Holiness and Happiness
Holy (be good) ↔ Happy (feel good)
- “Holiness differs nothing from happiness but in name.” – Thomas Brooks.
- Rejecting sin does not mean turning happiness away.
Holiness does not mean resisting pleasure, but seeing Jesus as the greatest source of delight.
2 paths to happiness: sinful way or holy way
<Ps 16>
4 The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply….
2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
I have no good apart from you.”
11 You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Holiness
- Not merely morally good.
– God wants people to worship Him, not just people who are morally good. - Holy God: ‘Separated’ from human infirmity and sin; exalted above all His creation.
Leviticus 19:2 “Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.
Leviticus 20:7 “‘Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God.
1 Peter 1: 15 – 16 “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
- How can unholy sinners be consecrated?
– God is inherently holy, but we only can become holy after Christ’s righteousness credited to us.
– “Positional” holiness >>> “Practical” holiness
To be holy is to be consecrated.
1) Danger of not being consecrated.
- Old Testament:
- Moses had to remove sandals on holy ground <Ex 3:5>
- Isaiah said woe to him when the unclean him saw the holy God <Isa 6:5>
- Priest had to consecrate himself before entering Most Holy Place <Lev 16>
- If defile or despise God’s holiness, have serious consequences.
- Easily compromise and give up God-related things.
- Easily give in to flesh.
<Isa 6> 5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
2) Examine if you are a consecrated Christian:
- Do you feel the tension living in this world?
- How similar are you with the world?
- Have you syncretized with the world?
3) Be consecrated while in the world.
- A consecrated Christian living concerns the whole, not segments, of life.
- Instead of blending with the world, infuse gospel in every part of life.
- Know > Confirm > Personal conviction > Act > Repeat
Reflection
1) How consecrated do you think you are?
(Tension or similar with the world? Segments of life or whole life consecrated?)
2) Do you have the motivation to be holy?
Realistically, how do you see the connection between holiness and happiness?
