If you were to look back on your life and compare yourself to the world around you—who you work with, your neighbors, the people of Phoenix—are you more like them, or are they more like you? Have you become more like the world, or does something different shine through? That’s the question Steve McDonald posed to Grace Bible Church in this sermon on holiness.
When We Forget Who God Is
Steve opened with two back-to-back passages that tell the same story—almost. In Exodus 17, the people of Israel have been out of Egypt for just two or three months. They’re camping at Rephidim, there’s no water to drink, and they quarrel with Moses. “Give us water to drink!” they demand. Moses cries out to the Lord, and God tells Moses to take his staff—the same one he used to strike the Nile—and strike the rock. Water pours out. Crisis resolved.
“Is the Lord among us or not?”
— Exodus 17:7
Now jump forward 38 years. The setting of Numbers 20 finds the people in nearly the same predicament—no water, grumbling, thirsty. Moses does the same thing: he strikes the rock. But this time, God responds very differently. Moses is told he will not enter the Promised Land. The same action, two wildly different outcomes.
What changed? Not God—Moses did. Steve pointed out that in the second account, Moses forgot who God was. He didn’t treat God as holy. He treated Him like a cosmic vending machine: strike the rock, get the water. The Lord who had repeatedly delivered His people in miraculous ways was reduced to a formula.
We Have Been Made Holy
Steve reminded the congregation that while Israel’s story is sobering, there is incredible good news for believers. Ephesians 5:26 says that Christ “loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word.” And Hebrews 10:10 declares: “We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
“We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
— Hebrews 10:10
When you placed your faith in Christ, God did something extraordinary: He separated you from everyone else and called you holy. It’s positional, it’s real, and it’s not dependent on your performance. You can’t earn it. You can’t lose it. It is the work of Christ on your behalf.
Be Holy in All You Do
Here’s where it gets practical. Steve didn’t let the congregation leave without a challenge. 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4 says the God “did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.” And 1 Peter 1:15-16 puts it plainly:
“Be holy, because I am holy.”
— 1 Peter 1:16
Steve applied this across the board: how we parent our kids, how we treat our spouses, how we work, how we speak, how we spend our time. Parents, he said, are “god” to their children in the sense that children learn about the world through their parents. That is an enormous responsibility. The world should look at our families and see something distinctly different—not perfect, but set apart.
And it’s not just for parents of young children. Steve, 61 at the time of this message, said he still sees his role as a father to his adult children, and to his sons-in-law and grandchildren. There’s no age limit on holiness. There’s no retirement from being set apart for God.
So What?
The world needs to see God’s love in us. If we profess to be Christians yet live like everyone else, why would anyone care what we say? Our witness is built on our walk. When the people around us see something different—patience, generosity, grace, truth, love—they become curious. They start listening.
Steve closed with a challenge: examine yourself. When people see you, do they see someone holy—set apart, special, different in a good way? It’s not too late to start. God has called you to Himself, and He has called you to live like it.
Scripture References
- Exodus 17:1–7
- Numbers 20:1–13
- Ephesians 5:26
- Hebrews 10:10
- 1 Thessalonians 4:3–8
- 1 Peter 1:15–16