Happy New Year, GBC Phoenix! On January 2, 2022, Pastor Josh White stood behind the pulpit and made a confession: his New Year’s resolution was to “state the obvious more often.” And the obvious thing he stated that morning was this — if you’re a Christian, God has given you instructions on how to live. Not suggestions. Instructions. And after last week’s message on responding to salvation with hope, Pastor Josh walked through two more ways we are called to respond.
Respond With Holiness
The second response to being saved is holiness. Before we can understand what that looks like, we need to understand why it’s necessary. Ephesians 2:1–3 describes where we all started: dead in trespasses and sins, “following the course of this world” and “carrying out the desires of the body and mind.” Two forces shaped us into the people we were — nature (our genetic wiring) and nurture (the world around us). Both were making us unholy.
But now, in Christ, things have changed. Ephesians 2:4–10 says God made us alive together with Christ, raised us up, and seated us in the heavenly places. Both nature and nurture have been dealt with. The old self is being put off; the new self is being renewed “in knowledge after the image of its Creator” — and the image of God is His holiness.
First Peter 1:14–15 says it plainly: “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance. But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.” Notice what it doesn’t say. It doesn’t say you desire to be holy, or that you agree holiness is a good idea. It says you shall be holy. As simple and as demanding as that.
“You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
— 1 Peter 1:15–16 (quoting Leviticus 19:2)
Colossians 3:1–10 gives the practical picture. If you’ve been raised with Christ, set your minds on things above. Put to death what is earthly in you — sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desires, covetousness. Strip off the old self with its practices and put on the new self, being renewed in the image of your Creator.
The application is immediate: What is one thought you constantly entertain that is sinful or negative — and are you willing to take it captive and make it obedient to Christ? What is one environment — a place or a circle of people — that is conforming you to the patterns of this world? Are you willing to change it? This is holiness. Not a feeling. A decision. Repeated daily.
Respond With Honor
There’s one more response in the passage: honor. First Peter 1:17 says, “Conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile.” Our Father is both holy and a judge. And while Jesus has already paid the penalty for those who are His, each believer will still give an account for how we lived.
Pastor Josh used a memorable illustration. During a summer job at UPS, he would wake up, fill the truck, deliver the boxes, come back empty — and the next day, the truck was full again. Same route. Same boxes. No sense of permanence. He asked the question we all ask at some point: Is this all there is? Does any of this even matter?
The answer from Scripture is a ringing yes — but not in the way the world measures success. This life is not about accumulation. It’s about faithfulness. This life is the job interview for the life to come.
“Whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”
— 2 Corinthians 5:9–10
First Corinthians 3:10–15 describes the kind of judgment believers will face — a fire that tests the quality of our work. Gold, silver, precious stones survive. Wood, hay, straw burn up. Those whose work endures receive a reward; those whose work is burned “will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved but only as through fire.”
This is not a warning about losing salvation. It’s a motivation to stop wasting life on things that won’t last. God wants to reward His children. He has given us everything we need to live in a way that pleases and honors Him. The question is whether we’ll use this brief window of time to build something eternal.
So What?
Pastor Josh closed with a question that cuts through every new year’s resolution, every self-improvement plan, and every culturally-inspired goal: Did you decide that in 2022 you would be more holy than you were in 2021?
That’s not on most people’s lists. But it is on God’s list. He has called you to be holy. He has called you to honor Him with how you spend every ordinary day — every commute, every conversation, every decision about how you use your time and resources. This life is not about us. It’s about Jesus. And how we live it matters for eternity.
If you’ve been saved, you now have a heavenly Father who is holy, a judgment seat you will stand before, and the power of the Spirit within you to live differently. That’s the weight of glory being prepared for you. Live in light of it.
Scripture References
- 1 Peter 1:13–21 — Hope, holiness, and honor as responses to salvation
- Ephesians 2:1–10 — Nature, nurture, and the new life we have in Christ
- Colossians 3:1–10 — Putting off the old self, putting on the new
- 1 Corinthians 3:10–15 — The judgment that tests our works
- 2 Corinthians 5:9–10 — We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ