{"id":5835,"date":"2013-06-20T10:55:12","date_gmt":"2013-06-20T17:55:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.blueletterbible.org\/blb\/?p=5835"},"modified":"2013-06-20T11:15:20","modified_gmt":"2013-06-20T18:15:20","slug":"cultivating-holiness-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.blueletterbible.org\/blb\/2013\/06\/20\/cultivating-holiness-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Cultivating Holiness (Part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"20130620_cultivatingholines\"<\/p>\n

Believers are called to holy living. This is the clear teaching of the Bible<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Throughout this next blog series, we want to consider the question:<\/p>\n

\u201cHow then does the believer cultivate holiness?\u201d<\/em> <\/span><\/p>\n

We will look at seven different ways. Today we will discuss the first:<\/p>\n

First, know and love Scripture.<\/h3>\n

Scripture is God\u2019s primary road to holiness and to spiritual growth\u2014with the Spirit as Master Teacher blessing the reading and searching of God\u2019s Word. Jesus prayed, \u201cSanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17). And Peter advised, \u201cLike newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation\u201d (1 Peter 2:2).<\/p>\n

If you would not remain spiritually ignorant and impoverished, read through the Bible at least annually. Even more importantly, memorize the Scriptures (Ps. 119:11), search (John 5:39) and mediate upon them (Ps. 1:2), live and love them (Ps. 119; 19:10). Compare Scripture with Scripture; take time to study the Word.<\/p>\n

Consider the words of Proverbs 2:1-5:<\/p>\n

My son, if you receive my words
\nand treasure up my commandments with you,
\nmaking your ear attentive to wisdom
\nand inclining your heart to understanding;
\nyes, if you call out for insight
\nand raise your voice for understanding,
\nif you seek it like silver
\nand search for it as for hidden treasures,
\nthen you will understand the fear of the LORD
\nand find the knowledge of God.<\/p>\n

In this passage we find the principles of serious personal Bible study: teachability (receiving God\u2019s words), obedience (storing God\u2019s commandments), discipline (applying the heart), dependence (crying for knowledge), and perseverance (searching for hidden treasure).<\/p>\n

Do not expect growth in holiness if you spend little time alone with God and do not take His word seriously. When you are plagued with a heart prone to be tempted away from holiness let Scripture teach you how to live a holy life in an unholy world.<\/p>\n

How has God used Scripture to help cultivate holiness in your own life?<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Believers are called to holy living. This is the clear teaching of the Bible. Throughout this next blog series, we want to consider the question: \u201cHow then does the believer cultivate holiness?\u201d We will look at seven different ways. Today we will discuss the first: First, know and love Scripture. Scripture is God\u2019s primary road […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":5836,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-misc","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.blueletterbible.org\/blb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.blueletterbible.org\/blb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.blueletterbible.org\/blb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.blueletterbible.org\/blb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.blueletterbible.org\/blb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5835"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.blueletterbible.org\/blb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5835\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5840,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.blueletterbible.org\/blb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5835\/revisions\/5840"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.blueletterbible.org\/blb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.blueletterbible.org\/blb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.blueletterbible.org\/blb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.blueletterbible.org\/blb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}