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Sermon | February 1, 2026 | A Holy Life
Speaker: Rev. John Chen
Translated & edited by: Joseph Wang (Yufan)
Scripture: James 1:21–25.
Title: A Holy Life (February 1, 2026 · Xuzhou)
Theme Sentence: We must humbly receive the holy word of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in our lives exert ourselves to obey God’s law.
Question Sentence: How should we live a holy life?
Transition Sentence: We should live a life set apart as holy according to the following ways.
Keyword: How.
Introduction: Our Reformed churches uphold the faith of the Reformation, and regarding the teaching of justification by faith, it is clear and sufficient. We firmly believe that the reason a person is justified rests entirely on relying on God’s grace and relying on the redemption of the Lord Jesus Christ. We firmly believe in the Five Solas and the Five Points of Calvinism, and we hold to the Westminster Standards; this is our confession of faith.
However, we also find that on the path of faith, many believers do not have a complete understanding of the Westminster Standards, and they have not paid attention to living the holy life that a Christian ought to live; and because of the lack of a holy life, our spirituality is weak, our life is dried up, and we have lost God’s witness.
So then, what exactly is a holy life? And how should we live a holy life?
I. Understanding the true definition of a holy life.
1. In order to understand a holy life, we must first clarify two concepts, namely the distinction between the proper use of the means of grace and a holy life. What are the means of grace? They are the Word, the sacraments, and prayer. What is the proper use of the means of grace? It is that believers continually read Scripture, pray, participate in church life, and strive to understand more biblical knowledge. These are all good things. We would not think that a person who seldom uses the means of grace or does not adapt to the means of grace at all would have any growth of spiritual life or would live any holy life.
2. However, what we must clarify is that the proper use of the means of grace itself is not a holy life. We acknowledge that a person who properly uses the means of grace usually will have a holy life, but we must still firmly make a distinction between the two, because the two are still very different. For example, a person cannot be considered a good employee simply because he is always on time to and from work. To evaluate whether an employee is good or not, the key point is whether his work has results and whether it has effectiveness. Being on time to and from work is certainly important, but this is only a work attitude and still has quite a distance from work quality.
3. Therefore, a believer who often attends gatherings does not necessarily know how to live a holy life. He may pray very actively, serve very enthusiastically, and read Scripture without missing a single time, yet he does not live a holy life. Therefore, a holy life is not attending church gatherings on time, nor is it fulfilling membership responsibilities. Then what exactly is a holy life?
4. A holy life is to seriously obey God’s law in every level of our life. In our attitude toward God, we seriously keep the first four commandments; in our attitude toward people, we seriously keep the latter six commandments. This cannot be compromised. Because we often miss the focus of the holy life, in fact our lives have suffered many losses.
5. All religions in the world are busy with their own religious behaviors. Then what essential difference do we Christians have compared with followers of other religions? It is that we possess Christian character and morality. These character traits and moral qualities are not possessed by other believers, but are established because of our faith in Christ.
II. Receiving the word that saves our souls.
1. Therefore, we must put off all filthiness and the overflow of wickedness. People must not love this world and must not take the world and the self as the center. Although, from God’s perspective, it is the Holy Spirit who regenerates us first, from the human perspective, after we are regenerated, our responsibility is that we ourselves must first remove our greed for the world, remove secular standards, and align all behavior, thoughts, and intentions with God’s law, taking this as the standard of our life.
2. Receive with a gentle heart. The opposite of a gentle heart is a hardened heart. Hardness refers to our resistance to God’s word; we think and solve problems according to our own ideas and according to secular standards, thereby deviating from God’s true way.
3. This word is the word planted by God. This word itself does not belong to us, but is planted by God, and our task is to strive to make ourselves good soil, so that God’s word can take root and bear fruit in our hearts. The method we use is to make our hearts soft and gentle, so that this word continually takes root and sprouts in our hearts.
This word shows that Jesus has already redeemed and paid all our debts of sin for us, that He was nailed to the cross for us, that He has shed His precious blood for us, so that we possess a heavenly status and can come boldly before the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace as timely help. This is such a vast grace.
4. The function of the word is to save the soul. God’s word has extremely great power, and its greatest expression is that it can save the human soul. This is humanity’s most fundamental longing. The salvation of the soul, rather than the satisfaction of worldly matters, is the most important thing for people. We must not be deceived by this world and fix our eyes on this world. We must fix our eyes on the salvation of the soul.
III. Knowing what it means to receive the word incorrectly.
1. Being unwilling to obey the holy word in daily life. Merely hearing the word is deceiving oneself. Some brothers and sisters are enthusiastic about hearing sermons and treat preaching as an intellectual challenge, striving to understand truths they have not heard before. This is indeed necessary, but this is not the focus. If one only hears the word and feels fervent at the moment, this is an incorrect way of receiving the holy word. This is a fault that preachers are particularly prone to. However, we must also often examine ourselves, see where we need to repent, and exhort one another daily.
2. Hearing the word but not doing it is like looking at a mirror and immediately forgetting what one looks like. Looking at the mirror is to see one’s filth and corruption and then to repent. Many times, we hear the word for others, thinking that others have this problem, whereas in fact the one who truly has the problem is ourselves.
3. Human nature likes self-deception. We always think that we possess good spirituality, we always incorrectly judge our own spiritual condition and that of others, and we always cannot see where we ourselves need to repent.
IV. Knowing what it means to receive the word correctly.
1. Carefully examining and understanding the complete law. True hearing of the word is hearing it for oneself, under the calling of Jesus Christ, asking how I should obey God’s law. The law is complete. In Westminster Larger Catechism Questions 90 to 150, there is a comprehensive explanation concerning the law. We must learn it and exert ourselves with all diligence to obey it. This is not legalism. Obeying the law is the normal response of a person to the gospel. In the end, God looks at human deeds. We must use our deeds to prove our faith. After believing in Christ, we do not possess a license to sin, but rather we must use our lives to serve the living Creator. And the best way to serve Him is to imitate Christ, obey His law, and glorify His holy name.
2. Obeying the law that makes people free. The concept that the law makes people free is difficult for many to accept. In the view of most people, the law brings bondage. But what exactly is freedom? Freedom is not autonomy, nor is it indulging one’s own personality. This freedom is the freedom of obeying the law, the freedom of conscience, and the freedom in the Lord Jesus Christ.
3. Doing so constantly. Obeying the law must be done constantly; it must be carried out in every time period and in every aspect of life. One cannot fish for three days and dry the net for two days.
4. Not hearing and then forgetting, but truly carrying it out. One must not forget; one must certainly practice God’s law in daily life. The response to the gospel and the response to the love of the Lord Jesus Christ is to obey the law in daily life.
V. Receiving blessings from God.
1. Believers are indeed justified by faith. Although we cannot keep the whole law, this is true, but this cannot become an excuse for Christians not to obey the law, because God blesses His people only within His law. God’s blessing is in the Lord Jesus Christ and is within the law.
2. In daily life, enjoying God’s presence, receiving heavenly joy, and increasingly longing for the kingdom of heaven. The blessings God gives us are not necessarily earthly peace, but they are certainly heavenly joy.
3. The blessing that God gives makes one rich and adds no sorrow with it. God enables us to live a life on earth as in heaven. If we truly receive the gospel and exert ourselves with all diligence to obey God’s law in daily life, we can easily enter into and experience the rest that God gives us. This is true peace, and this is true joy. This blessing is praised and extolled by all who have experienced it. May God grant this beautiful blessing to everyone who longs for God’s word.
Conclusion: May God lead us to live a holy life according to His law.
I. Understanding the True Meaning of a Holy Life As a Reformed church, we are no strangers to doctrines such as justification by faith alone, the Five Solas, and the Five Points of Calvinism; nor do we reject them. We pray that God would lead us to live holy lives. Although the means of gra… Read more
I. Understanding the True Meaning of a Holy Life
As a Reformed church, we are no strangers to doctrines such as justification by faith alone, the Five Solas, and the Five Points of Calvinism; nor do we reject them.
We pray that God would lead us to live holy lives.
Although the means of grace are not identical to living a holy life, those who live a holy life must, at the very least, be grounded in the means of grace.
Participation in church activities provides only a framework—it is merely the threshold of being a Christian. In the world, the so-called “means of grace” are earning money or performing well before one’s superiors. Even unbelievers, or those who are adept at hypocrisy, can appear to “observe the means of grace.”
For example, an employee who clocks in on time and clocks out on time cannot necessarily be called a good employee. What the employee does between those times is unknown. Clocking in is merely a way of indicating that one is an employee; it does not prove that one is a good employee.
The One to whom we are accountable is the Almighty Creator, the infinitely righteous and all-knowing God. Therefore, we must turn to Him. God is the one and only God, and His singular demand is that we live holy lives.
This does not deny justification by faith alone. However, there must be works that bear witness to our faith. Christians must avoid the situation in which they attend every church activity punctually, yet their daily lives show no holiness.
We are called to earnestly obey God’s law—the first four commandments and the last six. This law is not a set of regulations or a form of secular legislation; it is a holy law.
Living a holy life is, in a sense, a “religious practice.” Other religions—and even secular people—also have their own “religious practices.” What fundamentally distinguishes us from them is that we possess Christian character and moral integrity, which other religions do not have. Therefore, Christianity is entirely different from other religions: it is concerned with the shaping of character and morality through the law, especially the Ten Commandments, which ultimately point to the Redeemer.
In essence, Christianity is unlike any other religion.
How Do We Live a Holy Life?
By receiving the Word of God.
Our responsibility is this: having been regenerated, we are to put to death our love for the world and take God’s law as the guiding principle of our lives. This applies to our view of marriage (for example, “Am I going to spend the rest of my life in a rented apartment?”), our goals in work, and our aims in raising children. We must renew our understanding of glory. We replace our own standards with God’s standards, and we replace our own criteria with God’s law.
If we still feel envy when others speak about their cars or houses, then we ought to repent and put off all worldly desires and attachments.
James tells us to receive the word with meekness. We are to open our hearts, submit ourselves, remove all self-made standards, and hand ourselves over entirely to God’s rule. If God says, “Be fruitful and multiply,” then we are to be fruitful and multiply. Whatever God declares becomes our only value—there is no room for the self.
Our lives belong to God; therefore, we can only do what God calls us to do. We do not live in order to “live brilliantly” or to express ourselves. Adam and Eve lived for self-expression, and as a result, they plunged the entire human race into sin.
This Word is planted by God. Our task is to make ourselves good soil, so that the Word may be planted within us, take root, and bear fruit. God has already accomplished everything for us; we may come at any time to the throne of grace—this itself is God’s Word.
The Word of God does not change, but the soil does. The Word may be sown on rocky ground or among thorns. What we are called to do is to allow the Word to sprout in our hearts, to grow, and to bear fruit.
What Is the Word That We Receive?
The Word we receive is the Word that is able to save our souls.
Every human being is seeking the liberation of the soul. Deep down, people sense that death is not the end—that the soul exists, and that judgment awaits humanity. There is an inner awareness of conscience and guilt, and therefore human beings cannot be fully satisfied by material things alone.
The Word truly addresses this problem. It tells us the truth: there is judgment from the Creator, and there is salvation through Jesus Christ. This Word is able to deliver us from all anxiety and unrest.
The world tells us to grasp the things of this world, but we are called to turn our attention to the ultimate end of humanity—namely, the salvation of our souls and the cleansing of our sins.
How Do We Receive the Word of God?
“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”
Some Christians attend every gathering without exception and frequently enroll in theological courses, desiring to understand more of God’s truth. Such a hunger for the Word is indeed necessary. However, we must ask: have we truly understood even the simplest truths of the Word?
What matters more is whether our lives have actually been changed. Even the least eloquent preacher can teach you to believe rightly in Jesus Christ. The real question is whether we have truly listened.
To hear the Word without doing it is a false way of hearing. If we are to be genuinely shepherded by a sermon, we must put the Word into practice.
The True Word Leads the “Self” into a Holy Life
The true Word leads the “self” into a holy life. Every sermon that is truly lived out in our lives is a sermon that we have genuinely received.
Those who hear the Word but do not practice it are, in essence, unbelieving toward the Word. If an employer were to say, “From now on, none of your labor will be compensated,” you would certainly not go to work. You go because you trust that the company will pay you at the end of the month. In the same way, if the Word is not put into practice, it reveals unbelief. Therefore, we must truly repent.
Examining the Perfect Law in Detail
The Word of God proclaims the cross, but the other side of the Word also tells us what our responsibility is. God’s Word calls us, in Christ, to walk the path of the kingdom and to live a holy life. In its most basic expression, this is the Ten Commandments.
This does not mean that we are justified by the law. Rather, obedience to the law is the proper response of the gospel that people can see. The crowns we receive in heaven are related to how we live in this life. One day, we will bring our deeds before God and receive our reward. Therefore, our faith must be demonstrated by our works.
We are to serve the Creator with our lives, to glorify God, and to bear witness to Him—and the best way to do this is to imitate Christ.
The Law of Freedom
James tells us that the law is the law of liberty. Freedom does not mean driving however we please on the road. Freedom is not “doing whatever one wants.” True freedom is obedience to the law—it is freedom of the conscience.
If we remain united with sin, the law becomes something that restrains and condemns us. But true freedom is joyful fellowship with the Creator, gladly listening to the Lord’s voice. Therefore, we often misunderstand what it means to obey the law in true freedom.
“Always So” — Practicing Obedience Continually
“Always so” means continual obedience—obedience in every area of life. After finishing all our tasks, would it really matter if we did something else on the side? Yet God’s requirement is total holiness. The fire on the altar was to be kept burning continually; this signifies that we are to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice at all times, with our whole being and our whole heart.
“To practice it continually” means living it out at every moment of life—repeated learning, repeated training, practicing again after failure. Teachers often require students to keep an “error notebook” in order to correct their mistakes. When we fail to live out the law, we return to it again and practice it again, until it is lived out.
When learning tennis, one must repeat the swing tens of thousands of times in order to correct improper form and become skilled. In the same way, Christians are called to be professional Christians, not amateurs. We must practice the “swing” of obedience in our daily lives, training ourselves to live according to God’s law.
“He Will Be Blessed in What He Does”
“He will be blessed in what he does.”
Although we cannot keep the whole law perfectly, this can never be an excuse for disobedience. God blesses us through the law. The blessings God grants us are those that we are able to taste and experience as we walk in obedience to His law. They are heavenly joys that God gives through obedience.
“He will be blessed.” When we truly lay aside our own standards and live a God-centered life, we will experience fellowship with the Creator. We admire Enoch and Elijah for walking with God—but are we willing to keep God’s law faithfully in a sinful generation?
We are no longer united with sin, but in fellowship with the Holy One. In that communion, we begin to taste a beauty that is beyond words. When we obey God’s law in this life, we are already tasting in advance the beauty of the kingdom of heaven.
If we have never practiced obedience to the law, we have never tasted the beauty of heaven. And if we have never tasted it, we will not long for it—and consequently, we will not live in obedience in our daily lives.
By obeying God’s law and living a life that is “on earth as it is in heaven,” we experience the true peace and true joy that God gives—joy that nothing else can replace. This blessing is one for which all who have experienced it give thanks to God.
May each of us be like a tree planted by streams of water, living a holy life.