Did you know that you were made to be holy! For we read in (Ephesians 1:4): “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight…” And again, we see this theme in (Leviticus 20:7-8): “Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God. Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the Lord, who makes you holy.”
While we often don’t act holy, even as Christians, Christ’s imputed righteousness has placed us as believers in a holy and blameless position before God. And the reality is when we don’t act holy and live up to God’s standard of holiness we feel incomplete and guilty that we have let Christ down. R.C. Sproul shares an important insight here when he said: “We were made for holiness. And when we reject it, we suffer a deprivation—a deep-rooted sense of lostness and restlessness because we are out of sync with the nature for which we were made.”1
Since God is holy and our desire as Christians should be to daily become more like God, living a holy lifestyle should be something we yearn to fulfill. Thus, obedience to God’s commandments are not optional if we want to travel on the deeper road of holiness. So, the big question before us is how do we make becoming more obedient to the commands of God our way of life.
I know for me obedience becomes much easier when I am able to look at the commandments of God not just as my Christian duty, but as my Christian delight. In (Psalm 119) we see that the psalmist says in nine separate verses that God’s commandments are his delight. As an example, consider what we read in (Psalm 119:35): “Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight.” Notice here that the psalmist finds delight in carrying out God’s commands.
I believe we too can make obedience to God delightful for several reasons. First, when we obey God we put a smile on His face because we are doing something that pleases our Lord. Second, we are guaranteed to find joy since joy is a byproduct of obedience to the word of God. Third, when we obey God’s commandments we are helping to advance God’s kingdom on earth and this brings with it a unique satisfaction all its own. And fourth, as we obey the Lord we manifest more holiness. And for me there is nothing more wonderful than becoming more holy and becoming more conformed to the image of Jesus.
While we were made for holiness, this doesn’t come automatically. Yes, like sanctification there is both a positional and progressive aspect to holiness. While we are positionally holy at the moment of salvation we will spend the rest of our lives in striving to become more holy in our outward behavior and our inward thoughts. But to me this challenge is not just a duty but a wonderful delight since pleasing my Savior is the passion of my life.
I pray that you begin this holiness journey from duty to delight – it just may revolutionize your walk with the Lord!
1 Inspirational Quotes by R. C. Sproul – page 35 (bibleportal.com)