Friends,

God’s Word tells us in Eph. 4:22-24 that we are to put off the old self and put on the new self and [b]“to be made new in the attitude of your minds.” ([/b]v. 23) This means that if we have truly clothed ourselves in Christ (Rom. 13:14) who is our New Self / New Creation (Gal. 2:20 & 2 Cor. 5:17), then we have changed. We’ve changed not just the outward appearance –the lifestyle– but are new in our attitude. Our attitude comes from our heart, mind, and spirit, and these must be cleansed and made new.


I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.  I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.  And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. (Ezek. 36:25-27)

A new attitude displays nothing close to that which the old displayed. The old was negative, angry, and untruthful. (See Eph. 4:25,26) It sought to steal, it was idle and useless, and it was full of unwholesome talk. (See v. 28,29) It consisted of bitterness, rage, fighting, slander, and malice. (See v. 31) We see these described again in Col. 3:8,9 as things we discard when having taken off the old self. And verse 10 says we then “put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”

Having a new self is all about having an attitude of wanting to conform perfectly to Jesus –who “is the image of the invisible God,” (1:15) and the Creator of all things. (v. 16) And the main attribute of God that we are to conform to is holiness. As 1 Peter 1:15,16 commands, “But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’” This is a command to action on our part. “For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.” (1 Thes. 4:7) And for those false teachers who think holiness –being holy in all we do– is optional, verse 8 has a sharp rebuke: “Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you His Holy Spirit.” In other words, if we claim we’ve been given God’s HOLY Spirit, then we are “to live a holy life”! Why? –Because “without holiness no one will see the Lord.” (Heb. 12:14)

That does mean this: Lack of holiness in your life = shut out from the Lord’s presence forever.

"He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you."
(2 Thes. 1:8-10 )


“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed?,  And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
(Matt. 25:26,30)

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ [becoming a new creation], set your hearts on things above, where Christ is… Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God… Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature [your old self]: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.” (Col. 3:1-6) And back to the Ephesians passage: If anyone continues to engage in the practices of the old self, then these disobedient individuals will come under the wrath of God (5:6) and will not have “any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” (v. 5)

Practical, actual, lifestyle, heart-mind-attitude holiness is a must in order to enter eternal life. Read God’s Word; it’s warned about all through its pages.


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