Hebrews 12:14 (NLT)
Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.
1 Peter 1:13-16 (NLT)
So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”
Holy people are obedient to God. Peter tells us that we must “live as God’s obedient children.” What does it mean to be obedient?
The Webster dictionary tells us that to be obedient means to be “submissive to the restraint or command of authority : willing to obey.”
Key word: Submissive.
When we come to Christ, we must do so on His terms. He’s not going to “work with us.” There’s no deal to be worked out. We either obey Him or we don’t. We either choose to live for Him or we don’t. There’s not a gray area here. Check out what Paul tells us in Ephesians:
Ephesians 4:21-24 (NLT)
Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.
When we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit renews us! He creates in us a new nature. It’s through Him and ONLY through Him that we can obey. It’s because of Him that we are no longer hell-bent on squeezing all that we can out of this fleeting life on earth. Instead, we are given an incredible hope in this age and the promise of eternal life beyond it!
I don’t have the ability to explain this any further so I’ll make my final point and close this out. We can’t be obedient to God on our own. Our only hope is the Holy Spirit working in our lives.
Your only hope is the Holy Spirit working in your life.
Pray the following prayer every morning when you wake up and every evening when you go to sleep and see what God reveals to you:
God, I want to make sure I come to You on Your terms. I want to make sure that I’m not living for me. Please show me things in my life that are causing me to disobey You and give me a way to overcome them. I trust You and I love You. Amen.
Holy people are obedient to God.
