Holy Life

LIVING A HOLY LIFE

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.  Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and Yahweh the God of peace shall be with you. Philippians 4:8-9

What does it mean to live a holy life? The first thing that comes to my mind is to be a disciple. A disciple is someone who has discipline, such as doing the right things, and being dead to the flesh and the lusts of the flesh. If we cannot kill our fleshly desires we cannot be His disciples. Yahweh has called us to be holy which means to be set apart and separate from the world. 1John 2:15-17 says, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever."
2 Corinthians 6:14-18 says "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 15 And what concord hath Messiah with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 16 And what agreement hath the temple of Yahweh with idols? for ye are the temple of the living Yahweh; as Yahweh hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their Elohim, and they shall be my people."

Also, 2 Corinthians 6:17-18 says, "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith Yahweh, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith Yahweh Almighty."

The Father really has a standard for us to live by. I have heard some people say "I looked, but I didn't touch, so it wasn't really sin." But Yahweh wants our thoughts to be pure also!! Yeshua expounded upon the commandments by taking them a step further and deeper. He said in Matthew 5:21, "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: 22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire." Then He said in verse 27 "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: 28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." Seems pretty simple to me! Yahweh and Yeshua do want us to have pure thoughts, minds, and hearts.

What is our reason for living a holy life? Some people want to appear holy or live holy lives because the are attempting to achieve salvation through their works. They are putting the cart ahead of the horse, though. If we are truly saved, we should have works and fruits of righteousness and a desire for Yahweh and Yeshua to be King and master of our lives. (IN EVERY AREA!)

The gospel according to most of today's churches says that all we have to do is ask Jesus into our hearts and that is all He wants from us. That's not the testimony of the Scriptures though. He desires for us to become His bride and to be in a right relationship with Him and not grieve his Holy Spirit. Yeshua said in John 14:15 "If ye love me, keep my commandments." What are Yeshua's commandments? In John 10:30 Yeshua spoke and said, "I and my Father are one." So Yeshua's commandments are Father Yahweh's commandments!

Let's remember that our number one motivation and the driving force for obedience to the commandments of Yahweh is love. Because of that love we will want to obey. Not because we have to, but because we want to.

Yahweh has so many blessings He desires to give us, but He gives us a choice.

• To serve Him and choose life and blessings

or

• To make up our own rules and choose death and cursings.

Deu 11:26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; 27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of Yahweh your Elohim, which I command you this day: 28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of Yahweh your Elohim, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.

If you have not read the Holy Spirit page on our site yet, I would suggest it for further reading as well as the Torah page. Both of these issues tie back into this subject of holiness.

Disclaimer: This article is provided by a third-party source. Providing a third-party article on rastafarigroundation.com indicates that we stand behind the content of that particular article, but it is not an endorsement by RasTafari Groundation of the author's opinion, lifestyle or work published elsewhere.