“Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from Him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God – truly righteous and holy.” (Ephesians 4:21-24 NLT)
Having been saved, trained, and served in a holiness tradition, I’ve seen many manifestations of holiness, both genuine and counterfeit. For some it’s such a high and exalted state of spiritual maturity that they dismiss it as impossible, while others embrace it, yet, like the Pharisees of old, distort it into something God never intended it to be.
The simplest way for me to understand it is to see it as the process of sanctification. Just as salvation is a process, so is sanctification or growing in holiness. The Bible teaches that we are saved (past tense, are being saved (present tense), and will one day be saved (future tense). That’s true of sanctification as well.
When we accept the free gift of God and receive Christ Jesus as Savior, we are saved, but we are also given the fullness of the Holy Spirit and begin the process of being sanctified. Sanctification and holiness are derived from the same Greek root word and mean to be set apart for sacred use or purpose.
Like salvation, sanctification/holiness is a joint venture between us and God. There’s a sense in which when we’re saved, we’re given all of God, being cleansed and purified by His Holy Spirit. We stand before God pure and sinless as God views us through the robe of Christ’s perfect righteousness. Our right standing with God is all because of Jesus and His sacrifice in our place and on our behalf, and that will never change. Jesus will always be the initiator and finisher of our faith.
But ideally, when our hearts are filled with hope, peace, and rest, our minds are motivated to make what we are in God’s sight, in ever increasing measure, the reality of who we are, how we live, and treat others. The longer we walk with Jesus the more closely our lives should resemble His. That’s sanctification in a nutshell.
Just as Jesus gave visibility to the invisible God, our lives should give visibility and credence to our profession of faith in Jesus. How so? In how we think, speak, and live. Nancy Leigh DeMoss wrote: “True holiness isn’t cold and deadening—it’s warm and inviting. It’s irresistible. Those who think otherwise have never seen it, but only its caricatures.”
In the verses following the ones above, Paul outlines numerous practical ways our holiness should become visible. For example, stop lying, don’t let sin allow your anger to get out of control, stop stealing, find a job and make your life productive. Then in chapter five Paul writes: “Live a life filled with love…let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among God’s people…”
What’s my point? Simply this, holiness, how God sets us apart for His sacred use, reveals its life in and through us in visible means that should be attractive and inviting, not demeaning and haughty, pushing others away. We should give evidence of God’s rulership in us and over us through our kindness, thoughtfulness, patience, gentleness, politeness, warmth, and love. In short, by allowing the fruit of the Spirit to be made manifest in and through every avenue of our lives.
Will we ever be perfect like Jesus? Not in this life, but the longer we live and love Jesus the more fully His Spirit’s power and presence should be evidenced in our lives. William Gurnall wrote: “Pray not only against the power of sin, but for the power of holiness also.”
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 