In The Beauty Of Holiness

It is not popular to go against the flow of society.  If you don’t cuss and swear; tell dirty jokes; find humor in sin; go out to the bars and night clubs; frequent other worldly amusements; then your coworkers probably don’t want to spend any social time with you.  It has always been that way for me.  We can’t fit into the Kingdom of God and also be fit into the world.  God has called us out of the world.  We are to live and worship in the beauty of holiness.  Just what does that mean?

Psalms 29:2 KJV Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.

It may sound like a contradiction of instructions; “Go into all the world;” then “Come out of her my people.”

Mark 16:15 KJV  And he said unto them,  Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

Revelation 18:4 KJV And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

John 17:15-17 KJV I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.  (16)  They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.  (17)  Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

Until Jesus Christ returns and establishes His Kingdom, we must live in this world; but we are not to be “of” the world or belonging to the world.  We are not to embrace the world’s standard.  We must be in this world and go throughout the world to take the Gospel message to every part of the world as a witness.  We are to share the love and hope of Jesus Christ; of His death, burial and resurrection; to help lead others to repentance, water baptism in Jesus’ name and the gift of the Holy Ghost.  God wants us to do His work; but to remain unspotted from the world.  Jesus prayed that we should not be taken out of the world, but that we should be kept from evil.  The beauty of holiness is an inner spirit that emanates from us through our attitudes, emotions, thoughts and actions.  It is a complete surrender of our will to God’s will by putting on the mind of Christ; which only happens by the infilling of the Holy Ghost.  The light of Jesus Christ should shine in and through us in a visible way for the world around us to see. 

Philippians 2:1-5 ES  So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,  (2)  complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.  (3)  Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.  (4)  Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 

Philippians 2:5 KJV Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

We are Ambassadors for Jesus Christ; which means that we are representatives of the Kingdom of God and of the government of God.  An ambassador goes ahead of the president or monarch to enact policy for that leader and government in place of that leader and government.  We are to encourage the world to be reconciled to God and live God’s way.  We must first set the example of that way.

2 Corinthians 5:20 KJV Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.

Some people think, that apostolic people are all about physical and outward things like dress, hair and attire; but those things only reflect an inner spirit that is at one with God’s Holy Spirit which is the Holy Ghost.  The desire and conviction comes from the Holy Ghost with great joy.  If someone finds themselves complying with a standard begrudgingly and against their will, then they have not embraced holiness.  Embracing holiness will only happen when Christ lives inside an individual and it radiates from the Holy Ghost.  The Church can not convict anyone; only the Holy Ghost, which is God in and through Christ Jesus.