"Therefore gird up loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon grace that is to be brought to you at revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, 'Be holy, for I am holy.'" (1 Peter 1:13-16) I really don't think we have a choice to be or not to be holy if we are to be a Christian. The very essence of being a Christian is to be holy. To say that we are one without being other is a contradiction of terms. As indeed God as said, "Be holy, for I am holy."

Not that above Scriptures are not sufficient to make our point, but consider following: "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy." (1 Peter 2:9,10) It is our calling to be holy!

What does holiness cause us to do? Or, in other words, if we are indeed holy, what are some of attitudes and actions which we and others can and will see in our daily Christian walk? There are many!

We will show respect to our parents and others whom we may call our elders. Truly, Elders of our congregations must have our respect as overseers of body of Christ. We will show respect to those in authority over us: officers of law, agencies in government, our supervisors at work, our parents and so forth. Even when we do not necessarily agree with decisions being made, we will respect those who are in authority.

We will show respect, reverence and a worshipful attitude toward God. We will be faithful to worship services, faithful in our tithes and offerings, faithful in prayer and Bible study. We will literally put God first in our lives.

We will remember needs of others, have right attitude toward property of others, have right attitude toward less fortunate, and forgive and love our neighbors.

In short, we will have attributes of thoughtfulness, generosity, honesty, trustworthiness, compassion, justice, truthfulness, mercy, love, reverence and moral purity. The non-Christian may have some (or even all) of these qualities, but he is not holy. We are only holy if we are set apart for service of and glory to God.

God Father chose us for holiness (Ephesians 1:4), God Son died that we might be holy (Titus 2:14) and God Holy Spirit was sent to make us holy (2 Thessalonians 2:13).

Let us not be self-righteous or self-holy (for it is not we ourselves that make us so, or are even able to make us so). But let us be righteous and holy with help of Holy Spirit in our lives. Let us be set apart for service of God and kingdom.

All Scriptures quoted are from New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

Stephen Kingery is an author, preacher, teacher and founder of The Home Bible Study Institute.

Visit our site at http://www.james1-22.org

2. This next verse talks about that those who are "alive" will be "caught up" to meet Lord in "air". Here is verse:

"For Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with voice of an archangel, and with trumpet of God. And dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be CAUGHT UP together with them in clouds to meet Lord in air. And thus we shall always be with Lord." (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)

3. The next verse tells us a "mystery"- that not all of God’s saints are going to "sleep" - and that this group is going to be changed in a moment, in twinkling of an eye, and that this event will occur at last trumpet. I believe Last Trumpet is God’s last call to His people, and that it implies that whoever is saved and born again when this trumpet sounds off, will be Raptured and spared going through horrors of Tribulation.

I believe that word "mystery" is being used to let us know that God is keeping possibility of a Rapture a "secret," a "mystery" to rest of world. That is why all of Scripture verses pertaining to this event do not "perfectly" spell it out or state it without any shadow of a doubt. There is enough of a "hint" in these verses for His own people to pick it up, but not to rest of unbelieving world. Here is verse:

"Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed - in a moment, in twinkling of an eye, at last trumpet." (1 Corinthians 15:51)

"shall be changed in a moment, in twinkling of an eye"

4. The next verse is from Jesus Himself out of Revelations. Here is verse:

"Because you have kept My command to persevere, I ALSO WILL KEEP YOU FROM THE HOUR OF TRIAL WHICH SHALL COME UPON THE WHOLE WORLD, to test those who dwell on earth." (Revelations 3:10)

5. Here is another verse from Jesus stating that we watch and pray that we be counted worthy to escape all things that may be coming our way. The verse is:

"Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be COUNTED WORTHY TO ESCAPE ALL THESE THINGS THAT WILL COME TO PASS, and to stand before Son of Man." (Luke 21:36)

6. Now here are some additional verses that are not quite as strong as above verses, but do suggest possibility that God will keep us from these events.

"... and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from dead, even Jesus who DELIVERS US FROM THE WRATH TO COME." (1 Thessalonians 1:10)

"FOR GOD DID NOT APPOINT US TO WRATH, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Thessalonians 5:9)