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Guest Corner
Joyce Stevens
Whose Standards Are You
Following?
Part Two
As we continue on with our study I’d like to
remind you of what a standard is. It is defined as a rule or a measure that is
established by a sovereign power or that which is established as a rule or model
by the authority of public opinion or custom.
We
choose to follow after God’s Standards or the worlds.
Today
God dwells in the hearts of those who choose to receive Him as Savior and Lord.
He is a Holy God with Holy Standards. Our Holy God is a God of mercy and justice
who cares personally for each of us and expects us to imitate Him by following
His standards.
To
imitate means to follow in manner, to copy in form, color or quality. To attempt
or endeavor to copy or resemble another.
Our
natural children imitate our behaviors, actions and attitudes. How often have
we heard it said, “He looks and acts just like his Dad”. As I shared in part
one of this teaching, our youngest daughter had the tendency to inherit the
characteristics of her natural father. Father God has higher standards for us
to imitate.
Romans
12:1-2
And so, dear brothers and sisters,
I plead
with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them
be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly
the way to worship him.* 2 Don't
copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a
new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will
for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. NLT
This is
one of my favorite scriptures because it gives me hope. It tells me that if I
present myself to God and follow after His standards that I will be transformed
into a new person. Many years ago I remember seeing a cartoon, it showed a
picture of a person half on and half off an old fashioned alter. The
inscription under the cartoon said, “ The problem with human sacrifices is that
they keep crawling off the altar. “ God does not force us to surrender our
lives to him; we must do it willingly. The sacrifice God is looking for is a
willing heart.
In the Old Testament God dwelled in a
tabernacle made by man. Only certain people could enter into the Holy place.
Today He longs to dwell in the hearts of man, of those who are willing to
surrender their lives to Him and become holy.
1 Corinthians
6:19-20
19 What?
Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you,
which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
20 For
ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your
spirit, which are God's. KJV
1 Peter
1:15-16
15 But
as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of
conversation;
16 Because
it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. KJV
We cannot become Holy on our own. His word
commands us to be holy; it is not a suggestion. God gave us His Word and the
Holy Spirit. This enabling power of the Holy Spirit is to help us obey His Word
and overcome sin. God never requires anything of us that He has not already
prepared a way for us to attain or become.
John
17:17-18
17
Make
them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. NLT
1
Thessalonians 5:23-24
23 Now
may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and
soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. NLT
This
word holy is the word sanctify. It means to be set apart for God, to be
separate from things profane and to be dedicated to God, to dedicate or
consecrate to God.
Just as every person and article in the Old Testament
tabernacle was consecrated to God, set apart for His use; God wants us to be
consecrated and set apart for God’s use every day, not just on Sunday.
What are some of the attributes of a person who walks in
holiness? They are the same attributes that God has. They walk in integrity
before God and man.
Integrity:
wholeness, entireness, an unbroken state. Integrity comprehends the whole moral
character. The entire unimpaired state of anything, particularly of the mind.
Moral soundness or purity. Uprightness in dealings with others, honest.
Integrity is:
1.
Steadfast
adherence to a strict
moral or
ethical
code.
2.
The state of being
wholesome;
unimpaired
3.
The quality or condition of being
complete;
pure
Synonyms are:
·
honesty
·
uprightness
·
rectitude
·
unity
·
wholeness
·
purity
·
goodness
·
probity
·
sincerity
·
virtue
·
decency
Honest:
Upright,
just, fair in dealing with others. Free from fraud or trickery. Acting and
having the disposition to act at all times according to justice or correct moral
principles. Frank and sincere dealings proceeding from a pure or just
principle. Decent, honorable, faithful, integrity.
Righteous:
Right
wise. Just, according to divine law. One who is holy in heart and observant of
the divine command in practice. In scripture the righteous denote the servants
of God.
Faithful:
Firm in adherence to the truth and to the duties of religion. Firmly adhering
to duty, loyal, true. Constant in the performance of duties or services. Exact
in attending to commands. Conformable to truth, worthy of belief.
Moral:
Relating
to the practice, manners or conduct of men as social beings in relation to each
other and with reference to right and wrong. The word moral is applicable to
actions that are good or evil, virtuous or vicious and has reference to the law
of God as the standard by which their character is to be determined.
In
general moral denotes something which respects the conduct of men and their
relations as social beings whose actions have a bearing on each other’s right
and happiness.
1 Thessalonians 4:1-13
Finally, dear brothers and sisters,* we
urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God, as we
have taught you. You live this way already, and we encourage you to do so even
more.
2 For
you remember what we taught you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.3 God's
will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin.
4 Then
each of you will control his own body* and
live in holiness and honor—
5 not
in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and his ways.
6 Never
harm or cheat a Christian brother in this matter by violating his wife,* for
the Lord avenges all such sins, as we have solemnly warned you before.
7 God
has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives.
8 Therefore,
anyone who refuses to live by these rules is not disobeying human teaching but
is rejecting God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.9 But
we don't need to write to you about the importance of loving each other,* for
God himself has taught you to love one another.
10 Indeed,
you already show your love for all the believers* throughout
Macedonia. Even so, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you to love them even
more.11 Make
it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with
your hands, just as we instructed you before.
12 Then
people who are not Christians will respect the way you live, and you will not
need to depend on others.
2
Corinthians 6:14-18
14 Don’t
team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with
wickedness? How can light live with darkness?
15 What
harmony can there be between Christ and the devil*?
How
Can a
believer be a partner with an unbeliever?
16 And
what union can there be between God's temple and idols? For we are the temple of
the living God. As God said: "I will live in them and walk among them. I will be
their God, and they will be my people.* 17 Therefore,
come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the
Lord. Don't touch their filthy
things, and I will welcome you.* 8 And
I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the
Lord Almighty.*"
Hebrews
12:10-13
For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew
how. But God's discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his
holiness.
11 No
discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it's painful! But afterward there
will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this
way.
12 So
take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees.
13 Mark
out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not
fall but become strong.
14 Work
at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who
are not holy will not see the Lord.
As we
have just read, God clearly requires us to live holy lives. Thank God we don’t
have to endeavor to walk this alone; we have the enabling power of the Holy
Spirit to empower us.
In
conclusion I’d like to bring back to you remembrance the meaning of the word
standard and briefly cover the two standards that we choose from.
A standard is a rule
or a measure that is established by a sovereign power, or that which is
established as a rule or model by the authority of public opinion or custom.
God’s Standards:
Characteristics or attributes such as
integrity, holiness, honesty, righteousness, faithfulness and morally right
conduct are the standards God has established.
Worldly Standards:
Galatians 5:19-21
19 When
you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual
immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures,
20 idolatry,
sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition,
dissension, division,
21 envy,
drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as
I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom
of God.
Whose standards are
you following?
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