The Call to be Wholly Holy

Christian faith does not lend itself to half-measures. In response to the covenant of promise that God made with Abraham, God told him, “walk before me faithfully and be blameless” (Gen. 17:1). God’s command to his people through Moses, later echoed by Peter was simply, “Be holy because I, the Lord your God am holy” (Lev. 19:2). On one occasion Jesus turned to the crowds who were following him and said, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters — yes even their own life — such a person cannot be my disciple” (Lk. 14:25). Christian faith, by its very nature, is not compatible with either lukewarm commitment or half-hearted obedience. And yet we try. Like many others, both before and after them, many of the Corinthians were attempting to straddle the illusory fence between belief and unbelief. But Paul lovingly, and yet firmly, calls them out. As we’ll see this morning, he concludes his lengthy appeal in 2 Corinthians 6:14 – 7:1 with an important and needed reminder, to them and to us, of “The Call to be Wholly Holy”.