Ep 884 – Sanctification – Leviticus 11:44-45

Be holy! You won't find two other words like these that are as capable of striking fear into the life of a Christian. Whether you read them in Leviticus 11:44-45 or 1 Peter 1:14-16, they carry the same weight and produce the same impact. In either case, God is calling His people to be holy, as He is holy. That's a seriously lofty standard that would leave anyone questioning the sanity behind the command and the viability of anyone ever pulling it off. And yet, both the Old and New Testaments call us to be holy. So, what exactly is God's expectation of us? Is He demanding that we become what we are not, or is He encouraging us to live as who we already are? The doctrine of sanctification has gotten a bad rap because too often we assume that our spiritual growth is up to us. God saved us, but we somehow have to perfect ourselves. But nothing could be further from the truth.