The Christian Family: Children, Fatherhood, and Generational Faithfulness: The World And Times Of Jesse James

Perfecting Holiness Part 1 of 5 - God as Father

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Family Government

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2012-11-28

Synopsis: In this introductory sermon, Pastor John Weaver begins a five-part series on perfecting holiness, focusing on the promise of God as Father. He distinguishes between positional holiness (God's work in Christ) and practical holiness (the believer's responsibility to cleanse themselves and conform to God's Word). The message emphasizes that practical holiness involves separation from sin and unto God, and that the promises in 2 Corinthians 6:16-18—that God will dwell with His people and be a Father to them—are given in the context of such separation. Weaver highlights the frequent New Testament references to God as Father, urging believers to acknowledge this relationship and live as obedient children who resemble their Father.

[John Weaver] 2 Corinthians chapter 7 and verse 1. Today I want to start a brief series, I say a brief series, will be five messages. And this is the first one today. So Robert, that means you have to come for the next four Sundays to get all these messages. So today will be basically introduction, I want you to look at 2 Corinthians 7 in verse 1. The theme of this series is perfecting holiness. And this message today and next week, of course, will be perfecting holiness and then God as Father.

[John Weaver] And you will understand why. So look in 2 Corinthians 7 verse 1. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh, and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." Notice that last phrase, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. I believe that every true child of God genuinely desires to live a holy, godly life. And I might add, if you do not desire to live a holy, godly life, there's a doubt as to whether or not you're really a true child of God. The Bible teaches very clearly and dogmatically that without holiness, no man shall see the Lord. Hebrews 12 and verse 14. Even our Lord said in Matthew 5 and verse 8, blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.

[John Weaver] One of the problems that each of us encounter, one of the problems that each of us possesses in his own life is the problem of ignorance. When I say that, I mean this, we do not know the Word of God as we should know it. And consequently, since we do not know the Word of God, we do not know how to make application of the Word of God to our lives. We don't even know that which God demands. And so, if you and I are going to live a holy life, we have to know the Word of God, we have to know that which God demands. Moreover, If we understand that we are to live a holy life, we must ask ourselves, what is a holy life? What is the definition of holy? How do we discern whether or not we are holy? How do we discern whether anyone else is holy or not holy? I want you to understand that it was the duty of the priests in the Old Testament to teach the difference between holy and unholy, and that which is clean and unclean.

[John Weaver] They had a responsibility to teach this to all of the people of God. Now, I want you to hold 2 Corinthians 7, but go back in your Bibles to the book of Ezekiel chapter 22. Ezekiel 22, and look if you would please at verse 26. Without me multiplying scriptures, I do want to show you at least several right here. Look at Ezekiel 22 and verse 26. where God here condemns these priests, and look what He says specifically. Ezekiel 22 and verse 26, God says,"...her priests have violated My law, and have profaned Mine holy things. They have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from My sabbaths, and I am profaned among them." So God is condemning the priest here because they put no difference between the holy and the unholy, the clean and the unclean, and He says they profane My name. Now if you will turn to Ezekiel 44, here is what the true priests indeed are to do.

[John Weaver] Notice Ezekiel 44 and verse 23. God says this, And they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and profane, and caused them to discern between the unclean and the clean. So the true priest of God is to teach the difference between the unholy and that which is holy, that which is unclean and that which is clean. It was the duty and responsibility of priests in the Old Testament to teach this. It was the duty and responsibility of the priests in the New Testament to teach this. Someone may be sighing at this particular point and saying, well, I'm thankful I'm not a priest and I'm thankful I don't have that responsibility because that requires a great deal of study and a great deal of information. Well, before you get too thankful, I want to show you a couple of verses. First of all, I want you to turn to 1 Peter chapter 2 and look at verse 5. 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 5. And notice particularly The Word of God says, 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 5, You also as lively or living stones are built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] So the Bible tells us that we are already a holy priesthood. And if you would turn in your Bibles, To the book of Revelation chapter 1, you will see how we got to be priests. Revelation chapter 1, look at verses 5 and 6. Revelation 1 verse 5, And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth, unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his

[John Weaver] Father, To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. So the Bible then tells us that we have been made priests unto God and our fathers. So since we are priests, since we have been made priests, we must know and we must be able to discern the difference between that which is holy and that which is unholy, that which is clean and that which is unclean.

[John Weaver] In fact, scripture is very, very specific. In 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 7, God said this, For God hath not called you unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. For God hath not called you unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. So if we have a calling then to be holy, we must know what holiness is. The word for holiness literally means to be set apart.

[John Weaver] Now there is a negative and a positive connotation attached to holiness. I want you to go back to our text in 2 Corinthians chapter 7. We're actually going to be looking at chapter 6 and verse 17 and you will see why just momentarily. But 2 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 17 then gives us the negative aspect of holiness. Notice 2 Corinthians 6 and verse 17. Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you. Notice God says, Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate, touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you. So here's a negative. If we're going to be set apart, We have to be set apart from something, and that something is whatever is sinful, wicked, and wrong. Now there is also a positive aspect of holiness. In Romans chapter 1 and verse 1, the apostle Paul declares that when he says this, Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, listen now, separated unto the gospel of God.

[John Weaver] Separated unto the gospel of God. So I want you to note, here's a negative, here's a positive. The negative is we're separated from sin and wickedness, that which is ungodly and unholy, and we're separated to something. We're separated to God and to His Word.

[John Weaver] Now it's interesting when Paul says, Paul, a servant, of Jesus Christ. The word servant is the Greek word thulos which literally means a slave or a bond slave. So Paul says he's now a slave to the Lord Jesus Christ and to his gospel. Thus we could say on the one hand that holiness refers to the fact, one fact, that we've been purged from our sins that we have repented and turned from those sins, and on the other hand, that we have been regenerated, converted, and renewed in our mind and our souls. It means that we have turned from unrighteousness to righteousness. It means that we've turned from sin and wickedness to the Word of God, to the Lord Jesus in truth.

[John Weaver] Now, let me show you, if you will turn to 1 Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, and look at verse 9 because here is an excellent picture and an excellent summary of what holiness amounts to, both the negative and the positive. Notice if you would, 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 in verse 9, the Apostle Paul is talking about the Thessalonians and he says this, in fact let's begin reading in verse 7. He said, so that you were in samples or examples to all that believed in Macedonia and Achaia. For from you sounded out the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God were to spread abroad, so that we need not speak anything. Now watch. For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how you turned to God, that's positive, from idols, that's negative, to serve the living and true God. So there you have both the negative and the positive. They turn from idols, the negative, to God to serve Him.

[John Weaver] That's the positive. So obviously then, when we're talking about holiness, it means just simply to be set apart. You're set apart from something and you're set apart unto something.

[John Weaver] Now, when we look at 2 Corinthians chapter 7 and verse 1, the Bible says, having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." Now, when Paul is talking about perfecting holiness in the fear of God, he is not referring to what is known as positional holiness. You have to understand the difference between positional holiness and practical holiness. Let me tell you what positional holiness is. Positional holiness is that work of God alone. Positional holiness refers to the work of God the Father in Jesus Christ in placing us in the body of Christ, imputing the righteousness of Christ to us, and making us acceptable to Him in Jesus Christ alone. What is positional holiness? It is something that God alone does. We have no work in positional holiness.

[John Weaver] Let me show you the scriptures. Let's turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 1, and look at verses 30 and 31. Just several passages, just so you can see what is known as positional holiness. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 30 and 31. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 30, But of him, that is God the Father, but of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made of wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, that according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Incidentally, when you see the word sanctification, The word holiness and the word sanctification are synonymous. They're the same exact word in the Greek. So you could read that, but of Him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God has made in us wisdom, and righteousness, and holiness, and redemption, that according as it is written, He that glorieth let him glory in the Lord. So it is God the Father then, who makes us positionally holy in Christ. if you would turn right over to 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and look at verse 21.

[John Weaver] 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 21. Here it is again showing you that it is the work of God the Father. 2 Corinthians 5 verse 21. The Bible says, For He, that is God the Father, hath made Him, that is God the Son, to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. So God the Father then has made us righteous in Jesus Christ. If you would turn right over to the book of Ephesians chapter 1, and let's begin reading there with verse 4. Ephesians chapter 1, just showing you this is the work of God the Father, Ephesians 1 beginning with verse 4. Ephesians 1 verse 4. According as He had chosen us in Him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved.

[John Weaver] But note, according to His chosenness in Him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. So, here's positional holiness. Positional holiness is something that God the Father does. It cannot be added to. It cannot be taken from. It is already perfect. You cannot be more holy in Christ positionally than you already are. It's perfect. It's the work of God. But when you get to 2 Corinthians 7 in verse 1, Paul is not talking about positional holiness. He is talking about a practical holiness. Look at verse 1 again. having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit, perfecting holiness in the work of God." Now what the Apostle Paul is talking about in 2 Corinthians 7 verse 1 is a practical holiness in which you and I are engaged. We're actually doing something in our lives and that something is seeking to bring our lives into greater conformity to the Word of God.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to see Romans chapter 6, if you would turn there, please. Romans chapter 6 and verse 19. Let me show you why this is so vitally important. Romans 6 and verse 19. You say, why is it important that I learn practical holiness? Look what the Apostle Paul says in Romans 6 and verse 19. He says, I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh. For as you have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity, even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. So before you were converted, you yielded your members, that is your body, your mind, your heart, your limbs, to wickedness, to uncleanness, you did those things willingly, delightfully, premeditatedly. Now the Apostle Paul says, just like when you were unconverted, you yielded your body to all of these lustful, wicked things, now that you've been saved by the grace of God, you yield those same members as servants unto righteousness and to holiness.

[John Weaver] So what is He teaching us? He is teaching us that we have a duty, a responsibility, a privilege, and I might add, a command to bring every area of our lives into conformity to the Word of God.

[John Weaver] Now let me show you this again. Turn over to 1 Peter chapter 1. 1 Peter chapter 1. And notice if you would beginning there with verse 14. It's amazing how all of these different authors say exactly the same thing, but sometimes they say it in a little different wording. Well, look in 1 Peter chapter 1. In fact, let's read verse 13. Peter writes,"...swear to gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ, Obedient children. Here's the negative.

[John Weaver] Not fashioning yourselves according to the former lust of your ignorance. That is the way you used to live. But, as He hath called you as holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation, because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy. Notice if you would please, there is the negative in verse 14. Here's what you are not to do. And then He tells you in verse 15, here's what you are to do. And then He tells you in verse 16, why you are to do it.

[John Weaver] So, in holiness then, there is obedience required. That's why He said, as an obedient child.

[John Weaver] Now, let me just stop and ask you a question. Don't answer it out loud. Have you ever had a disobedient child? Do you know the difference? Every parent knows the difference between speaking to a child and the child hearing and instantly obeying. And the parent speaking to the child and then have to reprimand him and rebuke him and finally end up chastising him just to get him to do what he's supposed to be doing to begin with. What's the difference? A lot. Just like we want our children to be obedient, we want them to obey when we speak. God wants us to obey as He speaks. So He says, if we're going to be an obedient child, we're not going to fashion ourselves according to the former lust of our ignorance. But, if we're going to be an obedient child, we're going to be holy in all manner of conversation as He is holy. Because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy, saith the Lord.

[John Weaver] Now, remember I quoted Hebrews 12 and verse 14 earlier. Let me show you how important holiness is. Because in Hebrews 12 and verse 14, the scripture says, Follow peace with all men. Listen carefully. And holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. So, if God has saved us, He has made us positionally holy. If we have been made positionally holy, He now demands that we make a practical holiness in our life.

[John Weaver] Now, let me ask that you turn back to 2 Corinthians chapter 7. And let me emphasize something right here. And it's important that you and I understand this distinction. 2 Corinthians 7. Notice if you would please verse 1. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, look at the next two words. Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. So when it comes to practical holiness, that is your responsibility. However, That does not mean that you may perform practical holiness without the aid, help and blessing of the Lord. If you and I are to be practically holy, that means we must have the power and the grace and the mercy of God in our lives in order to make us practically holy. You remember what our Lord said in John 15 in verse 5, what is it? Without me you can do how much? Nothing. Well, is practical holiness something? Well, yes it is. That means you need the Lord. That means you need His grace, you need His mercy, you need His power.

[John Weaver] For without Him, you can do nothing. So let me put it like this. Ours is the responsibility. His is the ability. So once again, we need to learn to seek our Father for ability to fulfill our responsibility. Okay?

[John Weaver] Now, I told you today is just going to be an introduction mainly. I want you to consider one point today. Just one point. I want you to consider the promises. And we're going to take up on this next week. We're still going to consider the promises next week, but only one aspect Look if you would at 2 Corinthians 7 and verse 1. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Having therefore these promises. What promises? What promises? Well, verse 1.

[John Weaver] harkens back to chapter 6, verses 14 through 18. So let's go to 2 Corinthians 6 and look at verse 14 through 18. Here the apostle writes, Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? And what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God, as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

[John Weaver] Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and will be a father unto you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." So, the promises that the apostle talks about in chapter 7 and verse 1 refers back to the promises that are given to us in verses 17 and 18. In other words, actually verse 16 as well.

[John Weaver] For he says, In what agreement hath the temple of God with the islands? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said, I will dwell in them and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. So there are basically two promises here. That's why he used the plural in verse 1. The first promise is given to us in verse 16. The second promise is given unto us in verses 17 and 18. So let's look at the first promise. The first promise found in verse 16 where God says, In what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God and they shall be my people. Now, first, here is the promise that God will dwell with us, walk with us, He will be our God and we will be His people.

[John Weaver] I want you to note something. This promise is given to us in the context of separating ourselves from idolatry, compromise and corruption. That's why he said in verse 14, be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers and he gives all of these things. You've got to remember I told you earlier that holiness has a negative and a positive. We have to be separated from something and we have to be separated unto someone. So holiness then is separation from sin and it is separation unto God. So God then is demanding in this passage that if we have been made positionally holy in Christ, that there be a corresponding resemblance of that in our lives, that there be a practical holiness. And I might add, it is this practical holiness which defines and differentiates between His possessing people and His professing people.

[John Weaver] Like the old black man said, a lot of folks talk about heaven ain't going there. A lot of folks profess Christ, but they do not possess Christ. And their lives are absolutely, totally contrary to Scripture.

[John Weaver] Now, it should be plain based on verses 17 and 18. In fact, let's read them again. Wherefore come out from among them Verse 16 and 17 it is. And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols, before you are the temple of the living God? As God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore, in light of that promise, come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you. So is it not plain that these verses, that God is going to be our God, and walk among us, is based upon our separation from corruption and wickedness. In other words, it is evidenced by our obedience to God. The evidence that we have taken God as our God is that we've left all of this wickedness, idolatry, and corruption. God is not going to be identified with idolatry or wickedness in any way whatsoever.

[John Weaver] You remember what the Bible says in Hebrews 7 and verse 26 it is concerning Christ. The Bible tells us there concerning Christ that He is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. So do you mean to tell me the one who is the sinless Son of God will have communion with someone who is full of sin and wickedness? And the answer is absolutely no. So therefore he asks, go back if you would, look at it in verse 14, when he says, Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.

[John Weaver] Now watch these questions, watch. For what fellowship hath the righteous with unrighteousness? What's the answer? None. What communion hath light with darkness? None. Light is either going to conquer the darkness or darkness is going to conquer light. What concord or agreement hath Christ with Belial, or the devil? None. And what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? None. And what agreement hath the temple of God with the idols? None.

[John Weaver] And so what is he saying? Wherefore come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord. So the answer to every one of these is Christ has nothing to do with any of these things. So he's telling us then that we should avoid all wickedness and all sin, like we would avoid the plague. We don't want to be around someone that has an extremely communicable disease. And he said likewise you should not want to be around any of these things that are going to pollute your soul and your mind just like a disease would do your body.

[John Weaver] Now, let me show you two passages. I want you to turn to Isaiah 52, and then to Revelation chapter 18. Look in Isaiah 52 and verse 11. Isaiah 52, verse 11. And then we'll go to Revelation 18. Isaiah 52, verse 11. In fact, let's read verse 10.

[John Weaver] The Lord hath made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. Depart ye, depart ye, go you out from fence, touch no unclean thing, go you out of the midst of her, be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord. Isn't that amazing? He tells us to be clean. By the way, if I had time, I could take you through the New Testament and show that our bodies are the vessels of the Lord.

[John Weaver] but turn right over to the book of Revelation chapter 18 and look at verse 4. You know that there is a commercial Babylon, there is a religious Babylon, and look what our Lord says in Revelation 18 and verse 4. Again, very clear, Revelation 18 and verse 4, He says it like this, And I heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out of her, My people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues. So again, he says, come out of her. So the promise, this first promise is that God will dwell with us and walk with us and be our God and He will recognize us and treat us as His people. Now here's a question.

[John Weaver] Go back to 2 Corinthians 7. And let me ask you this question and I want you to think about it. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved. Having therefore these promises. Here's my question. How can this promise that God will dwell with us and walk with us and be our God and we'll be His people. How can this promise apply to us if we're already His people?

[John Weaver] What follows is to be an encouragement to believers. Let me ask you. In fact, let's go ahead and turn to John 15. You will know the answer to the question when I read this. Look in John 15. John 15. And notice if you would, verses 18 and 19. Our Lord said, if the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love his own. But because you're not of the world, but I've chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. So here's my question.

[John Weaver] What does the world do to a real, genuine believer who wants to live holy and godly and bring his life in conformity to the Word of God? What does the world do to him? They hate him. They'll persecute him. Do they persecute our Lord? Yes. Do they persecute His disciples? Yes. Will they do that today? Yes. So here's what this promise is all about. The Lord is saying to us, when the religious establishment kicks you out, the way the Jews did anybody who believed on Christ in the New Testament, when the religious establishment kicks you out, and when the world hates you and despises you, and will have nothing to do with you because you belong to Christ, God says don't worry.

[John Weaver] I will take you under My wings. I will protect you. I will preserve you. I'll keep you as the apple of My eye. I'll build a fire and a wall of protection round about you. And I will walk among you. And I will make sure that you are well taken care of.

[John Weaver] Now, so here is a promise that you and I have in light of our separation from the world and religious idolatry. So our Lord said, if the world hates you, you know that it hated me first.

[John Weaver] Now, let me ask that you turn in your Bibles to 1 Peter 2 again, because I want to ask you a question. Since 2 Corinthians 6 is talking about coming out from among them, and here's this promise that God is going to protect us and beat us, everything that we need, Look in your Bibles to 1 Peter 2 and verse 9. Again He says this, But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, and holy nation, a peculiar people, that you should show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Now, my question is, how can we show forth the praises of Him who has called us out of darkness if we're still participating in darkness? How can we praise Him for His marvelous light if we do not see the light for the darkness that we're participating in? This promise that God will be our God and we will be His people and He will walk among us, is given to us when we separate ourselves from the world, from idolatry, and we become His bond slave, His personal property.

[John Weaver] Now, go back, if you would, to 2 Corinthians chapter 6. Here is the message that I want to begin for today. It won't take long, but I want you to see this. The second promise is that God will be our Father and that we will be His sons and daughters. For He says in verse 17 and 18, Wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate, said the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and will be a father unto you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." Now, I want you to think about something with me today. Here's my first question. Has the truth and or the implication of God as our Father ever sunk into your soul? You remember when the disciples came to our Lord and said, Lord, teach us to pray. John told his disciples to pray, teach us to pray. And our Lord said, alright, when you pray, you say, Our Father who art in heaven. Have you ever really thought that God is your Father?

[John Weaver] I want you to turn back to Romans chapter 1, and I want you to get ready because we're going to be flipping through the New Testament just momentarily. I want to show you something that you probably have missed as you've read through the Scripture. But look in Romans 1 in verse 7. Here the Apostle Paul writes, giving his salutation, to all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints, grace to you in peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I want you to note and I'm going to show you that this salutation is very common to the Apostle Paul. He made it a habit of greeting all the saints this way by referring to God our Father. If there are so many references in the Bible especially the New Testament. If there are so many references to God being our Father, undoubtedly there have to be implications of this truth. And are we not missing out on something by not recognizing, acknowledging, and confessing God is our Father? Certainly, if God is our Father, that speaks of a relationship, a fellowship, a communion, and I'm afraid one of which most of us are absolutely, totally ignorant concerning.

[John Weaver] Because most of us have never really considered this fact that God is our Father. Now, I want you to turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and keep your fingers limber, because I just want you to see How many times the apostles refer to God as our Father? Look in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 3. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 3. Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Now we just read that in Romans. Turn over to 2 Corinthians chapter 1 and look at verse 2. 2 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 2, Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Did you see that? Blessed be God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, verse 3 says. But verse 2, Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Look in the book of Galatians chapter 1 and verse 3. Galatians 1 and verse 3. The Apostle Paul writes, Grace be to you and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] Look in Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 2. Ephesians 1 and verse 2. Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn right over to the book of Philippians. Philippians chapter 1 and look if you would please at verse 2. Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Look in Philippians 4 and verse 20. Philippians 4 and verse 20. Now unto God our Father be glory forever and ever. Amen. Look in Colossians 1 and verse 2. to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ, Richard Colossi, grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Then if you'd turn right over to 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 and look if you would please at verse 1. Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus and to the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Skip down to 1 Thessalonians 3 and verse 11.

[John Weaver] 1 Thessalonians 3 verse 11. Now God Himself and our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ direct our way unto you. Look in verse 13. to the end that He may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all of His saints. Look at 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 and verse 1. Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus and to the church of the Thessalonians and God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Skip down to verse 2. We're bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as His immediate... Well, verse 2. Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Now skip down to verse 16 of chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 16. Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God even our Father, which hath loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace. Wow. Look, if you would, at 1 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 2. Turn right over. Unto Timothy, mine own son in the faith, grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.

[John Weaver] Look in 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 2. 2 Timothy 1 and verse 2. To Timothy, my dearly beloved son, grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. Then if you would turn right over to the book of Philemon. And notice if you would please, verse 3. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] Now let me ask you. If God is mentioned as our Father so many times, just in the New Testament, are there not implications of that truth to our lives? There must be a great deal of significance attached to this truth for it to be repeated so many times in the Bible. And I want you to note that every time we read about God being our Father, the Father of believers, He's always mentioned as the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] So the imagery that is being conveyed to us is two-fold. First of all, God is recognized as the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is distinct from everyone else because He is uniquely the Son of God. Everyone can quote John 3.16. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. The word, words, only begotten, are from one word in the Greek, monogenes, which means one of a kind, unique. There is only one like Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is perfect God and perfect man. He is the Son of Man, He is the Son of God. And God the Father is called His Father, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. But secondly, He's also called the Father of individual believers, and He is our Father by virtue of regeneration, adoption, and redemption. Without me taking you through the New Testament, You will find that when our Lord spoke to His disciples, He used phrases like this, Your Father, Your Father which is in heaven, Your heavenly Father, He's called the Father of mercies, the Father of glory, the Father of spirits, and the Father of lights.

[John Weaver] The very fact that God is Father is mentioned over and over in the New Testament. So, the question has to be asked then, What significance is this to our lives? How do we make application that God, the sovereign, majestic, eternal, infinite, holy God of the universe is our Father? One thought, I want you to note that it is the Father who begets the children. If you are a child of God by faith in Jesus Christ, the Father that begat you is your heavenly Father. He begat you into His kingdom. He adopted you into His family in Christ Jesus. He regenerated you. He converted you. He gave you faith. He gave you repentance. Children do not beget themselves. They are begotten. Children do not decide or determine to be born. They are begotten by the Father.

[John Weaver] As that is true physically, it is also true spiritually. If Jesus Christ, the unique, only begotten Son of God, is the begotten Son of God in the sense that the Father begat Him and determined and ordained everything about Him, then obviously, it's the Father who begets individual believers as well. In fact, let me show you just several verses. Look in your Bibles to the book of James chapter 1. James chapter 1.

[John Weaver] And notice if you would please verse 18. James 1 and verse 18. I don't know how it could be any plainer, but here it is. James 1 and verse 18. The Bible says concerning God, in fact, let's read verse 17 just so you can see that God the Father is in view. James 1 verse 17, Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variable, is neither shut up turning.

[John Weaver] Of His own will begat He us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of His creatures. Of His own will begat He us. We are begotten. of the Father. Turn right over to 1 Peter chapter 1 and let's begin reading there with verse 3. 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a livelier living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith in the salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. But notice verse 3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us. If you would turn to 1 John chapter 5 and look at verse 1. 1 John 5 and verse 1. John says it like this.

[John Weaver] Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, or has been begotten of God, and everyone that loveth Him that begat loveth them also that is begotten of Him. Do you realize? Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ has been begotten of God. That's what the Scripture says. It is God the Father who gives life. There is no life apart from God the Father. If you have been begotten by God the Father, you've been regenerated and you've been converted. If you have not been begotten by God the Father, then you're not a Christian.

[John Weaver] Now, let me show you a very simple and obvious implication. All of our physical children look like us. talk like us, and act like us. Now the Klinglers and the Klingler children are not here today. But if all the Klinglers were here today, and you looked at Janet and Henry, and then you looked at their children, could you tell that those children belonged to Janet and Henry? Sure you could. Could you look at Tripp and Lacey and tell they belonged to Beck and Dean? Of course you could. In fact, I see people all the time when I'm around and I figure out who belongs to who just by the way they look and act and talk. Because children look and act like their parents.

[John Weaver] There is a family resemblance. There's not only a family resemblance in their looks, there's a resemblance in their attitudes and in their actions. I can show you children that walk exactly the way their father walks. You can look at them and tell.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to turn to Matthew 5. You will remember in Matthew 5, our Lord is correcting the misinterpretation and the misapplication of God's law that has been promulgated by the Pharisees. He teaches it over and over and over. He corrects it. In fact, if you were to read Matthew chapter 5, over and over you would hear our Lord say this, It has been said of them of old time, but I say unto you. Or you've heard that it has been said of them of old time, but I say unto you.

[John Weaver] In other words, here's what they taught and it's wrong. Here's what I'm telling you is truthful and right. So if you'll look in Matthew chapter 5, beginning there with verse 43, you'll see the last one of these. Look at Matthew 5 verse 43. You've heard that it has been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, Do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you. Why?

[John Weaver] That you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven. For it maketh His Son to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. What did He say? That you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven. In other words, Just like Henry and Janet's children look like them and walk like them and talk like them and act like them, God says, My children should walk like Me and talk like Me and act like Me, that you may be the children of your Father.

[John Weaver] So when people see you, they know that you're a Christian. They know it by the way you speak, by the way you walk, the way you act, the way you talk. They know it. The whole emphasis His children act like their parents. And have you ever stopped to think about this? Every young child, can't say this about every teenager, but every young child wants to please his father. Have you ever stopped to think about that? They want to please the father. If we are His children, If we have been begotten by Him, there should be in us a desire to please Him.

[John Weaver] I'm working on another series on walking with the Lord. But there's a verse of Scripture that we are to walk pleasing in His sight. So obviously if we're His children, we're to walk pleasing unto Him. I am to be as my Heavenly Father.

[John Weaver] Now, let me make just two applications, and I want you to think about this. Unhappily, most of the time, we do not think about God as our Father. Most of the time when we pray, we'll say something like this, Dear Lord, or Lord Jesus. There's no problem with praying like that. By the way, let me just say this. I've had people ask me this. They said, how should I pray? Should I pray to the Father? Should I pray in the name of the Son? Should I pray in the Holy Spirit? The biblical way is this.

[John Weaver] Ephesians 2, I believe it is verse 18. We are to go to the Father through Jesus in the Spirit. But since we have one God, not three, it doesn't matter if you say our Father or Lord Jesus or Blessed Holy Spirit. It's still one God. Do you understand that? But He says, by Him or through Him, we have access unto the Father. The emphasis is on the Father.

[John Weaver] In fact, Christ said, turn to 1 Peter chapter 3. Let me show you a verse that just came to my mind. Look in 1 Peter chapter 3. 1 Peter chapter 3, I believe it is. The Scripture says, let me find it right quickly. 1 Peter 3, verse 18, For Christ hath also once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. So He died to bring us to the Father unto God. So when we pray, We may lawfully and legitimately and honestly, if we've been regenerated by the grace of God, say, our Father. We have a responsibility, and I might add a privilege, to acknowledge and confess God as our Father. As a child, I never had any problem asking my Father for whatever I wanted. He was my Father. I recognized Him as my Father. We have an obligation, we have a responsibility to recognize, to acknowledge and confess God as our Father.

[John Weaver] Why do we not do so more frequently? Because if we acknowledge that we have a responsibility to confess God as our Father, then the corollary is that we have a responsibility to act like His child. You follow me? If He's my Father, I'm His child. I have a responsibility to act like His child and to bring my life into conformity to the Word of God. We need to more frequently acknowledge and confess God is our Father through the person and work of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. Let's pray. We do come to Thee and we do acknowledge today that Thou art indeed our Father. And Father, You are only our Father by grace through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ. And we glory in the fact that the sovereign, majestic God of heaven and earth is our Father. But Father, we also have a responsibility to act like and live like Your children. And Father, as we look at this doctrine of holiness, practical holiness, I pray that You would enable us to repent of any and all of our sins and to bring our lives into greater conformity to Your Word.

[John Weaver] In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask. Amen.

Perfecting Holiness Part 1 of 5 - God as Father

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	iTZNpCc42Ko
Subject	Family Government
Course	The Christian Family: Children, Fatherhood, and Generational Faithfulness: The World And Times Of Jesse James
Genre	Sermon
Date	2012-11-28
Dictation Name
Book	Book 028: The Christian Family: Children, Fatherhood, and Generational Faithfulness — Chapter 21
Source Timed Segments	70

Formatted Transcript

Introduction to Perfecting Holiness

Weaver introduces the series on perfecting holiness from 2 Corinthians 7:1, emphasizing that every true child of God desires to live a holy life, and that without holiness no one will see the Lord.

2 Corinthians chapter 7 and verse 1. Today I want to start a brief series—I say a brief series, it will be five messages. And this is the first one today. So Robert, that means you have to come for the next four Sundays to get all these messages. So today will be basically introduction. I want you to look at 2 Corinthians 7 and verse 1. The theme of this series is perfecting holiness. And this message today and next week, of course, will be perfecting holiness and then God as Father.

Scripture Reading — Hebrews 12:14

And you will understand why. So look in 2 Corinthians 7 verse 1: "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." Notice that last phrase, "perfecting holiness in the fear of God." I believe that every true child of God genuinely desires to live a holy, godly life. And I might add, if you do not desire to live a holy, godly life, there's a doubt as to whether or not you're really a true child of God. The Bible teaches very clearly and dogmatically that without holiness, no man shall see the Lord—Hebrews 12 and verse 14. Even our Lord said in Matthew 5 and verse 8, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."

The Need to Know Holiness

Believers must know God's Word to understand what holiness is, as priests were commanded to teach the difference between holy and unholy, and believers are now a holy priesthood.

One of the problems that each of us encounter, one of the problems that each of us possesses in his own life, is the problem of ignorance. When I say that, I mean this: we do not know the Word of God as we should know it. And consequently, since we do not know the Word of God, we do not know how to make application of the Word of God to our lives. We don't even know that which God demands. And so, if you and I are going to live a holy life, we have to know the Word of God, we have to know that which God demands. Moreover, if we understand that we are to live a holy life, we must ask ourselves, what is a holy life? What is the definition of holy? How do we discern whether or not we are holy? How do we discern whether anyone else is holy or not holy? I want you to understand that it was the duty of the priests in the Old Testament to teach the difference between holy and unholy, and that which is clean and unclean.

They had a responsibility to teach this to all of the people of God. Now, I want you to hold 2 Corinthians 7, but go back in your Bibles to the book of Ezekiel chapter 22. Ezekiel 22, and look if you would please at verse 26. Without me multiplying scriptures, I do want to show you at least several right here. Look at Ezekiel 22 and verse 26, where God here condemns these priests, and look what He says specifically. Ezekiel 22 and verse 26, God says,

Scripture Reading — Ezekiel 22:26

"...her priests have violated My law, and have profaned Mine holy things. They have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from My sabbaths, and I am profaned among them."

So God is condemning the priest here because they put no difference between the holy and the unholy, the clean and the unclean, and He says they profane My name. Now if you will turn to Ezekiel 44, here is what the true priests indeed are to do.

Notice Ezekiel 44 and verse 23. God says this:

Scripture Reading — Ezekiel 44:23

"And they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean."

So the true priest of God is to teach the difference between the unholy and that which is holy, that which is unclean and that which is clean. It was the duty and responsibility of priests in the Old Testament to teach this. It was the duty and responsibility of the priests in the New Testament to teach this. Someone may be sighing at this particular point and saying, "Well, I'm thankful I'm not a priest and I'm thankful I don't have that responsibility because that requires a great deal of study and a great deal of information." Well, before you get too thankful, I want to show you a couple of verses. First of all, I want you to turn to 1 Peter chapter 2 and look at verse 5. 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 5. And notice particularly the Word of God says, 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 5, "You also as lively or living stones are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ."

So the Bible tells us that we are already a holy priesthood. And if you would turn in your Bibles to the book of Revelation chapter 1, you will see how we got to be priests. Revelation chapter 1, look at verses 5 and 6. Revelation 1 verse 5: "And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth, unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen." So the Bible then tells us that we have been made priests unto God and our Father. So since we are priests, since we have been made priests, we must know and we must be able to discern the difference between that which is holy and that which is unholy, that which is clean and that which is unclean.

In fact, scripture is very, very specific. In 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 7, God said this:

Scripture Reading — 1 Thessalonians 4:7

"For God hath not called you unto uncleanness, but unto holiness."

For God hath not called you unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. So if we have a calling then to be holy, we must know what holiness is. The word for holiness literally means to be set apart.

Negative and Positive Aspects of Holiness

Holiness means being set apart: negatively, separated from sin (2 Corinthians 6:17); positively, separated unto God and His gospel (Romans 1:1). 1 Thessalonians 1:9 illustrates turning from idols to serve God.

Now there is a negative and a positive connotation attached to holiness. I want you to go back to our text in 2 Corinthians chapter 7. We're actually going to be looking at chapter 6 and verse 17 and you will see why just momentarily. But 2 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 17 then gives us the negative aspect of holiness. Notice 2 Corinthians 6 and verse 17:

Scripture Reading — 2 Corinthians 6:17

"Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you."

Notice God says,

Scripture Reading — 2 Corinthians 6:17

"Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate, touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you."

So here's a negative. If we're going to be set apart, we have to be set apart from something, and that something is whatever is sinful, wicked, and wrong. Now there is also a positive aspect of holiness. In Romans chapter 1 and verse 1, the apostle Paul declares that when he says this: "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, listen now, separated unto the gospel of God."

Separated unto the gospel of God. So I want you to note, here's a negative, here's a positive. The negative is we're separated from sin and wickedness, that which is ungodly and unholy, and we're separated to something. We're separated to God and to His Word.

Now it's interesting when Paul says, "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ." The word servant is the Greek word doulos, which literally means a slave or a bond slave. So Paul says he's now a slave to the Lord Jesus Christ and to his gospel. Thus we could say on the one hand that holiness refers to the fact, one fact, that we've been purged from our sins, that we have repented and turned from those sins, and on the other hand, that we have been regenerated, converted, and renewed in our mind and our souls. It means that we have turned from unrighteousness to righteousness. It means that we've turned from sin and wickedness to the Word of God, to the Lord Jesus in truth.

Now, let me show you, if you will turn to 1 Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, and look at verse 9 because here is an excellent picture and an excellent summary of what holiness amounts to, both the negative and the positive. Notice if you would, 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 in verse 9, the Apostle Paul is talking about the Thessalonians and he says this, in fact let's begin reading in verse 7. He said,

Scripture Reading — 1 Thessalonians 1:7-9

"So that you were ensamples or examples to all that believed in Macedonia and Achaia. For from you sounded out the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad, so that we need not speak anything. Now watch. For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how you turned to God,"

that's positive, "from idols," that's negative,

Scripture Reading — 1 Thessalonians 1:7-9

"to serve the living and true God."

So there you have both the negative and the positive. They turned from idols, the negative, to God to serve Him.

That's the positive. So obviously then, when we're talking about holiness, it means just simply to be set apart. You're set apart from something and you're set apart unto something.

Positional vs. Practical Holiness

Positional holiness is God's perfect work in Christ (1 Corinthians 1:30-31; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 1:4). Practical holiness is the believer's ongoing responsibility to cleanse themselves and conform to God's Word (2 Corinthians 7:1).

Now, when we look at 2 Corinthians chapter 7 and verse 1, the Bible says, "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." Now, when Paul is talking about perfecting holiness in the fear of God, he is not referring to what is known as positional holiness. You have to understand the difference between positional holiness and practical holiness. Let me tell you what positional holiness is. Positional holiness is that work of God alone. Positional holiness refers to the work of God the Father in Jesus Christ in placing us in the body of Christ, imputing the righteousness of Christ to us, and making us acceptable to Him in Jesus Christ alone. What is positional holiness? It is something that God alone does. We have no work in positional holiness.

Let me show you the scriptures. Let's turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 1, and look at verses 30 and 31. Just several passages, just so you can see what is known as positional holiness. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 30 and 31. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 30: "But of him," that is God the Father, "but of him are you

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 1:30-31

in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption, that according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." Incidentally, when you see the word sanctification, the word holiness and the word sanctification are synonymous. They're the same exact word in the Greek. So you could read that, "But of Him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God has made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and holiness, and redemption, that according as it is written, He that glorieth let him glory in the Lord."

So it is God the Father then, who makes us positionally holy in Christ. If you would turn right over to 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and look at verse 21.

2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 21. Here it is again showing you that it is the work of God the Father. 2 Corinthians 5 verse 21. The Bible says, "For He," that is God the Father, "hath made Him," that is God the Son,

Scripture Reading — 2 Corinthians 5:21

"to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him."

So God the Father then has made us righteous in Jesus Christ. If you would turn right over to the book of Ephesians chapter 1, and let's begin reading there with verse 4. Ephesians chapter 1, just showing you this is the work of God the Father, Ephesians 1 beginning with verse 4. Ephesians 1 verse 4: "According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved."

But note, "According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love." So, here's positional holiness. Positional holiness is something that God the Father does. It cannot be added to. It cannot be taken from. It is already perfect. You cannot be more holy in Christ positionally than you already are. It's perfect. It's the work of God. But when you get to 2 Corinthians 7 in verse 1, Paul is not talking about positional holiness. He is talking about a practical holiness. Look at verse 1 again: "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." Now what the Apostle Paul is talking about in 2 Corinthians 7 verse 1 is a practical holiness in which you and I are engaged. We're actually doing something in our lives and that something is seeking to bring our lives into greater conformity to the Word of God.

Now, I want you to see Romans chapter 6, if you would turn there, please. Romans chapter 6 and verse 19. Let me show you why this is so vitally important. Romans 6 and verse 19. You say, why is it important that I learn practical holiness? Look what the Apostle Paul says in Romans 6 and verse 19. He says,

Scripture Reading — Romans 6:19

"I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh. For as you have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity, even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness."

So before you were converted, you yielded your members, that is your body, your mind, your heart, your limbs, to wickedness, to uncleanness, you did those things willingly, delightfully, premeditatedly. Now the Apostle Paul says, just like when you were unconverted, you yielded your body to all of these lustful, wicked things, now that you've been saved by the grace of God, you yield those same members as servants unto righteousness and to holiness.

The Command to Be Holy

Believers are commanded to be holy as God is holy (1 Peter 1:14-16), yielding their members to righteousness as they once yielded to sin (Romans 6:19). This requires obedience and reliance on God's power.

So what is He teaching us? He is teaching us that we have a duty, a responsibility, a privilege, and I might add, a command to bring every area of our lives into conformity to the Word of God. Now let me show you this again. Turn over to 1 Peter chapter 1. 1 Peter chapter 1. And notice if you would beginning there with verse 14. It's amazing how all of these different authors say exactly the same thing, but sometimes they say it in a little different wording. Well, look in 1 Peter chapter 1. In fact, let's read verse 13. Peter writes,

Scripture Reading — 1 Peter 1:13-16

"Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ, as obedient children."

Here's the negative.

"Not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance." That is the way you used to live. "But as He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation, because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy." Notice if you would please, there is the negative in verse 14. Here's what you are not to do. And then He tells you in verse 15, here's what you are to do. And then He tells you in verse 16, why you are to do it.

So, in holiness then, there is obedience required. That's why He said, "as obedient children." Now, let me just stop and ask you a question. Don't answer it out loud. Have you ever had a disobedient child? Do you know the difference? Every parent knows the difference between speaking to a child and the child hearing and instantly obeying, and the parent speaking to the child and then having to reprimand him and rebuke him and finally end up chastising him just to get him to do what he's supposed to be doing to begin with. What's the difference? A lot. Just like we want our children to be obedient, we want them to obey when we speak. God wants us to obey as He speaks. So He says, if we're going to be an obedient child, we're not going to fashion ourselves according to the former lusts in our ignorance. But, if we're going to be an obedient child, we're going to be holy in all manner of conversation as He is holy. Because it is written, "Be ye holy, for I am holy," saith the Lord.

Now, remember I quoted Hebrews 12 and verse 14 earlier. Let me show you how important holiness is. Because in Hebrews 12 and verse 14, the scripture says, "Follow peace with all men." Listen carefully. "And holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord." So, if God has saved us, He has made us positionally holy. If we have been made positionally holy, He now demands that we make a practical holiness in our life.

Now, let me ask that you turn back to 2 Corinthians chapter 7. And let me emphasize something right here. And it's important that you and I understand this distinction. 2 Corinthians 7. Notice if you would please verse 1: "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved," look at the next two words, "let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." So when it comes to practical holiness, that is your responsibility. However, that does not mean that you may perform practical holiness without the aid, help and blessing of the Lord. If you and I are to be practically holy, that means we must have the power and the grace and the mercy of God in our lives in order to make us practically holy. You remember what our Lord said in John 15 in verse 5, what is it? "Without me you can do" how much? "Nothing." Well, is practical holiness something? Well, yes it is. That means you need the Lord. That means you need His grace, you need His mercy, you need His power.

For without Him, you can do nothing. So let me put it like this. Ours is the responsibility. His is the ability. So once again, we need to learn to seek our Father for ability to fulfill our responsibility. Okay?

The Promises in 2 Corinthians 6:16-18

The promises that motivate practical holiness are that God will dwell with His people and be their God (v. 16), and that He will be a Father to them and they will be His sons and daughters (vv. 17-18). These promises are conditioned on separation from idolatry and uncleanness.

Now, I told you today is just going to be an introduction mainly. I want you to consider one point today. Just one point. I want you to consider the promises. And we're going to take up on this next week. We're still going to consider the promises next week, but only one aspect. Look if you would at 2 Corinthians 7 and verse 1: "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." Having therefore these promises. What promises? What promises? Well, verse 1

harkens back to chapter 6, verses 14 through 18. So let's go to 2 Corinthians 6 and look at verse 14 through 18. Here the apostle writes:

Scripture Reading — 2 Corinthians 6:14-18

"Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? And what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God, as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people."

"Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." So, the promises that the apostle talks about in chapter 7 and verse 1 refers back to the promises that are given to us in verses 17 and 18. In other words, actually verse 16 as well. For he says, "In what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said, I will dwell in them and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people." So there are basically two promises here. That's why he used the plural in verse 1. The first promise is given to us in verse 16. The second promise is given unto us in verses 17 and 18. So let's look at the first promise. The first promise found in verse 16 where God says, "In what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God and they shall be my people." Now, first, here is the promise that God will dwell with us, walk with us, He will be our God and we will be His people.

I want you to note something. This promise is given to us in the context of separating ourselves from idolatry, compromise and corruption. That's why he said in verse 14, "Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers" and he gives all of these things. You've got to remember I told you earlier that holiness has a negative and a positive. We have to be separated from something and we have to be separated unto someone. So holiness then is separation from sin and it is separation unto God. So God then is demanding in this passage that if we have been made positionally holy in Christ, that there be a corresponding resemblance of that in our lives, that there be a practical holiness. And I might add, it is this practical holiness which defines and differentiates between His possessing people and His professing people.

Like the old black man said, "A lot of folks talk about heaven ain't going there." A lot of folks profess Christ, but they do not possess Christ. And their lives are absolutely, totally contrary to Scripture. Now, it should be plain based on verses 17 and 18. In fact, let's read them again. "Wherefore come out from among them"—verse 16 and 17 it is. "And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore," in light of that promise, "come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you." So is it not plain that these verses, that God is going to be our God, and walk among us, is based upon our separation from corruption and wickedness. In other words, it is evidenced by our obedience to God. The evidence that we have taken God as our God is that we've left all of this wickedness, idolatry, and corruption. God is not going to be identified with idolatry or wickedness in any way whatsoever.

You remember what the Bible says in Hebrews 7 and verse 26 it is concerning Christ. The Bible tells us there concerning Christ that He

Scripture Reading — Hebrews 7:26

is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens.

So do you mean to tell me the one who is the sinless Son of God will have communion with someone who is full of sin and wickedness? And the answer is absolutely no. So therefore he asks, go back if you would, look at it in verse 14, when he says, "Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers."

Now watch these questions, watch. "For what fellowship hath the righteous with unrighteousness?" What's the answer? None. "What communion hath light with darkness?" None. Light is either going to conquer the darkness or darkness is going to conquer light. "What concord or agreement hath Christ with Belial," or the devil? None. "And what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?" None. "And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?" None.

And so what is he saying? "Wherefore come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord." So the answer to every one of these is Christ has nothing to do with any of these things. So he's telling us then that we should avoid all wickedness and all sin, like we would avoid the plague. We don't want to be around someone that has an extremely communicable disease. And he said likewise you should not want to be around any of these things that are going to pollute your soul and your mind just like a disease would do your body.

Now, let me show you two passages. I want you to turn to Isaiah 52, and then to Revelation chapter 18. Look in Isaiah 52 and verse 11. Isaiah 52, verse 11. And then we'll go to Revelation 18. Isaiah 52, verse 11. In fact, let's read verse 10.

The Promise of God's Presence and Protection

The promise that God will dwell with His people is an encouragement when the world hates and persecutes believers for their separation. God will protect and care for them as His own.

Go back to 2 Corinthians 7. And let me ask you this question and I want you to think about it. "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved." Having therefore these promises. Here's my question. How can this promise that God will dwell with us and walk with us and be our God and we'll be His people—how can this promise apply to us if we're already His people?

What follows is to be an encouragement to believers. Let me ask you. In fact, let's go ahead and turn to John 15. You will know the answer to the question when I read this. Look in John 15. John 15. And notice if you would, verses 18 and 19. Our Lord said, "If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love his own. But because you're not of the world, but I've chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you." So here's my question.

What does the world do to a real, genuine believer who wants to live holy and godly and bring his life in conformity to the Word of God? What does the world do to him? They hate him. They'll persecute him. Do they persecute our Lord? Yes. Do they persecute His disciples? Yes. Will they do that today? Yes. So here's what this promise is all about. The Lord is saying to us, when the religious establishment kicks you out, the way the Jews did anybody who believed on Christ in the New Testament, when the religious establishment kicks you out, and when the world hates you and despises you, and will have nothing to do with you because you belong to Christ, God says don't worry.

I will take you under My wings. I will protect you. I will preserve you. I'll keep you as the apple of My eye. I'll build a fire and a wall of protection round about you. And I will walk among you. And I will make sure that you are well taken care of.

Now, so here is a promise that you and I have in light of our separation from the world and religious idolatry. So our Lord said, "If the world hates you, you know that it hated me first."

The Promise of God as Father

The second promise is that God will be a Father to believers. Weaver surveys numerous New Testament salutations referring to God as our Father, emphasizing the significance of this relationship.

Now, go back, if you would, to 2 Corinthians chapter 6. Here is the message that I want to begin for today. It won't take long, but I want you to see this. The second promise is that God will be our Father and that we will be His sons and daughters. For He says in verse 17 and 18: "Wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." Now, I want you to think about something with me today. Here's my first question. Has the truth and or the implication of God as our Father ever sunk into your soul? You remember when the disciples came to our Lord and said, "Lord, teach us to pray. John taught his disciples to pray, teach us to pray." And our Lord said, "Alright, when you pray, you say, Our Father who art in heaven." Have you ever really thought that God is your Father?

I want you to turn back to Romans chapter 1, and I want you to get ready because we're going to be flipping through the New Testament just momentarily. I want to show you something that you probably have missed as you've read through the Scripture. But look in Romans 1 in verse 7. Here the Apostle Paul writes, giving his salutation, "To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints, grace to you and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." I want you to note and I'm going to show you that this salutation is very common to the Apostle Paul. He made it a habit of greeting all the saints this way by referring to God our Father. If there are so many references in the Bible especially the New Testament—if there are so many references to God being our Father, undoubtedly there have to be implications of this truth. And are we not missing out on something by not recognizing, acknowledging, and confessing God is our Father? Certainly, if God is our Father, that speaks of a relationship, a fellowship, a communion, and I'm afraid one of which most of us are absolutely, totally ignorant concerning.

Because most of us have never really considered this fact that God is our Father. Now, I want you to turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and keep your fingers limber, because I just want you to see how many times the apostles refer to God as our Father. Look in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 3. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 3: "Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ." Now we just read that in Romans. Turn over to 2 Corinthians chapter 1 and look at verse 2. 2 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 2: "Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ." Did you see that? "Blessed be God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ," verse 3 says. But verse 2: "Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ." Look in the book of Galatians chapter 1 and verse 3. Galatians 1 and verse 3. The Apostle Paul writes: "Grace be to you and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ."

Look in Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 2. Ephesians 1 and verse 2: "Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ." Turn right over to the book of Philippians. Philippians chapter 1 and look if you would please at verse 2: "Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ." Look in Philippians 4 and verse 20. Philippians 4 and verse 20: "Now unto God our Father be glory forever and ever. Amen." Look in Colossians 1 and verse 2: "To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse, grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." Then if you'd turn right over to 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 and look if you would please at verse 1: "Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." Skip down to 1 Thessalonians 3 and verse 11.

1 Thessalonians 3 verse 11: "Now God Himself and our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ direct our way unto you." Look in verse 13: "To the end that He may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all of His saints." Look at 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 and verse 1: "Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." Skip down to verse 2: "We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet." Well, verse 2: "Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." Now skip down to verse 16 of chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 16: "Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God even our Father, which hath loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace." Wow. Look, if you would, at 1 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 2. Turn right over. "Unto Timothy, mine own son in the faith, grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord."

Look in 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 2. 2 Timothy 1 and verse 2: "To Timothy, my dearly beloved son, grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord." Then if you would turn right over to the book of Philemon. And notice if you would please, verse 3: "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." Now let me ask you. If God is mentioned as our Father so many times, just in the New Testament, are there not implications of that truth to our lives? There must be a great deal of significance attached to this truth for it to be repeated so many times in the Bible. And I want you to note that every time we read about God being our Father, the Father of believers, He's always mentioned as the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Implications of God as Father

God is Father of Jesus Christ uniquely, and of believers by regeneration. As children resemble their parents, believers should act like their Father, loving enemies and walking pleasing to Him (Matthew 5:43-45).

So the imagery that is being conveyed to us is two-fold. First of all, God is recognized as the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is distinct from everyone else because He is uniquely the Son of God. Everyone can quote John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son." The words "only begotten" are from one word in the Greek, monogenes, which means one of a kind, unique. There is only one like Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is perfect God and perfect man. He is the Son of Man, He is the Son of God. And God the Father is called His Father, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. But secondly, He's also called the Father of individual believers, and He is our Father by virtue of regeneration, adoption, and redemption. Without me taking you through the New Testament, you will find that when our Lord spoke to His disciples, He used phrases like this: "Your Father," "Your Father which is in heaven," "Your heavenly Father." He's called the Father of mercies, the Father of glory, the Father of spirits, and the Father of lights.

The very fact that God is Father is mentioned over and over in the New Testament. So, the question has to be asked then: What significance is this to our lives? How do we make application that God, the sovereign, majestic, eternal, infinite, holy God of the universe is our Father? One thought, I want you to note that it is the Father who begets the children. If you are a child of God by faith in Jesus Christ, the Father that begat you is your heavenly Father. He begat you into His kingdom. He adopted you into His family in Christ Jesus. He regenerated you. He converted you. He gave you faith. He gave you repentance. Children do not beget themselves. They are begotten. Children do not decide or determine to be born. They are begotten by the Father.

As that is true physically, it is also true spiritually. If Jesus Christ, the unique, only begotten Son of God, is the begotten Son of God in the sense that the Father begat Him and determined and ordained everything about Him, then obviously, it's the Father who begets individual believers as well. In fact, let me show you just several verses. Look in your Bibles to the book of James chapter 1. James chapter 1. And notice if you would please verse 18. James 1 and verse 18. I don't know how it could be any plainer, but here it is. James 1 and verse 18. The Bible says concerning God, in fact, let's read verse 17 just so you can see that God the Father is in view. James 1 verse 17: "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."

"Of His own will begat He us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures." Of His own will begat He us. We are begotten of the Father. Turn right over to 1 Peter chapter 1 and let's begin reading there with verse 3. 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 3: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time." But notice verse 3: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us." If you would turn to 1 John chapter 5 and look at verse 1. 1 John 5 and verse 1. John says it like this.

"Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God," or has been begotten of God, "and everyone that loveth Him that begat loveth them also that is begotten of Him." Do you realize? Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ has been begotten of God. That's what the Scripture says. It is God the Father who gives life. There is no life apart from God the Father. If you have been begotten by God the Father, you've been regenerated and you've been converted. If you have not been begotten by God the Father, then you're not a Christian.

Now, let me show you a very simple and obvious implication. All of our physical children look like us, talk like us, and act like us. Now the Klinglers and the Klingler children are not here today. But if all the Klinglers were here today, and you looked at Janet and Henry, and then you looked at their children, could you tell that those children belonged to Janet and Henry? Sure you could. Could you look at Tripp and Lacey and tell they belonged to Beck and Dean? Of course you could. In fact, I see people all the time when I'm around and I figure out who belongs to who just by the way they look and act and talk. Because children look and act like their parents.

There is a family resemblance. There's not only a family resemblance in their looks, there's a resemblance in their attitudes and in their actions. I can show you children that walk exactly the way their father walks. You can look at them and tell.

Now, I want you to turn to Matthew 5. You will remember in Matthew 5, our Lord is correcting the misinterpretation and the misapplication of God's law that has been promulgated by the Pharisees. He teaches it over and over and over. He corrects it. In fact, if you were to read Matthew chapter 5, over and over you would hear our Lord say this: "It has been said of them of old time, but I say unto you." Or "You've heard that it has been said of them of old time, but I say unto you." In other words, here's what they taught and it's wrong. Here's what I'm telling you is truthful and right. So if you'll look in Matthew chapter 5, beginning there with verse 43, you'll see the last one of these. Look at Matthew 5 verse 43: "You've heard that it has been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you." Why?

"That you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven. For He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." What did He say? "That you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven." In other words, just like Henry and Janet's children look like them and walk like them and talk like them and act like them, God says, "My children should walk like Me and talk like Me and act like Me, that you may be the children of your Father." So when people see you, they know that you're a Christian. They know it by the way you speak, by the way you walk, the way you act, the way you talk. They know it. The whole emphasis: His children act like their parents. And have you ever stopped to think about this? Every young child—can't say this about every teenager—but every young child wants to please his father. Have you ever stopped to think about that? They want to please the father. If we are His children, if we have been begotten by Him, there should be in us a desire to please Him.

I'm working on another series on walking with the Lord. But there's a verse of Scripture that we are to walk pleasing in His sight. So obviously if we're His children, we're to walk pleasing unto Him. I am to be as my Heavenly Father.

Application: Acknowledge God as Father

Believers should more frequently acknowledge and confess God as their Father, recognizing the privilege and responsibility to live as His obedient children.

Now, let me make just two applications, and I want you to think about this. Unhappily, most of the time, we do not think about God as our Father. Most of the time when we pray, we'll say something like this, "Dear Lord," or "Lord Jesus." There's no problem with praying like that. By the way, let me just say this. I've had people ask me this. They said, "How should I pray? Should I pray to the Father? Should I pray in the name of the Son? Should I pray in the Holy Spirit?" The biblical way is this.

Ephesians 2, I believe it is verse 18. We are to go to the Father through Jesus in the Spirit. But since we have one God, not three, it doesn't matter if you say "our Father" or "Lord Jesus" or "Blessed Holy Spirit." It's still one God. Do you understand that? But He says, "by Him" or "through Him," we have access unto the Father. The emphasis is on the Father. In fact, Christ said—turn to 1 Peter chapter 3. Let me show you a verse that just came to my mind. Look in 1 Peter chapter 3. 1 Peter chapter 3, I believe it is. The Scripture says, let me find it right quickly. 1 Peter 3, verse 18: "For Christ hath also once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit." So He died to bring us to the Father, unto God. So when we pray, we may lawfully and legitimately and honestly, if we've been regenerated by the grace of God, say, "our Father." We have a responsibility, and I might add a privilege, to acknowledge and confess God as our Father. As a child, I never had any problem asking my Father for whatever I wanted. He was my Father. I recognized Him as my Father. We have an obligation, we have a responsibility to recognize, to acknowledge and confess God as our Father.

Why do we not do so more frequently? Because if we acknowledge that we have a responsibility to confess God as our Father, then the corollary is that we have a responsibility to act like His child. You follow me? If He's my Father, I'm His child. I have a responsibility to act like His child and to bring my life into conformity to the Word of God. We need to more frequently acknowledge and confess God is our Father through the person and work of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. Let's pray. We do come to Thee and we do acknowledge today that Thou art indeed our Father. And Father, You are only our Father by grace through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ. And we glory in the fact that the sovereign, majestic God of heaven and earth is our Father. But Father, we also have a responsibility to act like and live like Your children. And Father, as we look at this doctrine of holiness, practical holiness, I pray that You would enable us to repent of any and all of our sins and to bring our lives into greater conformity to Your Word.

In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask. Amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

The Necessity of Holiness

Summary: Without holiness, no one will see the Lord; every true child of God desires to live a holy life.

Evidence: The Bible teaches very clearly and dogmatically that without holiness, no man shall see the Lord—Hebrews 12 and verse 14. Even our Lord said in Matthew 5 and verse 8, 'Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.'

Positional vs. Practical Holiness

Summary: Positional holiness is God's perfect work in Christ; practical holiness is the believer's ongoing responsibility to cleanse themselves and conform to God's Word.

Evidence: When Paul is talking about perfecting holiness in the fear of God, he is not referring to what is known as positional holiness... Positional holiness is that work of God alone... But when you get to 2 Corinthians 7 in verse 1, Paul is not talking about positional holiness. He is talking about a practical holiness.

Separation from Sin and Unto God

Summary: Holiness involves a negative aspect (separation from sin) and a positive aspect (separation unto God).

Evidence: The negative is we're separated from sin and wickedness, that which is ungodly and unholy, and we're separated to something. We're separated to God and to His Word.

The Promises of God's Presence and Fatherhood

Summary: God promises to dwell with His people and be a Father to them, conditioned on their separation from idolatry and uncleanness.

Evidence: I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people... and will be a Father unto you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

God as Father of Believers

Summary: The New Testament repeatedly refers to God as our Father, implying a relationship of begetting, resemblance, and obedience.

Evidence: If God is mentioned as our Father so many times, just in the New Testament, are there not implications of that truth to our lives?

Family Resemblance in God's Children

Summary: As physical children resemble their parents, God's children should act like their Father, loving enemies and walking in holiness.

Evidence: That you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven. For He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good... God says, 'My children should walk like Me and talk like Me and act like Me.'

The Believer's Responsibility and God's Enablement

Summary: Practical holiness is the believer's responsibility, but it requires God's power and grace; without Christ we can do nothing.

Evidence: Ours is the responsibility. His is the ability. So once again, we need to learn to seek our Father for ability to fulfill our responsibility.

The Privilege of Addressing God as Father

Summary: Believers have the privilege and obligation to acknowledge God as their Father, which carries the corollary of living as His children.

Evidence: We have a responsibility, and I might add a privilege, to acknowledge and confess God as our Father... if we acknowledge that we have a responsibility to confess God as our Father, then the corollary is that we have a responsibility to act like His child.

Key Arguments

Holiness is both positional and practical

Summary: Positional holiness is God's work alone, making believers holy in Christ; practical holiness is the believer's active pursuit of cleansing and conformity to God's Word.

Evidence: Positional holiness is something that God the Father does. It cannot be added to. It cannot be taken from. It is already perfect... But when you get to 2 Corinthians 7 in verse 1, Paul is not talking about positional holiness. He is talking about a practical holiness.

Practical holiness requires separation from sin

Summary: The command to 'come out from among them' and be separate is foundational to experiencing God's promises of presence and fatherhood.

Evidence: Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you.

God's promises are conditioned on separation

Summary: The promises that God will dwell with His people and be their Father are given in the context of separating from idolatry and uncleanness.

Evidence: Is it not plain that these verses, that God is going to be our God, and walk among us, is based upon our separation from corruption and wickedness.

Believers are begotten of God the Father

Summary: Regeneration is the work of God the Father, who begets believers by His will, making them His children.

Evidence: Of His own will begat He us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.

God's children should resemble their Father

Summary: As children naturally resemble their parents, believers should demonstrate their relationship to God by acting like Him, particularly in loving enemies.

Acknowledging God as Father implies obedient living

Summary: Confessing God as Father carries the responsibility to live as His child, bringing one's life into conformity to His Word.

Evidence: If we acknowledge that we have a responsibility to confess God as our Father, then the corollary is that we have a responsibility to act like His child.

The world's hatred confirms genuine separation

Summary: The promise of God's presence is an encouragement when believers face persecution for their holy separation from the world.

Evidence: What does the world do to a real, genuine believer who wants to live holy and godly... They hate him. They'll persecute him... God says don't worry. I will take you under My wings.

Ignorance of God's Word hinders holiness

Summary: Believers cannot live holy lives without knowing God's Word and His demands, as the priests were to teach the difference between holy and unholy.

Evidence: We do not know the Word of God as we should know it. And consequently, since we do not know the Word of God, we do not know how to make application of the Word of God to our lives.

Scripture References

2 Corinthians 7:1

Context: The key text for the series: 'Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.'

Hebrews 12:14

Context: Quoted to emphasize the necessity of holiness: 'Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.'

Matthew 5:8

Context: Cited alongside Hebrews 12:14: 'Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.'

Ezekiel 22:26

Context: God condemns priests for not distinguishing between holy and profane, clean and unclean.

Ezekiel 44:23

Context: The true priests are to teach the difference between holy and profane, clean and unclean.

1 Peter 2:5

Context: Believers are a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices.

Revelation 1:5-6

Context: Christ has made believers kings and priests unto God.

1 Thessalonians 4:7

Context: God has called us not unto uncleanness but unto holiness.

2 Corinthians 6:17

Context: The negative aspect of holiness: 'Come out from among them, and be ye separate... and touch not the unclean thing.'

Romans 1:1

Context: Paul, separated unto the gospel of God, illustrating the positive aspect of holiness.

1 Thessalonians 1:7-9

Context: The Thessalonians turned from idols to serve the living God, exemplifying negative and positive holiness.

1 Corinthians 1:30-31

Context: Christ is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification (holiness), and redemption; positional holiness is God's work.

2 Corinthians 5:21

Context: God made Christ sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

Ephesians 1:4-6

Context: Chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blame; positional holiness.

Romans 6:19

Context: Yield your members as servants to righteousness unto holiness, just as you once yielded to uncleanness.

1 Peter 1:13-16

Context: As obedient children, do not fashion yourselves according to former lusts, but be holy as God is holy.

John 15:5

Context: Without Christ we can do nothing; we need His power for practical holiness.

2 Corinthians 6:14-18

Context: The promises referred to in 7:1: do not be unequally yoked; God will dwell with His people and be a Father to them.

Hebrews 7:26

Context: Christ is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners; He has no communion with sin.

Isaiah 52:10-11

Context: Depart, touch no unclean thing; be clean that bear the vessels of the Lord.

Historical References

Old Testament priesthood

Context: Priests were commanded to teach the difference between holy and unholy, clean and unclean (Ezekiel 22:26; 44:23).

Pharisees' misinterpretation of the law

Context: In Matthew 5, Jesus corrected the Pharisees' misinterpretation and misapplication of God's law.

Important Quotes

Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Significance: The foundational text for the entire series, emphasizing the believer's active role in practical holiness.

I believe that every true child of God genuinely desires to live a holy, godly life. And I might add, if you do not desire to live a holy, godly life, there's a doubt as to whether or not you're really a true child of God.

Significance: Establishes the inseparable link between genuine faith and a desire for holiness.

Positional holiness is something that God the Father does. It cannot be added to. It cannot be taken from. It is already perfect. You cannot be more holy in Christ positionally than you already are.

Significance: Clearly defines positional holiness as God's complete and unchangeable work.

Ours is the responsibility. His is the ability.

Significance: Succinctly captures the partnership between human effort and divine enablement in practical holiness.

Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

Significance: The key promise that motivates separation: God's fatherly reception and relationship.

That you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven. For He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

Significance: Jesus' teaching that loving enemies demonstrates family resemblance to the Father.

Of His own will begat He us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.

Significance: Affirms that regeneration is the sovereign work of God the Father.

If we acknowledge that we have a responsibility to confess God as our Father, then the corollary is that we have a responsibility to act like His child.

Significance: The practical application: confessing God as Father obligates us to live accordingly.

Discussion Questions

What is the difference between positional holiness and practical holiness, and why is it important to understand both?

Context: Weaver spends significant time distinguishing between God's work in making us holy in Christ and our responsibility to pursue holiness in daily life.

How does the command to 'come out from among them and be separate' apply to believers today, especially in light of the promises attached to it?

Context: The sermon emphasizes that separation from sin and idolatry is the condition for experiencing God's presence and fatherhood.

In what ways should God's children resemble their Father, according to Matthew 5:43-45?

Context: Weaver uses the analogy of family resemblance to argue that believers should act like God, particularly in loving enemies.

Why do you think the New Testament writers so frequently refer to God as 'our Father'? What implications does this have for our prayer life and daily conduct?

Context: The sermon surveys numerous salutations that mention God as Father, urging believers to acknowledge this relationship more consciously.

How can we balance the truth that 'ours is the responsibility, His is the ability' in pursuing practical holiness?

Context: Weaver stresses that while we must actively cleanse ourselves, we are utterly dependent on God's power to do so.

What does it mean to be 'begotten of God,' and how does this shape our identity as believers?

Context: The sermon teaches that regeneration is the Father's work, making us His children by His will.

How does the world's hatred of believers confirm their genuine separation and the reality of God's promises?

Context: Weaver explains that persecution is a sign of true holiness, and God's promise of protection is an encouragement in such times.

Why is ignorance of God's Word a major obstacle to holiness, and what can we do to overcome it?

Context: The sermon begins by stating that believers often do not know Scripture well enough to apply it, hindering holy living.

Applications

Cleanse yourselves from all filthiness

Summary: Believers are commanded to actively cleanse themselves from both fleshly and spiritual defilement as part of perfecting holiness.

Evidence: Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Separate from sin and unto God

Summary: Practical holiness requires a deliberate turning away from sinful practices and a turning toward God and His Word.

Evidence: Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing... separated unto the gospel of God.

Yield your members to righteousness

Summary: Just as you once yielded your body to sin, now yield your members as instruments of righteousness unto holiness.

Evidence: For as you have yielded your members servants to uncleanness... even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.

Be holy in all manner of conversation

Summary: As obedient children, believers are to be holy in every aspect of their conduct, imitating their holy Father.

Evidence: As He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation.

Acknowledge and confess God as Father

Summary: Believers should more frequently and consciously address God as their Father, recognizing the relationship and its implications.

Evidence: We have a responsibility, and I might add a privilege, to acknowledge and confess God as our Father.

Act like your Father

Summary: Since God is your Father, live in a way that reflects His character, particularly by loving your enemies.

Evidence: That you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven... love your enemies, bless them that curse you.

Depend on God's power for holiness

Summary: While holiness is your responsibility, you cannot achieve it without seeking God's grace and power, for without Christ you can do nothing.

Evidence: Ours is the responsibility. His is the ability... without me you can do nothing.

Study God's Word to discern holiness

Summary: To live a holy life, you must know Scripture and understand what God demands, learning to distinguish between holy and unholy.

Evidence: If you and I are going to live a holy life, we have to know the Word of God, we have to know that which God demands.

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T20:36:21Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T12:59:56Z

Clean Transcript

Perfecting Holiness Part 1 of 5 - God as Father

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

2 Corinthians chapter 7 and verse 1. Today I want to start a brief series—I say a brief series, it will be five messages. And this is the first one today. So Robert, that means you have to come for the next four Sundays to get all these messages. So today will be basically introduction. I want you to look at 2 Corinthians 7 and verse 1. The theme of this series is perfecting holiness. And this message today and next week, of course, will be perfecting holiness and then God as Father.
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And you will understand why. So look in 2 Corinthians 7 verse 1: "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." Notice that last phrase, "perfecting holiness in the fear of God." I believe that every true child of God genuinely desires to live a holy, godly life. And I might add, if you do not desire to live a holy, godly life, there's a doubt as to whether or not you're really a true child of God. The Bible teaches very clearly and dogmatically that without holiness, no man shall see the Lord—Hebrews 12 and verse 14. Even our Lord said in Matthew 5 and verse 8, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."
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One of the problems that each of us encounter, one of the problems that each of us possesses in his own life, is the problem of ignorance. When I say that, I mean this: we do not know the Word of God as we should know it. And consequently, since we do not know the Word of God, we do not know how to make application of the Word of God to our lives. We don't even know that which God demands. And so, if you and I are going to live a holy life, we have to know the Word of God, we have to know that which God demands. Moreover, if we understand that we are to live a holy life, we must ask ourselves, what is a holy life? What is the definition of holy? How do we discern whether or not we are holy? How do we discern whether anyone else is holy or not holy? I want you to understand that it was the duty of the priests in the Old Testament to teach the difference between holy and unholy, and that which is clean and unclean.
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They had a responsibility to teach this to all of the people of God. Now, I want you to hold 2 Corinthians 7, but go back in your Bibles to the book of Ezekiel chapter 22. Ezekiel 22, and look if you would please at verse 26. Without me multiplying scriptures, I do want to show you at least several right here. Look at Ezekiel 22 and verse 26, where God here condemns these priests, and look what He says specifically. Ezekiel 22 and verse 26, God says, "...her priests have violated My law, and have profaned Mine holy things. They have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from My sabbaths, and I am profaned among them." So God is condemning the priest here because they put no difference between the holy and the unholy, the clean and the unclean, and He says they profane My name. Now if you will turn to Ezekiel 44, here is what the true priests indeed are to do.
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Notice Ezekiel 44 and verse 23. God says this: "And they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean." So the true priest of God is to teach the difference between the unholy and that which is holy, that which is unclean and that which is clean. It was the duty and responsibility of priests in the Old Testament to teach this. It was the duty and responsibility of the priests in the New Testament to teach this. Someone may be sighing at this particular point and saying, "Well, I'm thankful I'm not a priest and I'm thankful I don't have that responsibility because that requires a great deal of study and a great deal of information." Well, before you get too thankful, I want to show you a couple of verses. First of all, I want you to turn to 1 Peter chapter 2 and look at verse 5. 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 5. And notice particularly the Word of God says, 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 5, "You also as lively or living stones are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ."
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So the Bible tells us that we are already a holy priesthood. And if you would turn in your Bibles to the book of Revelation chapter 1, you will see how we got to be priests. Revelation chapter 1, look at verses 5 and 6. Revelation 1 verse 5: "And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth, unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his
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Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen." So the Bible then tells us that we have been made priests unto God and our Father. So since we are priests, since we have been made priests, we must know and we must be able to discern the difference between that which is holy and that which is unholy, that which is clean and that which is unclean.
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In fact, scripture is very, very specific. In 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 7, God said this: "For God hath not called you unto uncleanness, but unto holiness." For God hath not called you unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. So if we have a calling then to be holy, we must know what holiness is. The word for holiness literally means to be set apart.
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Now there is a negative and a positive connotation attached to holiness. I want you to go back to our text in 2 Corinthians chapter 7. We're actually going to be looking at chapter 6 and verse 17 and you will see why just momentarily. But 2 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 17 then gives us the negative aspect of holiness. Notice 2 Corinthians 6 and verse 17: "Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you." Notice God says, "Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate, touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you." So here's a negative. If we're going to be set apart, we have to be set apart from something, and that something is whatever is sinful, wicked, and wrong. Now there is also a positive aspect of holiness. In Romans chapter 1 and verse 1, the apostle Paul declares that when he says this: "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, listen now, separated unto the gospel of God."
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Separated unto the gospel of God. So I want you to note, here's a negative, here's a positive. The negative is we're separated from sin and wickedness, that which is ungodly and unholy, and we're separated to something. We're separated to God and to His Word.
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Now it's interesting when Paul says, "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ." The word servant is the Greek word doulos, which literally means a slave or a bond slave. So Paul says he's now a slave to the Lord Jesus Christ and to his gospel. Thus we could say on the one hand that holiness refers to the fact, one fact, that we've been purged from our sins, that we have repented and turned from those sins, and on the other hand, that we have been regenerated, converted, and renewed in our mind and our souls. It means that we have turned from unrighteousness to righteousness. It means that we've turned from sin and wickedness to the Word of God, to the Lord Jesus in truth.
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Now, let me show you, if you will turn to 1 Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, and look at verse 9 because here is an excellent picture and an excellent summary of what holiness amounts to, both the negative and the positive. Notice if you would, 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 in verse 9, the Apostle Paul is talking about the Thessalonians and he says this, in fact let's begin reading in verse 7. He said, "So that you were ensamples or examples to all that believed in Macedonia and Achaia. For from you sounded out the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad, so that we need not speak anything. Now watch. For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how you turned to God," that's positive, "from idols," that's negative, "to serve the living and true God." So there you have both the negative and the positive. They turned from idols, the negative, to God to serve Him.
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That's the positive. So obviously then, when we're talking about holiness, it means just simply to be set apart. You're set apart from something and you're set apart unto something.
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Now, when we look at 2 Corinthians chapter 7 and verse 1, the Bible says, "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." Now, when Paul is talking about perfecting holiness in the fear of God, he is not referring to what is known as positional holiness. You have to understand the difference between positional holiness and practical holiness. Let me tell you what positional holiness is. Positional holiness is that work of God alone. Positional holiness refers to the work of God the Father in Jesus Christ in placing us in the body of Christ, imputing the righteousness of Christ to us, and making us acceptable to Him in Jesus Christ alone. What is positional holiness? It is something that God alone does. We have no work in positional holiness.
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Let me show you the scriptures. Let's turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 1, and look at verses 30 and 31. Just several passages, just so you can see what is known as positional holiness. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 30 and 31. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 30: "But of him," that is God the Father, "but of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption, that according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." Incidentally, when you see the word sanctification, the word holiness and the word sanctification are synonymous. They're the same exact word in the Greek. So you could read that, "But of Him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God has made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and holiness, and redemption, that according as it is written, He that glorieth let him glory in the Lord." So it is God the Father then, who makes us positionally holy in Christ. If you would turn right over to 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and look at verse 21.
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2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 21. Here it is again showing you that it is the work of God the Father. 2 Corinthians 5 verse 21. The Bible says, "For He," that is God the Father, "hath made Him," that is God the Son, "to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." So God the Father then has made us righteous in Jesus Christ. If you would turn right over to the book of Ephesians chapter 1, and let's begin reading there with verse 4. Ephesians chapter 1, just showing you this is the work of God the Father, Ephesians 1 beginning with verse 4. Ephesians 1 verse 4: "According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved."
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But note, "According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love." So, here's positional holiness. Positional holiness is something that God the Father does. It cannot be added to. It cannot be taken from. It is already perfect. You cannot be more holy in Christ positionally than you already are. It's perfect. It's the work of God. But when you get to 2 Corinthians 7 in verse 1, Paul is not talking about positional holiness. He is talking about a practical holiness. Look at verse 1 again: "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." Now what the Apostle Paul is talking about in 2 Corinthians 7 verse 1 is a practical holiness in which you and I are engaged. We're actually doing something in our lives and that something is seeking to bring our lives into greater conformity to the Word of God.
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Now, I want you to see Romans chapter 6, if you would turn there, please. Romans chapter 6 and verse 19. Let me show you why this is so vitally important. Romans 6 and verse 19. You say, why is it important that I learn practical holiness? Look what the Apostle Paul says in Romans 6 and verse 19. He says, "I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh. For as you have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity, even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness." So before you were converted, you yielded your members, that is your body, your mind, your heart, your limbs, to wickedness, to uncleanness, you did those things willingly, delightfully, premeditatedly. Now the Apostle Paul says, just like when you were unconverted, you yielded your body to all of these lustful, wicked things, now that you've been saved by the grace of God, you yield those same members as servants unto righteousness and to holiness.
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So what is He teaching us? He is teaching us that we have a duty, a responsibility, a privilege, and I might add, a command to bring every area of our lives into conformity to the Word of God.
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Now let me show you this again. Turn over to 1 Peter chapter 1. 1 Peter chapter 1. And notice if you would beginning there with verse 14. It's amazing how all of these different authors say exactly the same thing, but sometimes they say it in a little different wording. Well, look in 1 Peter chapter 1. In fact, let's read verse 13. Peter writes, "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ, as obedient children." Here's the negative.
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"Not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance." That is the way you used to live. "But as He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation, because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy." Notice if you would please, there is the negative in verse 14. Here's what you are not to do. And then He tells you in verse 15, here's what you are to do. And then He tells you in verse 16, why you are to do it.
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So, in holiness then, there is obedience required. That's why He said, "as obedient children."
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Now, let me just stop and ask you a question. Don't answer it out loud. Have you ever had a disobedient child? Do you know the difference? Every parent knows the difference between speaking to a child and the child hearing and instantly obeying, and the parent speaking to the child and then having to reprimand him and rebuke him and finally end up chastising him just to get him to do what he's supposed to be doing to begin with. What's the difference? A lot. Just like we want our children to be obedient, we want them to obey when we speak. God wants us to obey as He speaks. So He says, if we're going to be an obedient child, we're not going to fashion ourselves according to the former lusts in our ignorance. But, if we're going to be an obedient child, we're going to be holy in all manner of conversation as He is holy. Because it is written, "Be ye holy, for I am holy," saith the Lord.
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Now, remember I quoted Hebrews 12 and verse 14 earlier. Let me show you how important holiness is. Because in Hebrews 12 and verse 14, the scripture says, "Follow peace with all men." Listen carefully. "And holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord." So, if God has saved us, He has made us positionally holy. If we have been made positionally holy, He now demands that we make a practical holiness in our life.
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Now, let me ask that you turn back to 2 Corinthians chapter 7. And let me emphasize something right here. And it's important that you and I understand this distinction. 2 Corinthians 7. Notice if you would please verse 1: "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved," look at the next two words, "let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." So when it comes to practical holiness, that is your responsibility. However, that does not mean that you may perform practical holiness without the aid, help and blessing of the Lord. If you and I are to be practically holy, that means we must have the power and the grace and the mercy of God in our lives in order to make us practically holy. You remember what our Lord said in John 15 in verse 5, what is it? "Without me you can do" how much? "Nothing." Well, is practical holiness something? Well, yes it is. That means you need the Lord. That means you need His grace, you need His mercy, you need His power.
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For without Him, you can do nothing. So let me put it like this. Ours is the responsibility. His is the ability. So once again, we need to learn to seek our Father for ability to fulfill our responsibility. Okay?
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Now, I told you today is just going to be an introduction mainly. I want you to consider one point today. Just one point. I want you to consider the promises. And we're going to take up on this next week. We're still going to consider the promises next week, but only one aspect. Look if you would at 2 Corinthians 7 and verse 1: "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." Having therefore these promises. What promises? What promises? Well, verse 1
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harkens back to chapter 6, verses 14 through 18. So let's go to 2 Corinthians 6 and look at verse 14 through 18. Here the apostle writes: "Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? And what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God, as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people."
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"Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." So, the promises that the apostle talks about in chapter 7 and verse 1 refers back to the promises that are given to us in verses 17 and 18. In other words, actually verse 16 as well.
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For he says, "In what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said, I will dwell in them and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people." So there are basically two promises here. That's why he used the plural in verse 1. The first promise is given to us in verse 16. The second promise is given unto us in verses 17 and 18. So let's look at the first promise. The first promise found in verse 16 where God says, "In what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God and they shall be my people." Now, first, here is the promise that God will dwell with us, walk with us, He will be our God and we will be His people.
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I want you to note something. This promise is given to us in the context of separating ourselves from idolatry, compromise and corruption. That's why he said in verse 14, "Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers" and he gives all of these things. You've got to remember I told you earlier that holiness has a negative and a positive. We have to be separated from something and we have to be separated unto someone. So holiness then is separation from sin and it is separation unto God. So God then is demanding in this passage that if we have been made positionally holy in Christ, that there be a corresponding resemblance of that in our lives, that there be a practical holiness. And I might add, it is this practical holiness which defines and differentiates between His possessing people and His professing people.
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Like the old black man said, "A lot of folks talk about heaven ain't going there." A lot of folks profess Christ, but they do not possess Christ. And their lives are absolutely, totally contrary to Scripture.
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Now, it should be plain based on verses 17 and 18. In fact, let's read them again. "Wherefore come out from among them"—verse 16 and 17 it is. "And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore," in light of that promise, "come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you." So is it not plain that these verses, that God is going to be our God, and walk among us, is based upon our separation from corruption and wickedness. In other words, it is evidenced by our obedience to God. The evidence that we have taken God as our God is that we've left all of this wickedness, idolatry, and corruption. God is not going to be identified with idolatry or wickedness in any way whatsoever.
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You remember what the Bible says in Hebrews 7 and verse 26 it is concerning Christ. The Bible tells us there concerning Christ that He is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. So do you mean to tell me the one who is the sinless Son of God will have communion with someone who is full of sin and wickedness? And the answer is absolutely no. So therefore he asks, go back if you would, look at it in verse 14, when he says, "Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers."
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Now watch these questions, watch. "For what fellowship hath the righteous with unrighteousness?" What's the answer? None. "What communion hath light with darkness?" None. Light is either going to conquer the darkness or darkness is going to conquer light. "What concord or agreement hath Christ with Belial," or the devil? None. "And what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?" None. "And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?" None.
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And so what is he saying? "Wherefore come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord." So the answer to every one of these is Christ has nothing to do with any of these things. So he's telling us then that we should avoid all wickedness and all sin, like we would avoid the plague. We don't want to be around someone that has an extremely communicable disease. And he said likewise you should not want to be around any of these things that are going to pollute your soul and your mind just like a disease would do your body.
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Now, let me show you two passages. I want you to turn to Isaiah 52, and then to Revelation chapter 18. Look in Isaiah 52 and verse 11. Isaiah 52, verse 11. And then we'll go to Revelation 18. Isaiah 52, verse 11. In fact, let's read verse 10.
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"The Lord hath made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing, go ye out of the midst of her, be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord." Isn't that amazing? He tells us to be clean. By the way, if I had time, I could take you through the New Testament and show that our bodies are the vessels of the Lord.
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But turn right over to the book of Revelation chapter 18 and look at verse 4. You know that there is a commercial Babylon, there is a religious Babylon, and look what our Lord says in Revelation 18 and verse 4. Again, very clear, Revelation 18 and verse 4, He says it like this: "And I heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out of her, My people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues." So again, he says, "Come out of her." So the promise, this first promise is that God will dwell with us and walk with us and be our God and He will recognize us and treat us as His people. Now here's a question.
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Go back to 2 Corinthians 7. And let me ask you this question and I want you to think about it. "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved." Having therefore these promises. Here's my question. How can this promise that God will dwell with us and walk with us and be our God and we'll be His people—how can this promise apply to us if we're already His people?
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What follows is to be an encouragement to believers. Let me ask you. In fact, let's go ahead and turn to John 15. You will know the answer to the question when I read this. Look in John 15. John 15. And notice if you would, verses 18 and 19. Our Lord said, "If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love his own. But because you're not of the world, but I've chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you." So here's my question.
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What does the world do to a real, genuine believer who wants to live holy and godly and bring his life in conformity to the Word of God? What does the world do to him? They hate him. They'll persecute him. Do they persecute our Lord? Yes. Do they persecute His disciples? Yes. Will they do that today? Yes. So here's what this promise is all about. The Lord is saying to us, when the religious establishment kicks you out, the way the Jews did anybody who believed on Christ in the New Testament, when the religious establishment kicks you out, and when the world hates you and despises you, and will have nothing to do with you because you belong to Christ, God says don't worry.
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I will take you under My wings. I will protect you. I will preserve you. I'll keep you as the apple of My eye. I'll build a fire and a wall of protection round about you. And I will walk among you. And I will make sure that you are well taken care of.
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Now, so here is a promise that you and I have in light of our separation from the world and religious idolatry. So our Lord said, "If the world hates you, you know that it hated me first."
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Now, let me ask that you turn in your Bibles to 1 Peter 2 again, because I want to ask you a question. Since 2 Corinthians 6 is talking about coming out from among them, and here's this promise that God is going to protect us and be to us everything that we need. Look in your Bibles to 1 Peter 2 and verse 9. Again He says this: "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that you should show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." Now, my question is, how can we show forth the praises of Him who has called us out of darkness if we're still participating in darkness? How can we praise Him for His marvelous light if we do not see the light for the darkness that we're participating in? This promise that God will be our God and we will be His people and He will walk among us, is given to us when we separate ourselves from the world, from idolatry, and we become His bond slave, His personal property.
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Now, go back, if you would, to 2 Corinthians chapter 6. Here is the message that I want to begin for today. It won't take long, but I want you to see this. The second promise is that God will be our Father and that we will be His sons and daughters. For He says in verse 17 and 18: "Wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." Now, I want you to think about something with me today. Here's my first question. Has the truth and or the implication of God as our Father ever sunk into your soul? You remember when the disciples came to our Lord and said, "Lord, teach us to pray. John taught his disciples to pray, teach us to pray." And our Lord said, "Alright, when you pray, you say, Our Father who art in heaven." Have you ever really thought that God is your Father?
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I want you to turn back to Romans chapter 1, and I want you to get ready because we're going to be flipping through the New Testament just momentarily. I want to show you something that you probably have missed as you've read through the Scripture. But look in Romans 1 in verse 7. Here the Apostle Paul writes, giving his salutation, "To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints, grace to you and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." I want you to note and I'm going to show you that this salutation is very common to the Apostle Paul. He made it a habit of greeting all the saints this way by referring to God our Father. If there are so many references in the Bible especially the New Testament—if there are so many references to God being our Father, undoubtedly there have to be implications of this truth. And are we not missing out on something by not recognizing, acknowledging, and confessing God is our Father? Certainly, if God is our Father, that speaks of a relationship, a fellowship, a communion, and I'm afraid one of which most of us are absolutely, totally ignorant concerning.
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Because most of us have never really considered this fact that God is our Father. Now, I want you to turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and keep your fingers limber, because I just want you to see how many times the apostles refer to God as our Father. Look in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 3. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 3: "Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ." Now we just read that in Romans. Turn over to 2 Corinthians chapter 1 and look at verse 2. 2 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 2: "Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ." Did you see that? "Blessed be God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ," verse 3 says. But verse 2: "Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ." Look in the book of Galatians chapter 1 and verse 3. Galatians 1 and verse 3. The Apostle Paul writes: "Grace be to you and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ."
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Look in Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 2. Ephesians 1 and verse 2: "Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ." Turn right over to the book of Philippians. Philippians chapter 1 and look if you would please at verse 2: "Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ." Look in Philippians 4 and verse 20. Philippians 4 and verse 20: "Now unto God our Father be glory forever and ever. Amen." Look in Colossians 1 and verse 2: "To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse, grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." Then if you'd turn right over to 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 and look if you would please at verse 1: "Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." Skip down to 1 Thessalonians 3 and verse 11.
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1 Thessalonians 3 verse 11: "Now God Himself and our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ direct our way unto you." Look in verse 13: "To the end that He may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all of His saints." Look at 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 and verse 1: "Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." Skip down to verse 2: "We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet." Well, verse 2: "Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." Now skip down to verse 16 of chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 16: "Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God even our Father, which hath loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace." Wow. Look, if you would, at 1 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 2. Turn right over. "Unto Timothy, mine own son in the faith, grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord."
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Look in 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 2. 2 Timothy 1 and verse 2: "To Timothy, my dearly beloved son, grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord." Then if you would turn right over to the book of Philemon. And notice if you would please, verse 3: "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."
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Now let me ask you. If God is mentioned as our Father so many times, just in the New Testament, are there not implications of that truth to our lives? There must be a great deal of significance attached to this truth for it to be repeated so many times in the Bible. And I want you to note that every time we read about God being our Father, the Father of believers, He's always mentioned as the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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So the imagery that is being conveyed to us is two-fold. First of all, God is recognized as the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is distinct from everyone else because He is uniquely the Son of God. Everyone can quote John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son." The words "only begotten" are from one word in the Greek, monogenes, which means one of a kind, unique. There is only one like Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is perfect God and perfect man. He is the Son of Man, He is the Son of God. And God the Father is called His Father, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. But secondly, He's also called the Father of individual believers, and He is our Father by virtue of regeneration, adoption, and redemption. Without me taking you through the New Testament, you will find that when our Lord spoke to His disciples, He used phrases like this: "Your Father," "Your Father which is in heaven," "Your heavenly Father." He's called the Father of mercies, the Father of glory, the Father of spirits, and the Father of lights.
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The very fact that God is Father is mentioned over and over in the New Testament. So, the question has to be asked then: What significance is this to our lives? How do we make application that God, the sovereign, majestic, eternal, infinite, holy God of the universe is our Father? One thought, I want you to note that it is the Father who begets the children. If you are a child of God by faith in Jesus Christ, the Father that begat you is your heavenly Father. He begat you into His kingdom. He adopted you into His family in Christ Jesus. He regenerated you. He converted you. He gave you faith. He gave you repentance. Children do not beget themselves. They are begotten. Children do not decide or determine to be born. They are begotten by the Father.
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As that is true physically, it is also true spiritually. If Jesus Christ, the unique, only begotten Son of God, is the begotten Son of God in the sense that the Father begat Him and determined and ordained everything about Him, then obviously, it's the Father who begets individual believers as well. In fact, let me show you just several verses. Look in your Bibles to the book of James chapter 1. James chapter 1.
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And notice if you would please verse 18. James 1 and verse 18. I don't know how it could be any plainer, but here it is. James 1 and verse 18. The Bible says concerning God, in fact, let's read verse 17 just so you can see that God the Father is in view. James 1 verse 17: "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."
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"Of His own will begat He us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures." Of His own will begat He us. We are begotten of the Father. Turn right over to 1 Peter chapter 1 and let's begin reading there with verse 3. 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 3: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time." But notice verse 3: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us." If you would turn to 1 John chapter 5 and look at verse 1. 1 John 5 and verse 1. John says it like this.
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"Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God," or has been begotten of God, "and everyone that loveth Him that begat loveth them also that is begotten of Him." Do you realize? Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ has been begotten of God. That's what the Scripture says. It is God the Father who gives life. There is no life apart from God the Father. If you have been begotten by God the Father, you've been regenerated and you've been converted. If you have not been begotten by God the Father, then you're not a Christian.
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Now, let me show you a very simple and obvious implication. All of our physical children look like us, talk like us, and act like us. Now the Klinglers and the Klingler children are not here today. But if all the Klinglers were here today, and you looked at Janet and Henry, and then you looked at their children, could you tell that those children belonged to Janet and Henry? Sure you could. Could you look at Tripp and Lacey and tell they belonged to Beck and Dean? Of course you could. In fact, I see people all the time when I'm around and I figure out who belongs to who just by the way they look and act and talk. Because children look and act like their parents.
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There is a family resemblance. There's not only a family resemblance in their looks, there's a resemblance in their attitudes and in their actions. I can show you children that walk exactly the way their father walks. You can look at them and tell.
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Now, I want you to turn to Matthew 5. You will remember in Matthew 5, our Lord is correcting the misinterpretation and the misapplication of God's law that has been promulgated by the Pharisees. He teaches it over and over and over. He corrects it. In fact, if you were to read Matthew chapter 5, over and over you would hear our Lord say this: "It has been said of them of old time, but I say unto you." Or "You've heard that it has been said of them of old time, but I say unto you."
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In other words, here's what they taught and it's wrong. Here's what I'm telling you is truthful and right. So if you'll look in Matthew chapter 5, beginning there with verse 43, you'll see the last one of these. Look at Matthew 5 verse 43: "You've heard that it has been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you." Why?
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"That you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven. For He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." What did He say? "That you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven." In other words, just like Henry and Janet's children look like them and walk like them and talk like them and act like them, God says, "My children should walk like Me and talk like Me and act like Me, that you may be the children of your Father."
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So when people see you, they know that you're a Christian. They know it by the way you speak, by the way you walk, the way you act, the way you talk. They know it. The whole emphasis: His children act like their parents. And have you ever stopped to think about this? Every young child—can't say this about every teenager—but every young child wants to please his father. Have you ever stopped to think about that? They want to please the father. If we are His children, if we have been begotten by Him, there should be in us a desire to please Him.
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I'm working on another series on walking with the Lord. But there's a verse of Scripture that we are to walk pleasing in His sight. So obviously if we're His children, we're to walk pleasing unto Him. I am to be as my Heavenly Father.
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Now, let me make just two applications, and I want you to think about this. Unhappily, most of the time, we do not think about God as our Father. Most of the time when we pray, we'll say something like this, "Dear Lord," or "Lord Jesus." There's no problem with praying like that. By the way, let me just say this. I've had people ask me this. They said, "How should I pray? Should I pray to the Father? Should I pray in the name of the Son? Should I pray in the Holy Spirit?" The biblical way is this.
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Ephesians 2, I believe it is verse 18. We are to go to the Father through Jesus in the Spirit. But since we have one God, not three, it doesn't matter if you say "our Father" or "Lord Jesus" or "Blessed Holy Spirit." It's still one God. Do you understand that? But He says, "by Him" or "through Him," we have access unto the Father. The emphasis is on the Father.
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In fact, Christ said—turn to 1 Peter chapter 3. Let me show you a verse that just came to my mind. Look in 1 Peter chapter 3. 1 Peter chapter 3, I believe it is. The Scripture says, let me find it right quickly. 1 Peter 3, verse 18: "For Christ hath also once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit." So He died to bring us to the Father, unto God. So when we pray, we may lawfully and legitimately and honestly, if we've been regenerated by the grace of God, say, "our Father." We have a responsibility, and I might add a privilege, to acknowledge and confess God as our Father. As a child, I never had any problem asking my Father for whatever I wanted. He was my Father. I recognized Him as my Father. We have an obligation, we have a responsibility to recognize, to acknowledge and confess God as our Father.
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Why do we not do so more frequently? Because if we acknowledge that we have a responsibility to confess God as our Father, then the corollary is that we have a responsibility to act like His child. You follow me? If He's my Father, I'm His child. I have a responsibility to act like His child and to bring my life into conformity to the Word of God. We need to more frequently acknowledge and confess God is our Father through the person and work of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. Let's pray. We do come to Thee and we do acknowledge today that Thou art indeed our Father. And Father, You are only our Father by grace through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ. And we glory in the fact that the sovereign, majestic God of heaven and earth is our Father. But Father, we also have a responsibility to act like and live like Your children. And Father, as we look at this doctrine of holiness, practical holiness, I pray that You would enable us to repent of any and all of our sins and to bring our lives into greater conformity to Your Word.
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In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask. Amen.
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T20:36:21Z

Perfecting Holiness Part 1 of 5 - God as Father

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

In this introductory sermon, Pastor John Weaver begins a five-part series on perfecting holiness, focusing on the promise of God as Father. He distinguishes between positional holiness (God's work in Christ) and practical holiness (the believer's responsibility to cleanse themselves and conform to God's Word). The message emphasizes that practical holiness involves separation from sin and unto God, and that the promises in 2 Corinthians 6:16-18—that God will dwell with His people and be a Father to them—are given in the context of such separation. Weaver highlights the frequent New Testament references to God as Father, urging believers to acknowledge this relationship and live as obedient children who resemble their Father.

Introduction to Perfecting Holiness

Weaver introduces the series on perfecting holiness from 2 Corinthians 7:1, emphasizing that every true child of God desires to live a holy life, and that without holiness no one will see the Lord.

Scripture Reading — Hebrews 12:14

And you will understand why. So look in 2 Corinthians 7 verse 1: "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." Notice that last phrase, "perfecting holiness in the fear of God." I believe that every true child of God genuinely desires to live a holy, godly life. And I might add, if you do not desire to live a holy, godly life, there's a doubt as to whether or not you're really a true child of God. The Bible teaches very clearly and dogmatically that without holiness, no man shall see the Lord—Hebrews 12 and verse 14. Even our Lord said in Matthew 5 and verse 8, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."

The Need to Know Holiness

Believers must know God's Word to understand what holiness is, as priests were commanded to teach the difference between holy and unholy, and believers are now a holy priesthood.

Scripture Reading — Ezekiel 22:26

"...her priests have violated My law, and have profaned Mine holy things. They have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from My sabbaths, and I am profaned among them."

Notice Ezekiel 44 and verse 23. God says this:

Scripture Reading — Ezekiel 44:23

"And they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean."

In fact, scripture is very, very specific. In 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 7, God said this:

Scripture Reading — 1 Thessalonians 4:7

"For God hath not called you unto uncleanness, but unto holiness."

For God hath not called you unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. So if we have a calling then to be holy, we must know what holiness is. The word for holiness literally means to be set apart.

Negative and Positive Aspects of Holiness

Scripture Reading — 2 Corinthians 6:17

"Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you."

Notice God says,

Scripture Reading — 2 Corinthians 6:17

"Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate, touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you."

Scripture Reading — 1 Thessalonians 1:7-9

"So that you were ensamples or examples to all that believed in Macedonia and Achaia. For from you sounded out the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad, so that we need not speak anything. Now watch. For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how you turned to God,"

that's positive, "from idols," that's negative,

Scripture Reading — 1 Thessalonians 1:7-9

"to serve the living and true God."

So there you have both the negative and the positive. They turned from idols, the negative, to God to serve Him.

That's the positive. So obviously then, when we're talking about holiness, it means just simply to be set apart. You're set apart from something and you're set apart unto something.

Positional vs. Practical Holiness

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 1:30-31

in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption, that according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." Incidentally, when you see the word sanctification, the word holiness and the word sanctification are synonymous. They're the same exact word in the Greek. So you could read that, "But of Him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God has made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and holiness, and redemption, that according as it is written, He that glorieth let him glory in the Lord."

So it is God the Father then, who makes us positionally holy in Christ. If you would turn right over to 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and look at verse 21.

Scripture Reading — 2 Corinthians 5:21

"to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him."

Scripture Reading — Romans 6:19

"I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh. For as you have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity, even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness."

The Command to Be Holy

Scripture Reading — 1 Peter 1:13-16

"Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ, as obedient children."

Here's the negative.

The Promises in 2 Corinthians 6:16-18

harkens back to chapter 6, verses 14 through 18. So let's go to 2 Corinthians 6 and look at verse 14 through 18. Here the apostle writes:

Scripture Reading — 2 Corinthians 6:14-18

"Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? And what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God, as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people."

You remember what the Bible says in Hebrews 7 and verse 26 it is concerning Christ. The Bible tells us there concerning Christ that He

Scripture Reading — Hebrews 7:26

is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens.

The Promise of God's Presence and Protection

The promise that God will dwell with His people is an encouragement when the world hates and persecutes believers for their separation. God will protect and care for them as His own.

Now, so here is a promise that you and I have in light of our separation from the world and religious idolatry. So our Lord said, "If the world hates you, you know that it hated me first."

The Promise of God as Father

The second promise is that God will be a Father to believers. Weaver surveys numerous New Testament salutations referring to God as our Father, emphasizing the significance of this relationship.

Implications of God as Father

Application: Acknowledge God as Father

Believers should more frequently acknowledge and confess God as their Father, recognizing the privilege and responsibility to live as His obedient children.

In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask. Amen.

Perfecting Holiness Part 1 of 5 - God as Father

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	iTZNpCc42Ko
Subject	Family Government
Course	The Christian Family: Children, Fatherhood, and Generational Faithfulness: The World And Times Of Jesse James
Genre	Sermon
Date	2012-11-28
Dictation Name
Book	Book 028: The Christian Family: Children, Fatherhood, and Generational Faithfulness — Chapter 21
Source Timed Segments	70

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction to Perfecting Holiness: Weaver introduces the series on perfecting holiness from 2 Corinthians 7:1, emphasizing that every true child of God desires to live a holy life, and that without holiness no one will see the Lord.
The Need to Know Holiness: Believers must know God's Word to understand what holiness is, as priests were commanded to teach the difference between holy and unholy, and believers are now a holy priesthood.
Negative and Positive Aspects of Holiness: Holiness means being set apart: negatively, separated from sin (2 Corinthians 6:17); positively, separated unto God and His gospel (Romans 1:1). 1 Thessalonians 1:9 illustrates turning from idols to serve God.
Positional vs. Practical Holiness: Positional holiness is God's perfect work in Christ (1 Corinthians 1:30-31; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 1:4). Practical holiness is the believer's ongoing responsibility to cleanse themselves and conform to God's Word (2 Corinthians 7:1).
The Command to Be Holy: Believers are commanded to be holy as God is holy (1 Peter 1:14-16), yielding their members to righteousness as they once yielded to sin (Romans 6:19). This requires obedience and reliance on God's power.
The Promises in 2 Corinthians 6:16-18: The promises that motivate practical holiness are that God will dwell with His people and be their God (v. 16), and that He will be a Father to them and they will be His sons and daughters (vv. 17-18). These promises are conditioned on separation from idolatry and uncleanness.
The Promise of God's Presence and Protection: The promise that God will dwell with His people is an encouragement when the world hates and persecutes believers for their separation. God will protect and care for them as His own.
The Promise of God as Father: The second promise is that God will be a Father to believers. Weaver surveys numerous New Testament salutations referring to God as our Father, emphasizing the significance of this relationship.
Implications of God as Father: God is Father of Jesus Christ uniquely, and of believers by regeneration. As children resemble their parents, believers should act like their Father, loving enemies and walking pleasing to Him (Matthew 5:43-45).
Application: Acknowledge God as Father: Believers should more frequently acknowledge and confess God as their Father, recognizing the privilege and responsibility to live as His obedient children.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

Holiness is both positional and practical

Positional holiness is God's work alone, making believers holy in Christ; practical holiness is the believer's active pursuit of cleansing and conformity to God's Word.

Positional holiness is something that God the Father does. It cannot be added to. It cannot be taken from. It is already perfect... But when you get to 2 Corinthians 7 in verse 1, Paul is not talking about positional holiness. He is talking about a practical holiness.

Practical holiness requires separation from sin

The command to 'come out from among them' and be separate is foundational to experiencing God's promises of presence and fatherhood.

Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you.

God's promises are conditioned on separation

The promises that God will dwell with His people and be their Father are given in the context of separating from idolatry and uncleanness.

Is it not plain that these verses, that God is going to be our God, and walk among us, is based upon our separation from corruption and wickedness.

Believers are begotten of God the Father

Regeneration is the work of God the Father, who begets believers by His will, making them His children.

Of His own will begat He us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.

God's children should resemble their Father

As children naturally resemble their parents, believers should demonstrate their relationship to God by acting like Him, particularly in loving enemies.

That you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven. For He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good... God says, 'My children should walk like Me and talk like Me and act like Me.'

Acknowledging God as Father implies obedient living

Confessing God as Father carries the responsibility to live as His child, bringing one's life into conformity to His Word.

If we acknowledge that we have a responsibility to confess God as our Father, then the corollary is that we have a responsibility to act like His child.

The world's hatred confirms genuine separation

The promise of God's presence is an encouragement when believers face persecution for their holy separation from the world.

What does the world do to a real, genuine believer who wants to live holy and godly... They hate him. They'll persecute him... God says don't worry. I will take you under My wings.

Ignorance of God's Word hinders holiness

Believers cannot live holy lives without knowing God's Word and His demands, as the priests were to teach the difference between holy and unholy.

We do not know the Word of God as we should know it. And consequently, since we do not know the Word of God, we do not know how to make application of the Word of God to our lives.

Scripture References

2 Corinthians 7:1: The key text for the series: 'Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.'
Hebrews 12:14: Quoted to emphasize the necessity of holiness: 'Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.'
Matthew 5:8: Cited alongside Hebrews 12:14: 'Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.'
Ezekiel 22:26: God condemns priests for not distinguishing between holy and profane, clean and unclean.
Ezekiel 44:23: The true priests are to teach the difference between holy and profane, clean and unclean.
1 Peter 2:5: Believers are a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices.
Revelation 1:5-6: Christ has made believers kings and priests unto God.
1 Thessalonians 4:7: God has called us not unto uncleanness but unto holiness.
2 Corinthians 6:17: The negative aspect of holiness: 'Come out from among them, and be ye separate... and touch not the unclean thing.'
Romans 1:1: Paul, separated unto the gospel of God, illustrating the positive aspect of holiness.
1 Thessalonians 1:7-9: The Thessalonians turned from idols to serve the living God, exemplifying negative and positive holiness.
1 Corinthians 1:30-31: Christ is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification (holiness), and redemption; positional holiness is God's work.
2 Corinthians 5:21: God made Christ sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
Ephesians 1:4-6: Chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blame; positional holiness.
Romans 6:19: Yield your members as servants to righteousness unto holiness, just as you once yielded to uncleanness.
1 Peter 1:13-16: As obedient children, do not fashion yourselves according to former lusts, but be holy as God is holy.
John 15:5: Without Christ we can do nothing; we need His power for practical holiness.
2 Corinthians 6:14-18: The promises referred to in 7:1: do not be unequally yoked; God will dwell with His people and be a Father to them.
Hebrews 7:26: Christ is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners; He has no communion with sin.
Isaiah 52:10-11: Depart, touch no unclean thing; be clean that bear the vessels of the Lord.

Historical References

Old Testament priesthood: Priests were commanded to teach the difference between holy and unholy, clean and unclean (Ezekiel 22:26; 44:23).
Pharisees' misinterpretation of the law: In Matthew 5, Jesus corrected the Pharisees' misinterpretation and misapplication of God's law.

Important Quotes

Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

The foundational text for the entire series, emphasizing the believer's active role in practical holiness.

I believe that every true child of God genuinely desires to live a holy, godly life. And I might add, if you do not desire to live a holy, godly life, there's a doubt as to whether or not you're really a true child of God.

Establishes the inseparable link between genuine faith and a desire for holiness.

Positional holiness is something that God the Father does. It cannot be added to. It cannot be taken from. It is already perfect. You cannot be more holy in Christ positionally than you already are.

Clearly defines positional holiness as God's complete and unchangeable work.

Ours is the responsibility. His is the ability.

Succinctly captures the partnership between human effort and divine enablement in practical holiness.

Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

The key promise that motivates separation: God's fatherly reception and relationship.

That you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven. For He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

Jesus' teaching that loving enemies demonstrates family resemblance to the Father.

Of His own will begat He us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.

Affirms that regeneration is the sovereign work of God the Father.

If we acknowledge that we have a responsibility to confess God as our Father, then the corollary is that we have a responsibility to act like His child.

The practical application: confessing God as Father obligates us to live accordingly.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

What is the difference between positional holiness and practical holiness, and why is it important to understand both?

[Context]

Weaver spends significant time distinguishing between God's work in making us holy in Christ and our responsibility to pursue holiness in daily life.

[Question]

How does the command to 'come out from among them and be separate' apply to believers today, especially in light of the promises attached to it?

[Context]

The sermon emphasizes that separation from sin and idolatry is the condition for experiencing God's presence and fatherhood.

[Question]

In what ways should God's children resemble their Father, according to Matthew 5:43-45?

[Context]

Weaver uses the analogy of family resemblance to argue that believers should act like God, particularly in loving enemies.

[Question]

Why do you think the New Testament writers so frequently refer to God as 'our Father'? What implications does this have for our prayer life and daily conduct?

[Context]

The sermon surveys numerous salutations that mention God as Father, urging believers to acknowledge this relationship more consciously.

[Question]

How can we balance the truth that 'ours is the responsibility, His is the ability' in pursuing practical holiness?

[Context]

Weaver stresses that while we must actively cleanse ourselves, we are utterly dependent on God's power to do so.

[Question]

What does it mean to be 'begotten of God,' and how does this shape our identity as believers?

[Context]

The sermon teaches that regeneration is the Father's work, making us His children by His will.

[Question]

How does the world's hatred of believers confirm their genuine separation and the reality of God's promises?

[Context]

Weaver explains that persecution is a sign of true holiness, and God's promise of protection is an encouragement in such times.

[Question]

Why is ignorance of God's Word a major obstacle to holiness, and what can we do to overcome it?

[Context]

The sermon begins by stating that believers often do not know Scripture well enough to apply it, hindering holy living.

Applications

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