Christian Holiness: Practical Steps to Living Set Apart for God

Biblical Holiness: Christian Holiness is the “setting apart” of oneself to reflect God’s moral likeness. This idea, frequently written in terms of sanctification or consecration, carries a positional and ongoing aspect to it at the same time. Positional holiness is the “position” believers have in Christ based of the finished work of Jesus Christ.. encrypted. If you click the Drop Down options next to the image button, you get no HTML related options (whereas with the image button you do). Contrast to this is progressive sanctification, which is the continuing work of being made into the likeness of Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit and the active participation of the believer. It is a call to live for a different order of values and according to the will of God. This separation and sanctification is what is implied by the Hebrew word “qadosh” and the corresponding Greek word “hagios” and tells us what really is involved in Christian Holiness.

Here is a helpful article on the multi-faceted nature of Christian Holiness and an analytical look into what the practical steps to Living Set Apart (Holiness) for God may look like. It will start by exploring the underlying Truths behind Christian Holiness – what it is, how identity in Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit are vital to this process. From there, we will pay attention to hands-on, everyday activities conducive to a life of holiness: prayer, mental habits, relationships, and obedience. The article will also cover the advantages of living a life of Christian Holiness and the types of challenges and obstacles believers typically face. Finally, it will provide a brief summary of the wider perspective of Christian spiritual progression and answering any related questions, thus giving a complete understanding of the topic. The reader will be given a view of what is Christian Holiness and will learn how to aggressively commit to holy living that is set apart for God.

What are the roots of living the life of Christian holiness -a life Set Apart for God?

The basic tenants of Living Set Apart to God in Christian Holiness involve a new identity in Christ, the work of the Holy Spirit within a believer and obedience to God’s Word. And Christlikeness is about more than outward behavior, it’s about inward transformation, to bring it into line with God’s character and purposes. This is giving themselves to God deliberately and being a reflection of His holiness in every part of their life.

What is the Place of a Christian’s Identity in Christ in Christian Holiness?

The believer´s position in Christ It is what Christian Holiness absolutely relies on. So when a person gets saved, they are positionally sanctified – declared holy and set apart to God according to Christ’s righteousness and not their own. This is a final and once-for-all act of God whereby the believer is translated from the power of darkness and into the kingdom of God’s dear Son. This new identity is that the believer is now holy and blameless even to the point of what God sees when He looks at the sinner (YOU) who is now “in Christ”. This is positional holiness with which we are dealing, and we must grasp this first; it is the stable basis on which practical holiness is erected. It is not a matter of attainment but a fact accomplished for every believer. The new identity is the cause of living a holy life – because a new behaviour is the appropriate expression of who one is, as an identity and a definition.

What Part Does the Holy Spirit Have in the Process of Christian Holiness?

The Ministry of the Holy Spirit is indispensable and multi-faceted in the quest for Christian Holiness. First, it is the Holy Spirit who does the work of regeneration in the believer, giving new spiritual life to the individual, and enabling the believer to respond to God. Second, individual believers are indwelt by the Holy Spirit as a divine energy empowering them to live holy lives. This experience is commonly called the “baptism with” or “infilling of” the Holy Spirit and other denominational expressions, which identifies a deeper work of grace for life and service. He does not sanctify believers instantly.” The Spirit’s Work is Progressive The Spirit sanctifies believers progressively; that is, He ever sanctifies them—He ever makes them more like Christ. This requires a number of steps:

1. Of Sin, Because: The Holy Spirit has convicted bringers of sinfulness and draws them towards repentance and purity.
2. Enlightening Scripture: The Spirit enables believers to know and apply the Word of God, which is necessary for one–to–know God’s will and God’s standard of holiness.
3. Fruit-Bearing: The Spirit’s dynamic work in our lives produces fruit, or good character qualities, that identify us as a holy people, a people who exhibit the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control).
4. Enablement for Obedience: The Spirit gives us power and desire to obey what God has commanded and to kill the deeds of the body.

It’s all by the Holy Spirit so, if I may say it, Living Set Apart for God is not a pulled up boot straps life at all.. it is dependant upon the Spirit life. Believers are exhorted to “walk in the Spirit”, submitting to His leading and strength.

Why is Knowledge of God’s Word so Vital to Living Godly lives?

Understanding the Bible (God’s Word) is absolutely crucial to Living Set Apart for God because it is the principle way in which He reveals to us His nature, His will and His high calling for our lives as Christians. Scripture is a divine light, pointing out the way of righteousness and marking the wandering of sin. There are numerous reasons to illustrate its importance:

1. Revelation of God’s Holiness – The Bible makes known that God is perfectly holy and holds this as the standard for his followers. Comprehension of the nature of God creates a desire to mirror that holiness.
2. Life Instructions: There are simple commands and truths in Scripture that help believers to know what is pleasing to the Lord and what builds up a sacred life. It teaches what to accept and what to reject.
3. In Means of Transformation The Word of God [has a] potency of changing[s] the mind and heart. Through the meditation and obeying of scripture, thought and desire is conformed increasingly to that of God’s.
4. Discern: The Word of God helps us to “test” what we hear to determine if it is true or false, right or wrong, and the will of God or the will of Satan. This kind of judgement is very important to live a life of separation unto to God.
5. Source of Spiritual Growth: As human beings need daily food for growth and development, the believer also needs to consume the Word of God to grow spiritually and be holy.

The regular use of Scripture (reading, study, meditation, and living application) is therefore an integral part of what it is to seek Holiness. It is through God’s truth, in God’s Word, that people are sanctified.

How Can Christians Be Holy in Their Daily Experience?

Christian Holiness is developed through deliberate, daily habits that promote a closer connection with God and an ongoing submission to His will. These are not legalistic guidelines for salvation, but disciplines that we can embrace in love toward God and a desire to live lives that are pleasing to Him. The Sanctified Life is a process of development, a joint effort between divine grace and human effort.

How Does Personal Discipline of Prayer Lead to Sanctification (Living Set-Apart – Unto God)?

Prayer is perhaps the universal practical component of Living Set Apart for God, in that it is the primary channel of direct communication and communion with God. Its influence is varied in the sphere of Christian Holiness:

1. Go Deeper Relations with God: Continual prayer serve to deepen the relations with God and believers can understand God even more than if they did not pray. This is where genuine holiness begins.
2. Fountain of Strength and Wisdom: Prayer gives believers a perspective from God and those things that cannot be seen, secured by faith in the one who offers it (2 Cor. 4:7-18). God directs through prayer how to move and how to get through each day.
3. Helps us to Confess and Repent: Prayer builds an atmosphere of Communion with God where honest self-examination, and confession of sin aid in maintaining a clean heart and a washing from unrighteousness.
4. Nature of a Believer – Desires are Aligned with God’s Will: It is because the followers spend time in prayer that their desires begin to consistently co-incide with the desires of God. Instead they learn to pray “Your will be done,” offering their own preferences to God’s ends.
5. Cultivates Dependency on God: Prayer is an expression of dependence, recognizing that real holiness does not come by our power or works, but through the grace and power of God.

If you are serious about Christian Holiness and Living Set Apart for God, we need to be spending time in prayer and this must be daily time of prayer, because Acts is needed daily in Christian Holiness – ACTS – Adoration-Confession-Thanksgiving-Supplication.

What Mind-sets Are Required for Christian Holiness?

A requirement to Christian Holiness is disciplines of the mind because actions are preceeded by thoughts, and the war for holiness is often won or lost in the mind. In Romans 12:2, we are told as believers to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Several mental disciplines are critical:

1. Renewing the Mind- An active replacing of godly thought-patterns over ungodly one’s. It is something you must choose to do, filtering thoughts through the Scriptures and saying No to those that are dirty, unlovely, and untrue.
2. Things Above – Things Below Colossians 3:2 says: “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth”. This is to purposefully direct your thoughts toward Christ, His kingdom, and eternal values, rather than losing focus on material needs and desires.
3. Think on What is True and Pure: Philippians 4:8 Tell us what to think upon: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” This is the discipline of starving sinful thoughts and feeding holy ones.
4. Take Every Thought Captive: 2 Corinthians 10:5 tells us to “take every thought captive to obey Christ.” It is an active, moment by moment exercise of taking each thought captive to the obedience of Christ.
5. Try cultivating gratitude (you can work on this at any time in general as well as during the shopping season), contentment (being grateful enables you to begin to be content based on God’s provision and love), and a focus toward the provision of God, someone whose eyes are fixed on being content will not be as easily led into coveting or envious responses to the things you see.

These are disciplines, will take some time and a whole lot of the HS but they are essential for building a Christian Holiness mindset.

What Role Does Fellowship with Other Christians Play in the Christian Pursuit of Holiness?

Contact with other Christians is a source of constant strength, and is absolutely necessary to true and consistent Holiness. Living Set Apart for God is not a solo project and God’s not that wasteful that He would just save 1 of us at a time, so He birthed the church, the community of believers together where we can get real and be real with others and grow together. There are many ways people show their support:

1. Exhortation and Building Up: This gift involves a mutual encouragement and edification that believers arrange for each other, particularly in desperate times of need or battle with sin. Sharing testimonies and scriptural insights edify the body of Christ.
2. Accountability Healthy fellowship fosters mutual accountability – a place where believers can lovingly exhort each other, confess sins and receive prayer and support to battle sin.
3. Corporate Worship and Learning: Meeting together for corporate worship, prayer, and reading of the Word of God collectively strengthens faith and teaches righteousness to all corporately.
4. Boisvert Virtuous Women – Our Christian Sisters Women are incredibly influential preachers of Holiness and we need to be letting them! Modeling Holiness: Watching the lives of seasoned believers, who typify Christian Holiness, can provide the inspiration and examples needed to see what it means to live a life that is set-apart unto God.
5. Being Burdened: The sense of burdening the fellowship with the knowledge of a sin may act as a deterrent to committing a sin that might not otherwise be deterred.
6. Sharpening Each Other: As it is stated in Proverbs 27:17, “Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” Through relationship and dialogue, even Godly disagreement, followers of Christ can refine and challenge one another in understanding and living out holiness.

Participation in a local church, filled with love, truth, and mutual affection, serves as a great support in the life of holiness.

How Is Submission to the Decrees of God an Evidence of Christian Sanctification?

As an act of obedience to the commands of God, Christian holiness is both potent and practical. Holiness is God’s work in us but it becomes us in a life of practical surrender to His revealed will. Reported in John 14:15 Jesus says, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” This emphasizes a few things:

1. How You Can Tell If You Love God: Love = Doctrine = Obedience is the practical manifestation of our love for God. It reflects that the believer respects the authority of God and is seeking to please Him.
2. Reflection of God’s Character: The commands of God are not whimsical but reflective of His holy character and infinite wisdom. And to follow the commands is for believers to reflect that likeness to the world.
3. The Evidence of Genuine Faith: “So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:17). Obedience is the outward expression of real, soul-saving belief. It shows the truth of an inner revolution.
4. Road to Blessing and Intimacy: God frequently couples promises of blessing and increased intimacy with Him to our obedience.
5. Desire to be separated from sin: God’s word often will be the point of separation between right and wrong. Obedience always includes turning away from evil and turning in direction towards good, and that is what it means to Live Set Apart unto God.

This is not a matter of works in the sense of working for salvation (salvation is by grace through faith), but rather, is the natural response of a heart renewed by grace and inhabited by the Holy Spirit. It is a response to the love of God and is an essential element of practical Christian Holiness.

How Can Christians Be In The World But Not Of The World?

Christians are to practice separation from worldliness (from the system of values, beliefs, and practices that are opposed to God) and positive influence on the world (salt and light). It’s a fine line, wisdom and discretion. The injunction that Christians are to be “in the world, but not of the world” lies at the heart of Christian Holiness.

Can you provide any concrete examples of worldly influences to be aware of?

Examples of worldy influences that Christians must guard against, as we seek to be Living Set Apart for God, are many and can apply in several aspects of life. These influences tend to encourage values that are at odds with the Bible. Some key examples include:

1. Materialism: The preoccupation with worldly possessions and wealth, sometimes causing hunger, jealousy and disinterest in spiritual matters.
2. Hedonism – Seeking pleasure is the only thing that matters in life, often resulting in self-indulgence and abolition of moral constraints.
3. Secular Humanism A philosophy of life that considers God to be nonessential, with human reason and autonomy as ultimate authority, which ultimately results in a disregard of biblical morality and truth.
4. Moral Relativism: The notion that there are no objective moral truths; the concept that what is right and wrong is a function of what someone thinking, subjective or determined by culture. This is an attack on God’s immutable moral law.
5. Unhealthy Media Intake: The intake of media (TV shows, movies, internet, music) that popularizes violence, sexual immorality, greed, or other ungodly thinking can also be subtly damaging to one’s thinking and conscience.
6. Negative Peer Pressure: Friends, or groups, that exert pressure towards beliefs and actions that are not in a student or faculty member’s best interest in following Christ.
7. PRIDE AND SELF-CENTEREDNESS It is part of the world’s system to teach us to take pride in ourselves, keep building ourselves up, to look out for number one, with no thought of God or others, it is contrary to the Christian graces of humility and being of service.

And the awareness of them is the first bulwark against their influence, and against being swept down into a life which is not the life “hid with Christ in God.”

How can Discernment be cultivated in Choosing for Christian Holiness?

It is important to develop discernment to be able to make sound decisions in Christian Holiness and Living Set Apart for God, especially as we conduct ourselves in the midst of the confusing and challenging influences of the world. The difference between good and evil, error and truth, or God’s will and the desires and pressures of society is discernment. The following are also some exercises that help with acquiring it:

1. Saturation with God’s Word: The Bible reflects the highest authority for truth and virtue. Study and meditation in the scripture maintains the mind, and gives a structure through which God’s will is perceived.
2. Wisdom: In James 1:5, God promises to give wisdom liberally to those who ask. (The only appropriate answer is that of these prayers are critical that we pray them this way and do so consistently – one reason being that we need to prayerfully consider them).
3. Guidance of the Holy Spirit – The Holy Spirit indwells believers to guide them into all truth. It’s learning to listen and obey as the Spirit speaks, prompting each person.
4. Counsel From Godly People: The book of Proverbs also stresses how important it is to receive Godly advice from more experienced and knowing Christians. Talking options through with trusted spiritual guides or friends can give you a good sense of the whole picture.
5. Assessing motives: Honestly analyzing one’s heart and motivation behind the decision can help to ascertain if the decision is geared to honor God or from selfish or worldly passions.
6. Counting the Cost: Careful reflection on the spiritual, moral, and relational consequences of a course of action provides a good measure of determining whether a course of action is Christianly Holy. Questions like, “Does this honour God?”, “Will this contribute to the building up of others?”, “Does this affect my witness?” can be helpful.
7. Wisdom from Experience: Thinking about decisions that we’ve made and the end result, both good and bad, can make us smarter next time.

Discernment is work in progress; it is in the measure of our spiritual maturity and our constant dedication to pursue God’s guidance in every sphere of life. To study more on some fundamental aspects of a believer’s spiritual journey, you can try Understanding Sanctification in Christian Theology: What God Uses to Make His People Holy to find out more on how a person is transformed into a holy being by God.

What Are the Advantages and Difficulties of Seeking Christian Holiness?

Christian Holiness is a Diving Demand, and its Benefits and Liabilities are both Extensive. When we are able to grasp that, it can help prepare believers to walk even more resolutely and wisely in the way of Living Set Apart for God. The way of holiness is always a growing resemblance to Christ which bears fruit in the Spirit, and which meets resistance from the world, the flesh, and the devil.

What are the general effects of a holy life?

Notable Effects of a Christian Holiness life There are many benefits of living a life of Christian Holiness which directly influences the believers relationship with God, personal welfare and witness to the world. These are spiritual, emotional and relational pros:

1. More Personal Relationship with God: A true intimate relationship with God is brought forth through holiness. It is as followers pattern their lives after God’s own nature, that they feel His presence more concretely in their lives.
2. Spiritual Strength and Stability: The life of holiness strengthens the believer so that he is less prone to temptation and more firmly anchored in times of suffering.
3. Peace with God and Peace of Mind: Obedience and having a clear conscience with God brings inner peace far beyond anything anyone can experience on earth.
4. Service for God’s Purposes: God uses thosewho have circumcised their hearts for the building of His kingdom. Holiness renders the believer the fitter instrument for God’s use.
5. Compelling Witness to Others: A life that mirrors the holiness of God is a compelling evidence of the gospel, and will attract others to Christ.
6. Fruit in the Lives of Others: Holiness produces the fruit of the Spirit in a believer’s life—fruit such as the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control)—enriching his or her life and blessing others.
7. Freedom from Guilt and Shame: When we live righteous, we are no longer slaves to sin and we are freed from guilt and shame that comes with sin.
8. The confidence of prayer: If we live in obedience and holiness our hearts won’t condemn us and we can confidently come before God and ask for whatever we will.
9. Eternal Rewards Salvation is by grace, however the scripture teaches that a faithful and holy life lived unto God will be rewarded in eternity.
10. Protection and Provision of God: Certainly not a promise against all tribulation, the life directed in God’s will amounts to His covering and provision that are unique.

These are positive results that affirm that God’s call to Christian Holiness and Living Set Apart for God is a good thing.

What are some of the common Hindrances when it comes to Christian Holiness?

Christian perfection is no easy road. There are both internal and external forces that will attempt to hinder believers from Living Set Apart for God. Knowing this can be a step toward being ready to work through it:

1. The Flesh (Indwelling Sin Nature): Believers are new creations in Christ, however, they still battle with the vestiges of their old sin nature which lusts against the Spirit. This inner battle is the biggest blocker.
2. Influence Of The World: The morality, the lifestyle, and the enticements of the culture and world around us are frequently directly opposed to biblical holiness. Being pressured to conform to the world is just the daily battle.
3. Satan…Satan demons makes plans to take us down by tempting, deceiving, accusing, discouraging.
4. Disappointment and Doubt: There is disappointment with the journey of holiness. What can happen in response is that you will become disheartened and you will doubt that you can live a holy life, or that you can ever be fully a recipient of God’s grace.
5. Legalism: This is a very sneaky and dangerous enemy where the emphasis gets taken off of a heart relationship with God and put onto the letter of the rules, and it tends to lead to pride, or depression. Genuine Christian Holiness is Rule-led spirit driven.
6. Compromising and Not Caring: Spiritual sloth, an unwillingness to be passionate for God will keep a person in the same place in their spiritual development, a lack of growth in holiness.
7. Misinterpretation of Grace: Some may also in error think that because of God’s grace they can sin and still get away with their unholiness (antinomianism) and do without sanctification. Others may do service/accomplish missions and then struggle with receiving grace because of how their missions went, creating the opposite cycle of guilt, as opposed to repentance and healing.
8. Neglect Of Discipline Holiness is not possible apart from spiritual disciplines such as praying, Bible reading, and fellowship. These disciplines can lead to sin and hinder us from growing.
9. Fear of Man: Being more concerned about the opinion of others than of God can cause compromise and a cowardly failure to stand for Christ.
10. Past Hurt and Baggage: Untreated wounds, past offences or sinful practices may be enormous obstacles in gaining in holiness without being brought before the Lord for His healing and transformation.

Surmounting those obstacles requires continual reliance upon the Holy Spirit, a commitment to the Word of God, fellowship, and diligence.

What Kind of Spiritual Pilgrimage is Christian Perfection in Christian Spiritual Growth?

Christian Perfection is the transforming and progressive path of holiness in the context of Christian spiritual evolutionary Development. Once for all is the manner of justification, not only, but the life-long way of being fashioned according to the likeness of Jesus Christ. That process starts with what is called positional holiness, which is a once-for-all setting apart that occurs at the point of salvation, and progresses to practical holiness, which is the experiential expression of that new identity on an on-going basis. It is an active response of the person of faith, through spiritual disciplines, obedience, and surrender to the Holy Spirit who enables and directs the transformation. Christian Holiness then, is a life long journey of growing in love with God and others, looking more and more like Him and Living Set Apart for God in heart, mind, and body. This process is what Christian Spiritual Development is all about; it is what Christ-likeness is all about.

What other questions come to mind with respect to Christian spiritual growth?

In larger context of Christian Spiritual Development, which includes the Christian Holiness and also the Living Set Apart for God these as well as other related questions frequently emerge.

What is the distinction between moralism and Christian Holiness?

Moralism is no part of Christian Holiness. Moralism concentrates more on external behavior and compliance to prescribed rules, sometimes for the purpose of self-exaltation or being accepted by society, not rather than an internal heart change or a real relationship with God. Holiness in Christianity, being based on the reception of a new nature, a heart transformed by a Divine power, is impossible in the unsaved, whereas its power, as a fruit of Love for God the Father and Creator and the glory of fulfilling His image is transcendent. Though holy people will be moral, not all moral people will be holy in the biblical meaning of the term.

How does grace relate to the pursuit of Christian Holiness?

Grace is the underlying cause of the possibility and of the strength in the exercise of Christian Holiness. The saints are saved by grace, declared holy (positional sanctification) by grace and are made to grow in practical holiness (progressive sanctification) by grace. Grace is not contradictory to holiness; it rather instructs and enables the saints to deny ungodliness and live godly. The pursuit of holiness is a response to grace, not an effort to win God’s favor.

Is it possible for a Chrisitan to be perfected and holy in this present life?

The potential for perfect holiness in this life is a matter holding differing theological opinion. Some traditions, such as the Wesleyan-Holiness movement, teach a doctrine of “entire sanctification” or “Christian perfection” which is identified with perfect love for God and other people, and a freedom from willful sin, that has matured, within this world. But this is usually not considered to be sinless perfection or freedom from human weaknesses, ignorance, or shortcomings. Most other theological traditions also teach that though in this life believers are to strive toward perfection and will grow progressively more like Christ, it won’t be until glorification, when believers are in the presence of God, that sinless perfection is to be attained. They all consider the chase itself as a lifelong command.

What is the relation between Christian Holiness and witness to non-Christians?

Christian Holiness greatly effects one’s testimony to the unsaved, allowing the Gospel to be credible and desirable. A Christlike character of love, purity, integrity, and compassion is a convincing testimony of a quiet righteousness that gives evidence of God’s transforming power. When unbelievers perceive the reality of holiness, it has the potential to destabilize their preconceptions of what Christianity actually is, and draw them to ask where that encounter with humanity and holiness comes from. On the other hand, a lack of holiness can detract from one’s testimony and dishonor the name of Christ.

What are some popular misconceptions about Separation unto God?

There are a number of misconceptions about Living Set Apart for God and Christian Holiness. The first one is the misconception that holiness is just a check list of “do’s and “don’ts” or legalistic rule-keeping. Another is that people who live holy lives are boring, judgmental or out of touch with reality. Some see holiness as a sort of add-on, a kind of extra for ultra-spiritual Christians and not something for the rest of us to aspire to. Still others may believe that it is accomplished solely by man, by human might and power; in doing so, they also forget that the Spirit of God is vital. It also can be taken to mean ‘not actively,’ not seizing the day for godliness and fight with sin. Realizing that genuine Christian Holiness is a relationship of love for God, made possible by His Spirit, and evidenced in a joyful, transforming life, goes a long way in dispelling these misunderstanding.