Called to Holiness

Would you be proud to be called a wild pig? That’s what happened in 1909, after the University of Arkansas’ football team, known then as the Cardinals, beat Louisiana State University (LSU). Coach Hugo Bezdek called his players “a wild band of Razorback hogs.” Within a year, the student body voted to change the official mascot to a Razorback.

Razorbacks are not gentle barnyard pigs. They are known to be tough and at times ill-tempered. But their fearlessness and doggedness gave inspiration to the football team’s nickname. Since the 1960s, a live Razorback (today it is a Russian boar) has made its debut at university games.

Christians are called to a life of fearlessness and doggedness, not after the manner of a wild boar, but after the character of Christ. “God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness” (1 Thessalonians 4:7). In order to live this sanctified life, God has given every believer “power according to the Spirit of holiness” (Romans 1:4).

Such a changed life does not begin with outward performance but an inward change. The apostle Paul prayed that God “would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love” (Ephesians 3:16, 17).

When you surrender your life to Jesus, He works in your life and transforms you into a new creation. “Just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness” (Romans 6:19). We can then proudly be called “children of God” (1 John 3:2).

Apply It:

Try to think of the different terms God uses to describe His people (church, beloved, bride, son/daughter, etc.).

Dig Deeper:

Romans 8:12–17; Galatians 2:20; 2 Corinthians 5:17

Key Bible Texts

If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work. (2 Timothy 2:21 KJV)