Difference Between Holy and Unholy Lev. 10: 10 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
Today’s Christians have lost sight of the holiness of God and therefore make little to no distinction between those things that are holy and those things that are unholy. They don’t know the difference between holy and unholy. And we cannot be content to be unholy, because Jesus said, “Be ye holy; for I am holy.” He didn’t say ACT holy. The Pharisees did that and they were filthy. He said BE holy. There is a big difference. You can put on the appearance of a clean life and still be just as wicked as hell on the inside. On the other hand, if you will clean up the inside, the outside will clean up just like the inside and it won’t be an act. Look what Jesus said in Matt 23:25-26.
Now there is no excuse for you not to be holy. Your Savior is holy [1 Pet 1:16; Heb 7:26], the Spirit is holy [Acts 1:5], the scriptures are holy [Rom 1:2], and the temple (the body of Christ) is holy [1 Cor 3:17; Eph 2:21]. Not only that but we are to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is our REASONABLE service [Rom 12:1]. And whether we like it or not, when this life is over, we will be presented holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight [Col1:22].
Nevertheless, the truth is that there is a lot of unholy living going on and it needs to stop. A big reason for this unholy living is that Christians have lost the ability to tell the difference between the holy and the unholy. So, we are going to help you make the distinction by identifying some of those things that are holy and unholy.
Fornication is unholy – 1 Cor 6:9 – Christians have evidently gotten the idea that fornication is acceptable to God if it is an acceptable practice between consenting adults who are dating. It is not. Marriage is holy – Heb 13:4 – The marriage bed of a married couple is undefiled. And they should keep it that way. Don’t bring defiling worldly practices into this union. You can’t make a defiling worldly practice undefiled by bringing it home to your spouse. Furthermore, notice that God will judge whoremongers and adulterers. So, adultery is unholy, as well [Matt 5:28]. You’d better watch out what you’re watching. And ladies you’d better watch what you’re wearing.
Idolatry is unholy – 1 Cor 6:9 – The obvious idols are the statues you find in your church. If you are saved and you still genuflect to the host and the crucifix and still excuse those statues as merely “aids to worship” you are a defiled idolater. The idols that are not so obvious are the ones that you have in your heart [Ezek 14:3-4]. These are subtle ones that replace God in your heart. One of the most prevalent ones is a spirit which men follow rather than the word of God.
A foul mouth is unholy – Eph 5:3-7; Jas 3:8-12 – Around South Texas a lot of Christians cuss and tell dirty jokes. They think that kind of talk is acceptable with God. But you can see from the Bible that it is not. It is an indication that you have an unholy heart.
Alcohol and tobacco are unholy – Eph 5:18; 1 Jn 2:16 – The underlying cause of these sins is the lust of the flesh and the lust of the flesh is not of the Father. Your body is the temple of the HOLY GHOST. You are not going to be filled with the Holy Spirit when you are serving your lusts. The Holy Spirit would never lead you to drink, smoke and dip. He is holy and you must be also.
Conclusion: If you have any of these things going on in your life then you are lacking holiness. If Jesus had even one sin in his life then he would not be holy and undefiled as Heb 7:26 said. If the Holy Spirit had any area of his life that was defiled then he would not be the Holy Spirit. If the scriptures had one defiling thing in them, they would not he holy. And when you have something in your life that is not holy then you are not holy. You need to get that thing out of your life. You need to pray and tell Jesus that you now know that thing in your life is unholy and ask him to make you holy when you get it out of your life. That way you can present your body a holy living sacrifice. Part II of this message will continue with the next broadcast.