When I think of the word holiness, I tend in one of two directions - either thoughts of our perfect Savior or thoughts of perfect actions. In both scenarios, it seems out of reach for my own life, like I’m chasing the wind. This weekend we are continuing in our series Unstoppable, looking at holiness as worship. As we enter into this topic, we need to be clear about what holiness is and isn’t. Let’s start with what it is not.

Doing all the right things - Holiness is not dependent on you. We will talk more about this later.
Pursuing right standing with God - That has already been done on the cross. If we say yes to Jesus, we have right standing with God.
Unreachable - Jesus left us the Holy Spirit to empower us to do great things, including worship in holiness.

Rather than doing all the right things or pursuing right standing, what if we defined holiness as desiring the presence of God? Ultimately, our holiness will be perfected only when we, as believers, come face to face with the Lord and are glorified with Him. When we are in His presence, we will be holy. In this life, our loving God invites us to see glimpses of His holiness as we pursue Him and his presence.

So what does this have to do with our worship? Psalm 96:9 says, “Worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness.” Here are two important things to be reminded of as we talk about holiness as worship this Sunday.

Holiness is His, not ours. When we begin to focus more on doing the right things, we focus less on Jesus. This is no longer worship. It’s a performance, a standard to live up to.
There is splendor in His holiness. From holiness comes splendor. We often equate holiness with rules or punishment, but that’s not what the psalmist tells us. When we view holiness as God’s presence, what is found there is true beauty.

Today focus on getting into the presence of God. Pray to Him. Tell Him your thoughts and fears and joys. Read His word. See what He has to say about who you are. And there, in His presence, you will find an invitation to see the splendor of holiness.

See you Sunday,

Lis