Are we willing to be God's people?

Friday's chapel service was REALLY good.

The question that Dr. Vilmer left us with at the end of his message was this...

Are we willing to be God's people?

I would guess that most followers of Christ would immediately say "Yes" to that statement without even thinking...

As he said those words, I thought  of course I am willing...

BUT here is where it gets a bit sticky...

God says in Leviticus 19:1-2, "Be holy, because I am holy."  He isn't saying do your best to become as holy as you can, nor is he saying to act holy... He is telling us that our BEING should be HOLY.

In other words, if we are to be God's people, then holiness MUST become our nature. What we believe about God and what He desires us to be is not JUST a matter of belief... it should be our way of life!

This changes the game...

What it really comes down to is this...  if we have a poor understanding of who God is, we will never truly become like Him.  Until we grasp His character and His nature, ours can never be a reflection of His.  But if we are to be His people, not only should we understand how He desires for us to live, but we also need to LIVE it.

Paul expresses this same idea in the New Testament, but uses different words.

Galatians 5:6b says this, ''The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love."

We can say that we have faith, but if our actions don't flow from God's love, then our faith doesn't count for anything.

We could even put it this way, "LOVE, because I am LOVE."  Just like holiness for God's people is not optional, LOVE is not either.... and LOVE is the key to Holiness...


God so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son...  John 3:16

God demonstrated His love for us in this: While we were still sinners Christ died for us... Romans 5:8

We love because He first loved us...1 John 4:19

If you love me, you will keep my  commandments...  John 14:15

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets...  Matthew 22:36-40


So here is the connection...

1 Thessalonians 3:12-13 says this, "and may the Lord make you increase and abound in LOVE for one another and for all...  SO THAT He may establish your hearts blameless in HOLINESS before our God and Father..."

The key to Holiness is Love...

"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.  In this, the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him."  1 John 4:7-9

Love isn't easy... in fact, God's love is demonstrated for us in self-sacrifice, servanthood, obedience, humility...

So here is the question we should be asking ourselves every day-

"Are we willing to be God's people?"