Personal Holiness and Spiritual Authority: Pillars for Believers
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You gotta be killing sin or it's gonna kill you. You've gotta actively mortify this. You've gotta actively put this to death. And again, you can't do this apart from the Spirit of God. This is all part and parcel of a pure life and living a pure life every day. This is not something you do once a week. It's something that you do every single day of your life, and you're gonna keep doing it till you go to heaven.
If you're not praying, you need to, because really prayer is like breathing. If you're not praying, then are you spiritually alive? Because I know if you stop physically breathing, what's gonna happen? You're gonna die. Right? But we have to be depending on the Spirit, and we have to walk in dependence on the Spirit. It’s not by your ingenuity. It's not by your creativity. It is only by the Spirit that you are putting to death the practices of the body.
And see, prior salvation, we couldn't live this kind of life. We were slaves of sin—chained to our sin. But when the chains came off, Jesus broke the curse we were under and gave us eternal life, which is not just a duration of life, but a quality of life. He transformed us, awakened us from spiritual death, and has given us spiritual life. And if there is no change—if there's no difference in your life now versus before you confessed Christ—then there's no change and there's no salvation. Salvation produces a transformed life.
So since that's the case, we gotta be careful what we expose ourselves to. Not everything is good for us. Sorry—you can't read or watch trash without paying a price. What we should do before we read something or before we watch something, maybe we should be asking, “Is God gonna be able to be glorified if I do this? If I watch this, if I see this, if I read this, if I hear this, will he be glorified?” We are to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Now if you're hearing these things and you're saying, “I just haven't been living like that,” then go to the Savior right now and confess that. You can't live this life apart from him. The unsaved man can't live what I've described—totally impossible. And I could say it this way: the saved man can't live what I just said either unless he's walking in the Spirit. When you walk in the Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit will be produced. So evaluate where you're at: do you really know him?
Now we pointed out that this was figurative language because no amount of self-mutilation can deal with sin—this is an issue of the heart. The Lord is emphasizing the seriousness of sin and the need to do whatever is necessary to deal with it. So in this metaphorical sense, if your hand causes you to sin, you cut it off; if it's your foot, you cut it off; if it's your eye, you gouge it out. It’s talking about how extreme we must be to fight our sin.
The word conduct refers to your manner of acting, and it conveys a reversal of direction. You're living your life apart from Christ—going in the direction of hell. But when God saves you, he turns you around and you no longer pursue that direction of life. You turn from sin. You've experienced a reversal. Peter says, “You’ve spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do.” That former life is the past, not the present, for someone in Christ.
That phrase “let us cleanse ourselves” is something that each of us has to do. It's not “let go and let God,” but mutual cooperation—we are involved. First John says, “Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure.” You purify yourself. You abstain from sexual immorality. You pursue righteousness. You pursue being holy. So in a very practical way, we should enforce standards among ourselves—guardrails that protect us from giving in to the flesh.
He gives a number of steps: if you see a brother or sister in sin, you go to that person first privately—between you and him alone. This is not public information. Your goal is to win your brother. If he doesn't hear, you take one or two more. If they don’t hear, you tell it to the church. And the whole church is involved, not for casual fellowship, but to call them to repent. And if they refuse, you treat them like an unbeliever—because that’s what they’re demonstrating.
To have a high view of God, to submit to the absolute authority of Scripture, and to sound doctrine, there has to be personal holiness. And it all wraps up with spiritual authority: we need accountability to live this way. Jesus Christ is the head of his church. When you confess Jesus, you called him “Lord.” But if the Bible stays on the shelf all week and you live like he has nothing to do with your life, that sounds like you’re not recognizing him as Lord.
We’re told in Hebrews to pursue sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. Without holiness, you're not gonna see the Lord. In our natural state, we can't see him because in our natural state we’re in sin. But once the Lord saves us, we’re given the righteousness of Jesus—it’s imputed to us. We’re clothed in his righteousness and holiness, and that's the only thing that will ever make us ready for heaven. But we can’t live this pure life without the ongoing ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Look at Colossians: “Consider the members of your earthly body as dead”—dead to sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, greed. The word “consider” carries the idea of mortify—put to death. If you're tempted in a sexual way, put it to death. If it's greed, put it to death. You do it by the Spirit, not in your own power, because you can’t. But you are involved. You do whatever you need to do to die to self so the Spirit of God can work in you.
I remember when I stopped partying and started talking about Jesus—people I used to party with didn’t want anything to do with me. They tried to tempt me back, and they were dumbfounded that I didn’t want it anymore. And I remember a man I had trouble with; after I came to Christ he said, “There is something different about you now, and I want it.” God delivered me—he changed my life. And your testimony may not be like mine, but if you're in Christ, he has transformed your life too.
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If you're not praying, you need to, because really prayer is like breathing. If you're not praying, then are you spiritually alive? Because I know if you stop physically breathing, what's gonna happen? You're gonna die. Right? But we have to be depending on the Spirit, and we have to walk in dependence on the Spirit. It’s not by your ingenuity. It's not by your creativity. It is only by the Spirit that you are putting to death the practices of the body.
And see, prior salvation, we couldn't live this kind of life. We were slaves of sin—chained to our sin. But when the chains came off, Jesus broke the curse we were under and gave us eternal life, which is not just a duration of life, but a quality of life. He transformed us, awakened us from spiritual death, and has given us spiritual life. And if there is no change—if there's no difference in your life now versus before you confessed Christ—then there's no change and there's no salvation. Salvation produces a transformed life.
So since that's the case, we gotta be careful what we expose ourselves to. Not everything is good for us. Sorry—you can't read or watch trash without paying a price. What we should do before we read something or before we watch something, maybe we should be asking, “Is God gonna be able to be glorified if I do this? If I watch this, if I see this, if I read this, if I hear this, will he be glorified?” We are to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Now if you're hearing these things and you're saying, “I just haven't been living like that,” then go to the Savior right now and confess that. You can't live this life apart from him. The unsaved man can't live what I've described—totally impossible. And I could say it this way: the saved man can't live what I just said either unless he's walking in the Spirit. When you walk in the Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit will be produced. So evaluate where you're at: do you really know him?
Now we pointed out that this was figurative language because no amount of self-mutilation can deal with sin—this is an issue of the heart. The Lord is emphasizing the seriousness of sin and the need to do whatever is necessary to deal with it. So in this metaphorical sense, if your hand causes you to sin, you cut it off; if it's your foot, you cut it off; if it's your eye, you gouge it out. It’s talking about how extreme we must be to fight our sin.
The word conduct refers to your manner of acting, and it conveys a reversal of direction. You're living your life apart from Christ—going in the direction of hell. But when God saves you, he turns you around and you no longer pursue that direction of life. You turn from sin. You've experienced a reversal. Peter says, “You’ve spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do.” That former life is the past, not the present, for someone in Christ.
That phrase “let us cleanse ourselves” is something that each of us has to do. It's not “let go and let God,” but mutual cooperation—we are involved. First John says, “Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure.” You purify yourself. You abstain from sexual immorality. You pursue righteousness. You pursue being holy. So in a very practical way, we should enforce standards among ourselves—guardrails that protect us from giving in to the flesh.
He gives a number of steps: if you see a brother or sister in sin, you go to that person first privately—between you and him alone. This is not public information. Your goal is to win your brother. If he doesn't hear, you take one or two more. If they don’t hear, you tell it to the church. And the whole church is involved, not for casual fellowship, but to call them to repent. And if they refuse, you treat them like an unbeliever—because that’s what they’re demonstrating.
To have a high view of God, to submit to the absolute authority of Scripture, and to sound doctrine, there has to be personal holiness. And it all wraps up with spiritual authority: we need accountability to live this way. Jesus Christ is the head of his church. When you confess Jesus, you called him “Lord.” But if the Bible stays on the shelf all week and you live like he has nothing to do with your life, that sounds like you’re not recognizing him as Lord.
We’re told in Hebrews to pursue sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. Without holiness, you're not gonna see the Lord. In our natural state, we can't see him because in our natural state we’re in sin. But once the Lord saves us, we’re given the righteousness of Jesus—it’s imputed to us. We’re clothed in his righteousness and holiness, and that's the only thing that will ever make us ready for heaven. But we can’t live this pure life without the ongoing ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Look at Colossians: “Consider the members of your earthly body as dead”—dead to sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, greed. The word “consider” carries the idea of mortify—put to death. If you're tempted in a sexual way, put it to death. If it's greed, put it to death. You do it by the Spirit, not in your own power, because you can’t. But you are involved. You do whatever you need to do to die to self so the Spirit of God can work in you.
I remember when I stopped partying and started talking about Jesus—people I used to party with didn’t want anything to do with me. They tried to tempt me back, and they were dumbfounded that I didn’t want it anymore. And I remember a man I had trouble with; after I came to Christ he said, “There is something different about you now, and I want it.” God delivered me—he changed my life. And your testimony may not be like mine, but if you're in Christ, he has transformed your life too.
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