Do we, as believers, need to labor for holiness? This question is almost as old as the Christian faith. It is a question that has been preached and debated for centuries. Denominations have split over the concept of holiness and what part we play towards our own holiness. I have no delusions that I am going to answer this question with great resolve. But there are some simple concepts that I would like to offer a reminder concerning. In and of itself, a desire for holiness is ...well... a holy cause. Though, I believe, that the "how" towards this endeavor matters greatly. The end does not always justify the means because the ends, if done with improper means, may end up looking like something other than what we or the Lord may want. The ends being holiness and the means being our flesh. In other words: Is it possible that our zeal (I use this word as Jesus did speaking of the Pharisees) for God pushes toward something that is not pleasing to Him? And on the other side of the coin; do we take the concept of holiness seriously enough?
The book of Romans clearly reveals that our righteousness is completely provided for and solely based upon the saving grace purchased through the precious blood of Christ. Holiness is part of the purchase agreement. Holy means to be set apart. We are set apart at salvation when we become part of the family of God. However, we are also commanded in scripture to play a role in our own holiness:
2 Cor 6:14-7:1
“Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said,
" I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE ," says the Lord. AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you. And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me,"
Says the Lord Almighty.
Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
NASU
There are things that we do in our lives that can either make or break how the world sees us. Remember that our first and primary purpose as believers is to worship God. That worship comes through everything that we do! From the moment my feet hit the floor in the morning as I begin my day with fixing breakfast and lunches, I am either serving and worshipping the Lord in my attitude and words or I am not. If I am not worshipping the Lord in my attitude I am serving something else. Out of this primary command comes how our lives look to those around us, which is called our testimony. If I maintain my attitude of worship through the day, my testimony will expose my supernatural affiliation with the LORD of LORDS. There is a very close link between our testimony and holiness. In this way, I very much believe that we have a very important part to play in being holy.
I have inadvertently run across many teachers and teachings that have broached this subject as well. This last weekend I had the privilege of listening to Eric Cartier preaching at Rocky Mountain Calvary Chapel in Colorado Springs. This is not an exact quote from him but rather a paraphrase from my notes:
"The grace that we receive at salvation is the same grace that causes us to work for the kingdom. Our service unto The Lord is designed for us not according to any works we have performed but according to Gods choice and design for us and his grace upon us to do that work.
As believers we should desire to do nothing more than and nothing less than what Gods purpose and design is for us. To do “more than” is to move past what God is doing in our lives and strike out on our own. To do “less than” is to forget our primary purpose and created design. Ministry is not an earned position. It is the calling of every believer. We need to remember that Gods ways are not our ways. God’s purpose for the Christian is not like that of an individual climbing the corporate ladder. We have been molded, as Americans, to believe that busy and working are what causes us to succeed. But in the kingdom it is the other way around. It is our “success” granted upon salvation completely through grace that spurs us on to those works that God has prepared for us beforehand (Eph 2:10). Work that does not cause us to BE holy but rather is the walking out of that holiness. That "work" is birthed from grace. It is birthed from love and gratefulness of our Savior. In which case, the work may be physically exhausting but spiritually igniting. Joy being a result from the work which provides strength for future work. It is a machine that is oiled by the Spirit. Physically burdensome?... yes! Emotionally?....yes! Spiritually?.... NO! Jesus did say "My yoke is easy, my burden is light"? Because His yoke spurred by His Spirit is light if we continue in His Spirit and not switch somewhere along the way to the flesh. If there is no such love and gratitude to move us then there is no such holiness to walk in. Our endeavors may look holy but in the end they are empty and meaningless. We then become spiritually exhausted because it is us who carries ourselves and not the Lord.
When an individual is saved he/she immediately is deemed righteous and set apart (holy) unto God. Either you are part of the family of God or you are not. Does church attendance affect one’s membership status in the family? It may affect their testimony. It may cause one to forget what the Lord has done for them but it does not affect their holy standing before God. It is pleasing to the Father that we remain in fellowship with others who love Him (Heb 10:23-25) Through fellowship and the hearing of the Word together, the Holy Spirit is poured out into our lives making those challenges we face during the week endurable through the filling of the Spirit we gain at church. What if one neglects to read their Bible? Less holy than the one who does? Not less holy but less able to walk in that holiness. Reading the Bible is to the believer; as food is to the body. If one does not partake, one’s ability to access the impartation of the Spirit is diminished. I could say that a believer who chooses inattention to going to church and reading of the scriptures is weaker, more frail in the faith. I should encourage and love the one who makes such choices. I should undertake the effort to spend more time fellowshipping with this one. If I should shun them because they don’t make the effort themselves, do I not, on some level, disregard the price that was paid for them? Why would I treat my precious vehicle with more care and concern than my brother or sister in Christ who may be “out of gas“? Yes, it is their responsibility to “fill up” for themselves, but sometimes people just need a hand and not a holiness speech. Though there may come a time when the holiness speech may at some point be very well-suited and well received after the hand of help was offered.
I remember Lot in the Old Testament. He made some very poor choices and he was not the picture of a holy man. But yet God called him righteous because he believed (2Pet2:7). Are there those around us who appear as Lot to us? Those who struggle with visible sin and who consistently make bad choices. It is not that they are not saved or less holy…dare we make such a statement as that would be to limit the blood and grace of Jesus.
Rom 2:1-5
Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?
NASU
Nor is it appropriate to treat them with any less respect than we would treat a Christian whom we truly admire and respect (James2:1-7). Again, we are to walk in the holiness that has been granted us. They may not be walking thusly but we are still called to do so regardless of their choices.
Recently I heard Charles Swindoll on the radio while driving. Since it was a radio program and I am unable to quote him word for word, as I am only going on memory, again I can only paraphrase. The thing that he said that really struck me was that we, as believers, are not called to be "fruit inspectors". "Fruit inspectors" was the exact wording he used. Fruit inspecting is the job of the Father. We are just branches on the vine. The branches do not inspect the other branches for fruit. Our scope is too limited. We have a tendency anyway to focus in on the bad in peoples lives; for instance the fact that we don't see them at church or see them reading their Bible. Actually, I don't see anybody reading their Bible unless it's open during church and they have their eyes focused on it. Even then, how do I know that they are reading it? This isn't how the Bible defines fruit anyway...more about that later. On the other hand, we are called to encourage and exhort each other with great patience, gentleness and love knowing that we are capable of falling into the very sin we exhort (Gal 6:1).
As believers there are some things we are called to judge.
1 Cor 5:9-13
I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler — not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. REMOVE THE WICKED MAN FROM AMONG YOURSELVES.
NASU
And so there are those IN THE CHURCH that we are to carry out church discipline. They are members of the family of God, the Church. We have a right to issue out discipline in the love of God. We do not have the right to call into question their salvation standing. We do not have a right to call them Unregenerate. Christians who bear the name loudly but also bear very loudly certain visible and abhorrent sin like alcoholism, drug addiction, idolatry, and sexual immorality. We should not toss them to the wayside as hopeless. The thought makes me weep. If we carry out proper church discipline as described above, we may separate ourselves them for a time but not without hope and love and prayer for them. When there is proper repentance, will they not again be accepted into fellowship (2Cor2:3-11)? They are in as much need, if not more so, of the unending supply of Gods grace and mercy. We have a responsibility in our own holiness to treat them with love.
To me holy looks like the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 6: love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, self control, faithfulness, kindness and gentleness. There is no limit to these things. We can practice them in as much abundance as our hearts desire. Remember that we are called to walk in the Spirit or speak His language. What is the language of the Spirit? Going to church every Sunday? Reading the Bible everyday? This definition differs not at all from the language of the world because all those in the world do these things and more so and they truly are unregenerate! These actions are imperative to our holiness journey but they don’t make us holier than those who don’t do them. But what about those among us who claim the name of Christ but don't live like we think they should live? Remember, we aren't called to be fruit inspectors. I am called to be a fruit bearer. So we show the world that we are Christians "by our love, by our love, we will show we are Christians by our love" for one another. I am afraid we have eaten our own alive because they don't add up to our standards.....eeek! That sounds like self righteousness. The very thing we strive against in our flesh we fulfill in abundance when we begin to question the availability of God's grace in other people's lives. Because we are the Church, our fruit is corporate fruit. In the very action of inspection, perhaps we have neglected production. Maybe the branch that doesn't produce will be tossed into the fire...but that isn't my job or for me to decide. The process of being productive does include helping (not inspecting) those around us to be productive....that's how we have thriving churches. I, for one, do not want to treat the grace of God lightly. For myself, that is living a holy life: obedience and submission to the Word of God; carefully and gratefully not taking the grace of God for granted. In my treatment of others it is supplying to them, out of the abundance I have been shown, the grace of God. In this I find that It truly is about finding the good in others around us and focusing in on that.
Titus 3:5-7
He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
