Our name | Mission | Vision | Leaders Ministries | Schedule | Directions | Contact Home   Gateway Church gathers for worship Sundays at 10:30 a.m. Location: 6425 Jefferson Rd. (Hwy. 129) in Athens, Georgia. For directions, click here. Ministry of the Word: Recent sermons Our quarterly e-magazine Gateway Today For the Gateway family Pastor Jerry's Weekly E-Mail A GATEWAY SERMON SUMMARY AUDIO Holy, holey, wholly (Third in a series) Jerry Varnado, pastor Gateway Church, Athens GA November 26, 2006 Main Scripture text: 1 Peter 1:15-16 Just what does God mean when He says we "must be holy"? Sermons in this series: Soap, Fire, and Holiness Everybody has troubles. But if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you can be assured that the difficulties you're facing are not useless or meaningless. Holiness: Roots or Fruits? There is a 'personal' holiness that can also make a difference in the world in the world around us. Holy, Holey, Wholly Just what does God mean when He says we "must be holy"? In Scripture, the word "holy" has two aspects: 1) Total consecration (or surrender); 2) Being set apart for God's purposes. Many people have argued over whether becoming holy is something we do or something God does. The truly biblical answer is that it is both. We are made holy by the blood of Jesus. But then the Lord calls us work out our holiness in everyday life through obedience to His Word and His Spirit. We are made holy instantly by the sovereign act of God. We are then perfected in holiness as we submit ourselves to Him day after day. We often think of holiness as being the same as righteousness, but that's not exactly true. Righteousness has to do with always doing the "right" thing in our relationship with God and others. Jesus is righteous because He fulfills the demands of His relationship as Son of the Father. As we give ourselves to God through obedience, fulfilling the righteous demands of that relationship, God imparts to us the holiness of Jesus. Our interior nature is so transformed that we begin to respond to others with the nature and character of Jesus. My title is rather tongue-in-cheek, but the other two words are not unrelated to holiness. "Holey" is the adjective form of hole, which means: "An opening or perforation." For God to do His work in us, we must allow Him access to our lives. If we are ever to be holy, we must first be holey. The other word, "wholly," means "entirely or exclusively." Jesus made it clear that we can't serve two masters. If we're to be holy, we have give ourselves wholly to God. If we are holey (opened to God) and wholly surrendered to Him, then He will make us holy. Supporting texts: Exodus 19:6 | Leviticus 11:44 | Deuteronomy 26:19 | 1 Thessalonians 4:7-8 | Hebrews 12:14 | Leviticus 27:28 | Romans 12:1-2 | 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 | 1 Corinthians 15:33 | Hebrews 10:11-14 | Romans 6:19-23 | John 8:29 A mp3 audio file of this sermon is here (30 min.). (Download to a PC by right clicking on the link and choosing "Save Target As." Mac users: click, hold, and choose "Download Link to Disk." Depending on your connection speed, the file may take several minutes to download.) An audio tape of the sermon summarized above is available free of charge (U.S. requests only). Request a tape by calling or writing the Gateway Church office. Please specify tape number 061126a: Holy, Holey, Wholly. © 2006 Gerald R. Varnado To the Gateway Church home page How to contact us