“But that isn’t what you learned about Christ. 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 4:20-24 NLT)
Holiness isn’t a pretense of something we’re not, it’s a revelation of who we now are as a new creation in Christ Jesus. Holiness isn’t pious behavior lived in an effort to conceal a lie, it’s a channel to make known a revelation of Truth we’ve personally experienced.
The holiness to which we’re called as followers of Jesus is a quality of life lived in and through His life as He revealed to us the life of His Father in heaven. That’s the life to which we’re called. There’s a sense in which we’re to be microcosms of the living God populating the earth, spreading His love and life in and through the lives we live from day to day.
Holiness isn’t something we attain; it’s a gift we’re given when we yield our life and allegiance to Jesus. It isn’t earned or deserved; it’s a gift that becomes a tool of the Holy Spirit to spread Jesus’ fame. Being set apart for the sacred use of our Savior isn’t something for which we piously and carefully work, but to which we open ourselves when we invite Jesus to become Lord of our life.
Sanctification is a process that in many ways parallels our salvation. I think of salvation and sanctification as parallel tracks, both of which have a distinct beginning as we open our heart, mind, soul, and body to the ownership and authority of Jesus, and an anticipated ending when we close our eyes in death. They are progressive activities that result from the partnership of our lives with the life of the Spirit who takes up residence in us as believers in Jesus.
What I fear we miss in many of our efforts to win others to Jesus is a lack of emphasis on a person’s resultant responsibility to live a separated, distinct, and yes, holy life to the honor of Christ Jesus. To lead someone to believe all they have to do is pray a prayer, receive Christ as Savior, then continue to live their lives as they please is a lie from the pit of hell.
R.C. Sproul wrote: “The failure of modern evangelicalism is the failure to understand the holiness of God.” We defame and deny the power and authority of God when we fail to help people understand their need to live a holy life. But that also demands an explanation of what that means. Rich Mullins got my attention when he wrote: “Save me from trendy religion that makes cheap clichés out of timeless truths.”
The short answer is, stop living like the devil and start living like Jesus, but, unfortunately, sometimes there is so little difference in the way a nonbeliever and many believers choose to live, that doesn’t really say much. Perhaps a more accurate and helpful response would be to base our lives on what the Bible teaches, originally outlined in the 10 Commandments. The priority being, Love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and body, and loving others as ourselves.
Of course, there are specific ways the Bible describes sin, as in the writings of Paul in Romans 6, as well as many other verses. The point here is that we can’t ignore our obligation and responsibility to live holy lives, separated as unto God, for the purpose of honoring God and illustrating to others how good, gracious, righteous, and powerful He is.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 