How Do I Pursue Holiness?

Pursuing Holiness is not passive but active 

Your new identity calls for new conduct 

The fear of the Lord is a reverent response that fuels spirit led holiness.

Holiness produces the fruit of love for others. 

You identify with the work of Christ on the cross

You breed what you feed 

You yield to the Spirit 

You produce what you plant 

You embrace humility and repentance 

The Seed of Sinful Desires Produces Unholy Fruit

• Sexual immorality,- includes intercourse and any sexual behavior outside of marriage includes pornography where sexual pleasures are fed through pictures, videos, or writings.

• Impurity- sexual sins, evil behaviors, ungodly motives, traits and habits including secret thoughts or desires where impurity begins. 

• Lustful pleasures - shameful or abnormal behavior including lack of self control.

• Idolatry – worshiping spirits, false gods, persons or images or anything that is more important than God.

• Sorcery – witchcraft, spiritism, black magic. 

• Hostility- involves all forms of consuming hostile thoughts, motives and actions including extreme dislike, anger or desire to cause conflict.

• Quarreling- involves causing undue tension, disunity and struggling for superiority over others.

• Jealousy - envy of another person's situation or success.

• Outburst of anger, or explosive thoughts that can result in violent words or actions.

• Selfish ambition - Pursuing personal power or success without considering the desires of God or the impact it will have on others.

• Dissension-causing division or introducing teachings not supported in Gods word 

• Division- divisions in congregation or group of Christians that develop secondary groups destroying the unity of the church 

• Envy – a jealous and resentful dislike of another person who has something that one desires. To want something that belongs to someone else.

• Drunkenness – involves impaired mental and or physical control as a result of alcoholic drinks 

• Wild parties - groups of people who get together for sexual exchanges or  similar sins or involvement as part of pagan festivals or practices 

B. The Seed of the Holy Spirit Produces Holy Fruit

• Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-Control

2 Peter 1:1-11 

¹ May God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord.

³ By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. ⁴ And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

⁵ In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, ⁶ and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, ⁷ and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.

⁸ The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.

¹⁰ So, dear brothers and sisters,^{[ =}work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away. ¹¹ Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

1. How do we walk with the Spirit?  

2 Peter 1:3-4

By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. ⁴ And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

1. Faith 

B. Trust in His promises 

C. Surrender to the work of the Holy Spirit

D. Make every effort to grow in your Christ like Character 

2. Respond to the promises by making every effort to grow 

2 Peter 1:5-6

In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, ⁶ and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, ⁷ and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.   

Holiness is not just what we avoid but also what we pursue.

The attitude you have towards desiring to be Holy matters

What kind of attitude do we have when it comes to pursuing holiness? 

Sustaining a life of being set apart happens when we focus on growing in our Christ-like character.

1. Virtue – Moral excellence  

2. Knowledge 

Are you working hard to understand God? Are you working hard to know the Word of God?

Are you working hard to study to show yourself approved? 

Are you working hard to memorize scripture? 

Internalizing the facts and acting upon it. 

3. Self control 

Proverbs 25: A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.

4. Patient endurance 

Romans 5:3-5 

³ Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, ⁴ and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵ and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

5. Godliness 

I Timothy 4:7-8 ⁷ Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; ⁸ for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

•  Godliness is something we grow and train in, not something automatic.

• Godliness will benefit us now and for eternity

6. Brotherly affection 

1 John 4:20  If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.

7. Love for everyone 

Agape love 

Love your neighbor as yourself

3. The danger of stagnated or complacent in your growth

2 Peter 1:8-9

The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.

¹⁰ So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away. ¹¹ Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

2. Failing to develop, will blind us and leave us forgetting the gospel

3. Holiness is proof of your salvation not the cause of it. 

4. Be found faithful in the end