The Biblical command for holiness is so strong, it shouts from almost every page, and yet is often ignored and passed over. Holiness is demanded of us, most importantly, because God Himself is holy. This concept is brought forth time and again in the Old Testament, and most noticeably in the Pentateuch, where God makes His covenant with His people. Leviticus 19:1,2 states this command most succinctly: "And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: "You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy."’" And in the New Testament it is reiterated for us in Matthew 5:48, "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." and also in 1 Peter 1:15-16, "But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy.’" If for no other reason, we must live pure, sinless lives simply because we run under the banner of the One who is holiness itself.

Not only must we be holy because God is holy, but also because holy God lives in us. 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 says, "Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are." What would happen to the American church if we really believed this? What would happen if we thought in terms of God destroying those who sullied His temple? We must live with a pure fear of the Lord in our hearts. After all, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 tells us we are not our own. "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s." The decisions we daily make to sin are really not ours to make.

Those who are in ministry (not just pastors, but all who are leaders) are called to an even higher level of holiness. Isaiah 52:11 says, "Depart! Depart! Go out from there, Touch no unclean thing; Go out from the midst of her, Be clean, You who bear the vessels of the LORD." and in Deuteronomy 14:2, "For you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples who are on the face of the earth."

But even the seemingly most insignificant member can affect the whole group. Never think that what you do hurts no one but yourself. In Joshua 7 we find the story of Achan. The children of Israel had been under strict orders on entering Jericho that they were to touch none of the spoil. All the precious metals were for the Lord, but nothing else was to even be touched; in fact it was to be burned. But Achan, apparently, after growing up all his life in the confines of the desert, was overcome by the temptation of the great wealth around him. He took an elegant imported garment, some silver, and a wedge of gold and buried them in the earth under his tent. "...so the anger of the LORD burned against the children of Israel" (v.1) The Lord’s wrath was visited not only on Achan, but on the whole nation of Israel. Not only that, but His Spirit of protection was lifted from the whole congregation.

So the men went up and spied out Ai. And they returned to Joshua and said to him, "Do not let all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not weary all the people there, for the people of Ai are few." So about three thousand men went up there from the people, but they fled before the men of Ai. And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six men, for they chased them from before the gate as far as Shebarim, and struck them down on the descent; therefore the hearts of the people melted and became like water. (v. 2-5)

When Joshua heard of the defeat, he, and the elders with him, fell on their faces before God to discover the cause of the failure. God answered them in verses 10 through 12:

Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face? Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. For they have even taken some of the accursed things, and have both stolen and deceived; and they have also put it among their own stuff. Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they have become doomed to destruction. Neither will I be with you anymore, unless you destroy the accursed from among you.

God didn’t say, "Achan has sinned." He said, "Israel has sinned." He didn’t view it as a little sin by an insignificant member, but as a national trespass bringing judgment on the whole group. Only when the sin and sinner were eradicated from the congregation was the wrath of God appeased and His protection returned.

But, besides his own holiness, God gives us other reasons for living holy before Him. Moses told the children of Israel in Deuteronomy 30:19-20,

I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.

The rule of obedience being blessed and the disobedient living under a curse follows throughout the Bible:

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly." (Genesis 17:1)

Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell forevermore. (Psalm 37:27)

Truly God is good to Israel, to such as are pure in heart. (Psalm 73:1)

Blessed are the undefiled in the way, Who walk in the law of the LORD! Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, Who seek Him with the whole heart! They also do no iniquity; They walk in His ways. (Psalm 119:1-3)

The highway of the upright is to depart from evil; He who keeps his way preserves his soul. (Proverbs 16:17)

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. (Matthew 5:6)

Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God. (Matthew 5:8)

So none of the accursed things shall remain in your hand, that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of His anger and show you mercy, have compassion on you and multiply you, just as He swore to your fathers, because you have listened to the voice of the LORD your God, to keep all His commandments which I command you today, to do what is right in the eyes of the LORD your God. (Deuteronomy 13:17-18)

Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you." (John 5:14)

Most people will agree that we should not sin, but they do not actually believe it is possible to live a sin-free life. 1 John 2:1 says, "My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." Notice, it does not say when we sin, but if we sin. 1 Thessalonians 5:22 says, "Abstain from every form of evil." Obviously we don’t have to sin, because God would not command us to do something we are incapable of doing. "But," you say, "these are just a couple isolated verses. Not enough to base a doctrine on." I beg to differ:

Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; (1 Corinthians 15:34a)

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, (Hebrews 12:1)

Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; (2 Peter 3:14)

We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him. (1 John 5:18)

Remember, God, through His apostles, would not encourage us to live sinless, unless we were capable of it. Those of us who have accepted what Jesus did for us on the cross, have His pure blood, the same blood that Adam and Eve had before they sinned, flowing through our veins. We are the ones who make the choice to sin or not sin.

The problem is our world has twisted holiness to mean anything but a life without sin. We fail to see what holiness was intended to be. Jesus makes it very clear for us that the Ten Commandments are still for New Testament believers in Matthew 5:17-18:

Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.

God, instead of becoming lax about sin after grace, takes it up a notch. Throughout the New Testament, every one from Jesus to the apostles lays down a new standard, even higher than that which was given to Moses on Mount Sinai. In Matthew 5:27-28, Jesus says, "You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." The Church has become so like the world, that we can read this verse without a twinge of conscience, while our movies, our magazines, our televisions, our jokes, and even our own eyes stand up and condemn us as guilty. 1 John 3:15, "Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him." should warn us that our jealousy, church quarrels, and bitterness will not go unrewarded. How many of us can say with Paul in Acts 24:16, "I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men."?

Often I have heard Christians discussing, in great depth and detail, the evil that is in this world, and even as they shake their heads in horror, there seems to be secret relish in the telling of it. Sometimes it is almost as if they are having an unofficial contest on who knows more weird and perverted people. But Ephesians 5:11-12 says, "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret." The beginning of 2 Corinthians 6:14, "Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers," has often been quoted at erring teens in regards to evil dating relationships, while those reciting it to them fail to evaluate their own lives by this passage. If we take verse 14 and continue on through verse 17, we discover that no darkness is allowed in the life of a Christian.

Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people." Therefore, "Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you."

Our passivity towards sin is clearly unbiblical as we can see in the end of Romans 12:9 which says, "Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good." Many of us would recoil at the sight of a snake or large insect, yet we shake hands with sin in the very face of God, while we neglect His Word and time alone with Him. There is no middle ground. We either hate sin or we embrace sin. We must wake up and realize there is no fence. If you believe you are walking one, take a look at your feet and you will come to the shocking awareness that you are actually in the enemy’s camp.

1 Corinthians 10:21-22 says, "You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?" For many years the Church, especially the Church in America, has been committing adultery with this world, while God’s righteous anger is mounting at our unfaithfulness. We think that we can bend the system, that God has to do things our way and wink at our sin, as if we know better than what is written in His Holy Word. Yet in Luke 6:46 the Word cries out, "But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?"

Too often we act on the mentality that we can do what we want and then ask God to forgive us later, as if we believe He must pardon us at our beck and call, whenever we condescend enough to say we are sorry (repentance, of course, being out of the question--after all we are under grace!). We have heard the cliché, "God is love," so many times, that we have ceased to fear Him. We don’t believe He is a God of judgment, and assure ourselves that was only for the Old Testament, completely ignoring Malachi 3:6, where it says, "For I am the LORD, I do not change...."

"Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever. Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, ‘Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth.’"(Revelation 5:7, 6:1) Church, our bowl is almost full. Even now, God’s judgment is about to fall. The church must turn to the Lord in repentance. "Seek the LORD, all you meek of the earth, who have upheld His justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden in the day of the LORD’S anger." (Zephaniah 2:3)