Why care about being holy? Why be willing to say no to your flesh and yes to God, day in and day out? Because the world desperately needs to see what God is like. Because it is your created purpose and your ultimate destiny to be holy. Because of the price Jesus paid to make you holy. Because you are a saint. Because holy people get to see and know God. Because you’re getting ready to move to a place where there is no sin. And because your example may inspire someone who is watching you to choose or reject the pathway of holiness.
Holiness, The Heart God Purifies, Moody Publishers, p. 65-66. Get this book!
As Christians, we are called to maintain lives that can be “toured” by outsiders at any time, without embarrassment. A commitment to holiness means having a life that is always “ready for company” and open for inspection – a life that can stand up to scrutiny – not just in the obvious things, but in the hidden places where most might not think to look.
Holiness, The Heart God Purifies, Moody Publishers, p. 152. Get this book!
Christians are supposed to be conspicuously holy, not for our own reputation but for God’s. We are to be the light of the world, so that when people see our good deeds they will glorify God (Matt. 5:16).
Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, Crossway, 2000, p. 176. Get this book!
God’s people across the covenants are to be known by their holiness, being set apart for God. In the Old Testament this was particularly marked by their distinct ethnicity, their distinct dress, and their distinct food. Under the covenant of the New Testament, however, holiness is not marked off by the food we eat, but by the lives we live in distinction from the world around us.
The Story of Love by Michael Lawrence taken from Biblical Theology by Michael Lawrence, copyright 2010, Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton Illinois 60187, www.crosswaybooks.org. Page 146.
It is not great talents God blesses so much as great likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God.
A holy life will make the deepest impression. Lighthouses blow no horns; they just shine.
The serene, silent beauty of a holy life is the most powerful influence in the world, next to the might of God.
Doctrine is useless if it is not accompanied by a holy life. It is worse than useless; it does positive harm. Something of ‘the image of Christ’ must be seen and observed by others in our private life, and habits, and character, and doings.
Your life is an argument that none can escape. There is a meaning about holiness which not even the most unlearned can help taking in. They may not understand justification, but they can understand charity. I believe there is far more harm done by unholy and inconsistent Christians than we are aware of. Such men are among Satan’s best allies. They pull down by their lives what ministers build with their lips. They cause the chariot wheels of the Gospel to drive heavily. They supply the children of this world with a never-ending excuse for remaining as they are.
Taken from Holiness by J.C. Ryle, Moody Publishers, copyright 2010, p. 94.
In proportion as a church is holy, in that proportion will its testimony for Christ be powerful.
1000 Devotional Thoughts, Baker, 1976, n. 408, p. 205.
The greatest contribution anyone can make is the example of a holy life.
The communion of the gospel is by seeing as well as by hearing. This double strand runs all through the Bible: image and word, vision and voice, opening the eyes of the blind and unstopping the ears of the deaf. Just as Jesus is the Word of God and the Image of God. The Word become visible, the Image audible… We are familiar enough with the verbal element of evangelism. Where is the visual?
Spiritual credibility springs from a holy and pure life. Righteousness may not get the popular vote, but it should have no rivals in the preparation of an effective leader. From the pulpit to the pew, nothing is more stabilizing, more admirable, more compelling among the leadership qualifications than our personal holiness.
Exemplary Spiritual Leadership, DayOne, 2010, p. 23, Used by Permission.
