Walk in Holiness - Pr. Antonio Nasser - August, 23rd, 2009

Ephesians 1:3-4 (NKJV)
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love"

BLESSED IN CHRIST
1. Jesus Christ, the Holy Mediator
1 Timothy 2:5-6 (NKJV)
5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,
6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time,

2. Jesus Christ, the Holy Savior
Acts 4:12 (NIV)
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

3. Jesus Christ, the Holy Heir
Hebrews 1:1-2 (NKJV)
1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,
2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;

4. In Jesus we became heirs also…
Galatians 4:4-7 (NKJV)
4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!"
7 Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

GOD'S WLL FOR HIS HEIRS: “…that we should be holy and without blame before Him”
1. God’s will for His heirs - Holy
Holy: Hebrew root is qādash
The ancient hebrew meaning is: to set aside for a special purpose.
Exodus 3:5 (NIV) 5 "Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground."
… the place where you are standing upon is ground set aside for a special purpose (qodesh).

a) God is set apart from all other gods.
1 Samuel 2:2 (NIV) 2 "There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.

b) God’s people is set apart from all other people
Leviticus 19:2 (NKJV) 2 "Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: 'You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.
…you shall be set apart for a special purpose, For I the Lord your God am “the special One”.
Exodus 19:6 (NKJV) 6 And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel."
… a kingdom of priests and a nation set aside for a special purpose (qadosh).

2. God’s will for His heirs - Blameless
In Greek the word is amōmos: from (a) (as a negative particle) and (momos); unblemished (literal or figurative) :- without blame (blemish, fault, spot), faultless, unblameable.
Greek Mythology… curiosity
MOMOS (or Momus) was the god of mockery, blame, ridicule, scorn, complaint and stinging criticism. He was expelled from heaven for ridiculing the gods.

a) NOAH
Genesis 6:9 (NIV) 9 This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.
Hebrew: tāmam
without blemish, perfect, upright, without spot, uprightly, whole, sincere, complete, full

b) JOB
Job 1:1 (NIV) 1 In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.

c) KING DAVID
Psalms 18:23 (NIV) 23 I have been blameless before him and have kept myself from sin.

d) GOD'S PEOPLE
Philippians 2:13-15 (NKJV) 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. 14 Do all things without complaining and disputing,
15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
Colossians 1:21-23
21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.
22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation--
23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven