Or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? What agreement [can there be between] a temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God; even as God said, I will dwell in and with and among them and will walk in and with and among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. So, come out from among [unbelievers], and separate (sever) yourselves from them, says the Lord, and touch not [any] unclean thing; then I will receive you kindly and treat you with favor, And I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.

 

[Thankful 1]

So - I noticed several examples of holiness mentioned in the OP, but what exactly does it mean to be holy?

To become Holy one needs to do the following.









(Acts 2:38-39) “You must repent, Peter answered and every one of you must be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift ofthe Holy Spirit. The promise that was made is for you and your children, and for all those who are far away, for all those whom the Lord our God is calling to himself.”

Receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit.​

The gifts of the Holy Spirit are many, but just to name a few.



(1 Corinthians 12:27-30) “Now you together are Christ’s body; but each of you is a different part of it. In the Church, God has given the first place to apostles,the second to prophets, the third to teachers; after them, miracles, and after them the gift of healing; helpers, goodleaders, thosewith many languages. Are all of them apostles, or all of them prophets, or all of them teachers? Do all speak strange languages, and all interpret them?”



The HolySpirit/Jesus will begin to teach and give one the grace to live the whole Word of God.



(1 John 2:27) “But you have not lost the anointing that he gave you, and you do not need anyone to teach you, the anointing he gave teaches you everything; you are anointed with truth,not a lie, and as it has taught you, so you must stay in him.”



Living the Word of God includes loving, even one’s enemies.



(Matthew 5:43-44) “You have learnt how it was said, youmust love your neighbor and hate your enemy, but I say this to you: love yourenemies and pray for those who persecute you.”



(Matthew 5:39) “You have learnt how it was said: ‘Eye for eye and tooth for tooth.’ But I say this to youffer the wicked man no resistance.”





One can’t say heor she loves if they have money stored and they keep it stored even when they know there is some one in need of that money.



(1 John 3:16-18) “This is how we know what loveis: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our livesfor our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, letus not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”

Jesus told us the following​

(Matthew 6:19) “Do not storeup for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.”



(Matthew 6:24)"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, orhe will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”



(Luke 12:33) “Sell your possessions and give alms. Get yourselves purses that do not wear out, treasure that will not fail you, in Heaven where no thief can reach it and no moth destroy it. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”



(Luke 14:33) “So in the same way, none of you can be my disciple unless he gives up all his possessions.”

A Spiritual Christian is a temple of God where no sin exists.​

(Romans 6:2-4) “How can we who died to sin yet live in it?

Or areyou unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into hisdeath? We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, justas Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too mightlive in newness of life.”



(1 John 5:18) “ We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin;the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him”



(1John 3:8) “He who does what issinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work”



When one learns to obey and live the Word of God, he or she will become the home of God.



(John 14: 23) “Anyone who loves me will keep my word and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make a home in him.”



(1 Corinthians 2:13-14)“Therefore we teach, not in the way in which philosophy is taught, but in the way that the Spirit teaches us: we teach spiritual things spiritually. An unspiritual person is one who does not accept anything of the Spirit of God he sees it all as nonsense; it is beyond his understanding because it can only be understood by means of the Spirit.”



To maintain life in one he or she needs spiritual food.



(John 6:53-55) “How can this man give us his flesh to eat? They said. Jesus replied: ‘I tell you most solemnly, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,you will not have life in you. Any one who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has eternal life, and I shall raise him up on the last day.”