Paul knows that Jesus may come back at any moment and so he comes up with this way for us to remember how to be blameless, how to be holy in preparation for this event. He gives us the 7 P's (Greek 'Pi') of holiness. Today we will have our last piece of pi.
Pi 7 = Abstain from every form of evil.
Doctrine 10 of The Salvation Army reads: "We believe that it is the privilege of all believers to be wholly sanctified, and that their whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." Our text today says, abstain from every form of evil: This is holiness (Cf. TSA doc. 10). God tells us to be holy (1 Peter 1:15, Leviticus 11:44,45; 19:2; 20:7). God tells us to be blameless (1 Thessalonians 5:23). God tells us to be perfect (2 Corinthians 13; Colossians 1:28; Hebrews 11,12). John Wesley argued that this involves more than just avoiding vices. He says, quoting an heathen Epicurean poet, in a sermon entitled, ‘The Almost Christian’ that “Good men avoid sin from the love of virtue. Wicked men avoid sin from a fear of punishment.”[10] Avoiding evil and avoiding it because of a legitimate love of God is very important. If it were not possible to avoid sin, God would never tell us to be holy just as He is holy and He would never tell us to be even perfect and He would never tell us to be blameless – but He does. God doesn’t set people up for failure. He is a loving God. He would never ask from us that which is impossible. After all with God all things are possible, and in Verses 23 and 24, He tells us how it is possible to be perfect even as God is perfect. He says He will do it. God himself will sanctify us through and through, keeping us blameless until the return of Christ. So this is exciting. We don’t need to sin. We don’t need to return to bad habits. We can rely on God, He will lead us through the 7 P’s (Pi’s) of holiness in each one of our lives and indeed He will make us holy, as He is holy.
So then as we prepare to meet Christ very soon, even as we annually celebrate his coming 2000+ years ago in a manger and his death and resurrection decades later, and as we look forward to his return anytime now. Let us turn to God and in the process let us make sure that we are prepared. Let us give P’s a chance. Let us not have any Pi missing as we present our lives holy unto God as a living sacrifice, trusting that He will preserve us blameless until the coming of the end of the age.
Pi 7 = Abstain from every form of evil.
Pi 7 = Abstain from every form of evil.
Doctrine 10 of The Salvation Army reads: "We believe that it is the privilege of all believers to be wholly sanctified, and that their whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." Our text today says, abstain from every form of evil: This is holiness (Cf. TSA doc. 10). God tells us to be holy (1 Peter 1:15, Leviticus 11:44,45; 19:2; 20:7). God tells us to be blameless (1 Thessalonians 5:23). God tells us to be perfect (2 Corinthians 13; Colossians 1:28; Hebrews 11,12). John Wesley argued that this involves more than just avoiding vices. He says, quoting an heathen Epicurean poet, in a sermon entitled, ‘The Almost Christian’ that “Good men avoid sin from the love of virtue. Wicked men avoid sin from a fear of punishment.”[10] Avoiding evil and avoiding it because of a legitimate love of God is very important. If it were not possible to avoid sin, God would never tell us to be holy just as He is holy and He would never tell us to be even perfect and He would never tell us to be blameless – but He does. God doesn’t set people up for failure. He is a loving God. He would never ask from us that which is impossible. After all with God all things are possible, and in Verses 23 and 24, He tells us how it is possible to be perfect even as God is perfect. He says He will do it. God himself will sanctify us through and through, keeping us blameless until the return of Christ. So this is exciting. We don’t need to sin. We don’t need to return to bad habits. We can rely on God, He will lead us through the 7 P’s (Pi’s) of holiness in each one of our lives and indeed He will make us holy, as He is holy.
So then as we prepare to meet Christ very soon, even as we annually celebrate his coming 2000+ years ago in a manger and his death and resurrection decades later, and as we look forward to his return anytime now. Let us turn to God and in the process let us make sure that we are prepared. Let us give P’s a chance. Let us not have any Pi missing as we present our lives holy unto God as a living sacrifice, trusting that He will preserve us blameless until the coming of the end of the age.
Pi 7 = Abstain from every form of evil.
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