Pastor Dan Scott What Is Holiness ?

[Scott Hutchinson]

http://pastordanscott.blogspot.com/2....html?spref=fb

[aegsm76]

To paraphrase a deceased Supreme Court Justice, I can't give you a good definition of holiness, but I can tell what is NOT holiness, when I see it...

[Sam]

Holiness/Sanctification is being set apart unto the Lord.

Holiness/Sanctification is Jesus Christ living in you and through you as the Holy Spirit.

Holiness/Sanctification is belonging to God.

We ARE holy because the Holy Spirit lives in us.

Jesus Christ is our sanctification according to 1 Corinthians 1:30

Jesus Christ is YHWH-m’kaddesh (m-keh-desh) Leviticus 20:8

I am the Lord who sanctifies you. NKJV (New King James Version)
I am Adonai, who sets you apart to be holy. CJB (Complete Jewish Bible)
I am the God who makes you holy. The Message
I am the Lord Who sanctifies you. Amplified Bible
I am Jehovah who hallow you. Darby
I am the Lord who sanctifies you. ESV (English Standard Version)
I am the Lord, who makes you holy. NIV (New International Version)
I am the Lord who sanctifies you. NASB (New American Standard Bible
I am the Lord who makes you holy. NLT (New Living Translation)

[Sam]

I don't remember who wrote this but I think it's pretty good.

The doctrine of holiness is made up of three specific truths; first, our positional holiness; second, our experiential holiness, and third, our ultimate holiness.

1. Positional holiness

What does Scripture teach about our positional holiness? The moment we put our faith in Jesus Christ and ask Him to forgive our sins, according to Romans 4, God makes a wonderful legal declaration about us, declaring that we are justified, that is, free from the penalty of all of our sins for all eternity. He will never hold those sins against us and punish us in hell because of what we have done. He gives us total forgiveness as a gift. God can give us this gift because Jesus paid for it when He died on the cross. At that time He took our sins upon Himself and paid the penalty that we deserved.

The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:21, "Christ became sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." So, God forgave us our sins and declared us justified.

But at the same time God justified us, He also gave us a new identity, a new status—a new standing before Him in holiness and righteousness. This holy standing before Him was also a gift. It means we don’t have to perform good deeds to gain God’s love and acceptance. But here is a question for you. How righteous are we in God’s sight as we stand before Him? Well, we all know that while Jesus lived here on earth, He lived a perfect life. He never sinned once. According to the Bible, the track record of Jesus Christ, His perfect life, was imputed or credited from Jesus’ account to ours when we put our faith in Christ. God gave us this position, this standing, before Him as a gift. So we stand before Him each day as absolutely holy and righteous in our new position. How do I know this?

Hebrews 10:10 tells us that all who have put their faith in Jesus "have been made holy...once for all." Here is our position before God. The Bible says we have already been made completely holy by God once for all. He has separated us unto Himself. We are His. We belong to Him. He has made it an unchanging fact that we will forever stand before Him as perfect, holy, and righteous. But then in the very same chapter we see the second part of holiness, our experiential holiness.


2. Experiential holiness

Hebrews 10:14 says, "By one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those [that’s us] who are being made holy."

So in the same Bible verse we who are already holy are also in the process of being made holy. In brief, because God has graciously given us our new identity and status as a gift, He then asks us to start living out and enjoying our new identity and status that He has given to us.

1 Peter 1:15 tells us, "But just as God who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written, ‘Be holy because I am holy.’"

Paul says something similar in 2 Timothy 1:9. Paul writes that God has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done, but because of His own purpose and grace.

Now, always remember this: Holiness starts with God’s calling us to Himself and saving us. Before you put your faith in Jesus Christ, you were convicted of your sins. That was God lovingly drawing you to Himself. As a result, you decided to put your faith in Christ, and entered into a relationship with God in which He immediately forgave you of all your sins forever, and also gave you your new status of perfect holiness.

But then, because He has done all of this for us and because we belong to Him and are fellowshipping with Him, He asks us to live like Him in every part of our life. So God first makes us holy and then He says, "Separate yourself unto me." Just like this glass of water, you are to purify yourselves, set yourselves apart for God’s use. As you do, you will come to know God in an even more intimate way, and you will be a Christian God will use to represent Him to the world.

By the way, has anyone ever called you a saint? Well, according to Scripture, if you put your faith in Jesus Christ, you are a saint positionally. God made you one. The word saint means, "a holy one, a person who is set apart for God’s use." Now, sainthood is not attained by you or me doing great works. That’s the world’s definition. Biblically, sainthood is a state into which God in grace places every believer. Then God asks His saints to cooperate with Him, to sanctify or separate themselves, to make themselves pure for His use, and live up to the status He has given them. Now, before you get off the track telling me how hard it is for you to live holy, let me tell you a secret. When you placed your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, God did something wonderful to you.

In Ezekiel 36:26 God said, "I will give you a new spirit and [in addition] I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws."
According to this verse, when we believed on Christ, God gave us a new spirit, that is, a new spiritual nature. In addition, He gave us the Holy Spirit who took up residence in our life.
Further, God says in Jeremiah 31:33, "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts."

Now, here’s the secret. When you placed your faith in Christ, God gave you a new spiritual nature, which inherently desires to love and obey God. As the Bible says, your new heart "is careful to keep God’s laws." The Holy Spirit who takes up residence in your life also moves you to live purely, righteously, and to love God. You’ll never be the same again because you have been given a new nature that loves God and wants to obey Him. Now, that doesn't mean you’ll never sin again. No.

According to Romans 6 and 7, because of your old nature still being present, even though it has lost its legal position of mastery over you when you became a Christian, you will still be tempted to sin. But if you sin now, your new nature and the Holy Spirit will bother you, will convict you, and will make you feel miserable. This struggle is described by the Apostle Paul in Romans 7 and Galatians 5.

But 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore, if any man be in Christ he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." That is, your true self, your new spiritual nature will always want to obey God—when all is said and done. That doesn’t mean you will, but you will be drawn that way by your new heart that God has given you. Romans 7 and 8 show that even Christians who have a new heart, a new spiritual nature, will be defeated if they try to live the Christian life in their own strength—their own self-effort. Victory comes when we turn to and depend on the Holy Spirit to live the way we should.

3. Ultimate Holiness

Then the third biblical truth concerning holiness is our ultimate holiness. While living on this earth, none of us will experience total experiential holiness. The Apostle Paul, at the end of his life, denied that he had "arrived" or was totally holy or perfect in his walk with the Lord.

In Philippians 3:12,13 he said, "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it."

Only when we die and go into Christ’s presence will we experience total, complete holiness in our existence. But today, God asks us to live as holy as we can so that we can draw closer to Him, to know Him better, to be more like Him, to walk with Him in everyday life.

Isn’t it exciting that God wants us to have a deep relationship with Him? But remember, we cannot walk with God in our own self-effort. God makes even our walk with Him possible by giving us the Holy Spirit to help us conquer the sinful desires in our life, to meet temptations, and to face the tough situations.

[Sam]

These are some articles from the John Wimber Power Points on the subject of holiness.
I think these articles are informative.

In the verses below we find a reference to "true righteousness and holiness" (verse 24). Some of us have come from "performance based" churches and we have heard of a false holiness which emphasized human effort and outward display.

17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; 19 who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
20 But you have not so learned Christ, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 4:17-24
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A Call To Holiness

It’s important to review and know the definition of holiness: Its old Testament Hebrew root means “separate”- denoting separation from the world and to a divine use. The New Testament’s principle Greek word for holiness communicates purity of character; character that is perfectly conformed to God’s law.

Many Christians are confused about holiness because often times Scripture says we are holy, and sometimes it tells us to work hard at being holy. 1 Corinthians 15:10 says, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not without effect.” And 1 Peter 1:15-16 says, “But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, for it is written, Be Holy, because I am holy.”

Notice the apparent contradiction here:

1. First, Paul is saying that holiness is God’s gift
2. Second, Peter says we are to work at holiness

How are we to sort out these seemingly contradictions in God’s Word? How can we work hard at holiness without confusing our efforts with the true source of holiness? Over the next few days we will take a closer look at these questions as well as others.

God as the Source...

To understand holiness and to learn to be holy, we need to understand that only God can be the source of our holiness. Anything we do is only in cooperation with Him, allowing more of His life (Jesus) into our lives.

God is uniquely holy as 1 Samuel 2:2 says, “There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock, like our God.” Holiness is the very fabric of God’s nature.

Moses came into the presence of God’s radiating glory at the burning bush, and God said, “Do not come any closer. Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground” (Exod. 3:5). Let’s look at a few points concerning this: 1. The ground was made holy by God’s holiness; God used the ground of His holiness to separate Moses from the world in order to fulfill His purposes. 2. God revealed His holiness to Moses because He wanted to raise up a holy people, a people who in their way of life would reflect the very nature of God. 3. the benefits of holiness would be great: eternal life, forgiveness, joy, peace, blessing, but there were also requirements as mentioned in Exodus 19:5-6 “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possessions. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”

Only God's Holiness

The basis for Israel’s holiness was God’s holiness. Eight times in the book of Leviticus and 60 times in other books of the Old Testament the Lord said, “Be holy, because I am holy.” The source of Israel’s holiness was the life of God in them. The only way of obtaining God’s life was through an intimate, obedient relationship with Him.

If we miss this fundamental point --that God is the source of holiness-- then we will attempt to make holiness the way to God. But holiness can never be the way to God, because it’s God’s life in us! When we miss out on intimacy with God, we miss out on holiness and often times it can lead us to become legalists!

The Jews tried to make obedience to the law the way to God and failed to live up to the demands of the old covenant (Hebrews 8:9). The law, as good at it was, was incapable of producing holiness (Romans 7:10).

How many of you are frustrated because as hard as you try, you can never seem to get holy? Doing things is good for you, and they are the marks of a holy person, but doing them will NEVER make you holy!

Empowering Us to Obey

God’s grace gives us new hearts and anoints us with the Holy Spirit so we want to obey God and are empowered to fulfill His commands. The old covenant was a failure because a more fundamental change needed to take place in the people’s hearts before they could fulfill the law. They needed a change of attitude, will and desire --their nature needed to be conformed to God’s nature.

Jeremiah prophesied that a time would come in which God would put his laws in our minds and write them on our hearts (Jer. 31:31-33). This relationship would be marked by intimacy…”No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother saying, know the Lord, because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest declares the Lord.” (Vs. 34). Holiness is God’s transforming power working in us, not a program to improve out lives! Theologians sometimes call this truth “positional holiness” by which they mean we are declared holy and transformed through faith in Christ’s atoning death on the cross. Positional holiness cannot be earned.

John 1:12-13 “Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God. Children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.”

No Need to Perform

It is in Christ that we are empowered by God’s Spirit for holy living 2 Corinthians 1:22 says, “He set his seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”

The truth here is that in Christ you are fully accepted by the Father. In Christ God forgives us, declares us righteous, and adopts us as His sons and daughters (Heb. 9:15). Christ changes us into His likeness --declaring us a holy people, a people set-aside for His use (1 Cor. 1:2). Because the Father then accepts us in the ‘One that He loves’, there is then nothing that we can do to be holier because Jesus has already done it for us!

To know that we are accepted by the Father means we don’t have to perform for God’s approval. Instead, we obey God because we know we’re accepted in Christ. This may seem like an insignificant point, but our motivations in life really do affect how we live.

Make Every Effort

There is always a struggle to live under grace and in the truth of our new identity in Christ, not under the law and enslaved to our old nature. Our struggle is a process called, “progressive sanctification,” in which God separates us for his use and conforms us to His nature. Positional holiness doesn’t let us off the hook by taking personal responsibility to cooperate with God in obeying His commands. Positional holiness qualifies us to live lives that are pleasing to God. Holiness comes by grace working in us, and holiness is not easy. In fact, holiness is hard work

Steps Towards Holiness

I have often found that when I have steps that I can see and follow, it is helpful in following through with what I am praying and working towards. Here are 5 steps that you can begin taking to cooperate with God’s grace and its work of holiness in your life.

1. We need to accept God’s truth concerning “positional holiness”. Before doing anything you have to believe everything that Jesus has done for you. In Christ, your nature has been changed, and when God looks at you he sees the righteousness of His Son.
2. Keep short accounts with God (1 John 1:9)
3. Recognize the difference between temptation and sin (James 1:14-15; Luke 22:40; 2 Timothy 2:22)
4. Live in brokenness and dependence on God (Romans
5. Finally, remember that holiness is God’s life in you. Delight in Him, and His holiness will change your life!

[Sam]

The following article is from the November 18, 1958 issue of The Apostolic Sentinel, which was then the official publication off the Texas District ot the UPC.

HOLINESS
by B.E. Echols

God’s Lowest Standard of Christian Living
Texts: Heb 12:14, 1 John 3:10

Some folks, who call themselves Christians, will not accept “God’s Lowest Standard of Christian Living” as their highest standard. They claim to be Christians, but they indulge in sinful things every day. How can anyone, who habitually lives a life of sin, claim to be a child of a holy God --who associates Himself, and identifies Himself with nothing but HOLY ANGELS (Matt 25:31), HOLY PEOPLE (Deut 7:6 and 2 Cor 6:17, 18), HOLY APOSTLES (Eh 3:5), HOLY PROPHETS (Rev. 22:6), A HOLY CHURCH (Eph 5:25-27), A HOLY BIBLE (Rom 1:2) and A HOLY HEAVEN (2 Pet 3:13)? Precious hearts, there is no fellowship to be had with God by any spirit or person that is unclean or not holy.

THE LOWEST STANDARD

According to the Scriptures, there are not any standards below holy living which are acceptable with God. “He that committeth sin is of the devil” --so says one of the holy apostles. Have you not read where the Bible says, “Follow peace with all men, AND HOLINESS, without which NO MAN shall see the Lord”? Then, we further read in Rev 20:6, “Blessed and HOLY is he that hath part in the first resurrection, on such the second death hath no power...” Also, “Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not; whosoever sinneth hath not seen Him, neither known Him.” For “whosoever doeth NOT righteousness is NOT OF GOD...” (1 John 3:6, 10)

A STANDARD WE MUST ATTAIN TO AND RETAIN

“The Pentecostal Movement,” of the 20th Century, came into being under the ministry of preachers who were living and preaching holiness as “God’s Lowest Standard of Christian Living,” and if we are to continue --as a group of God’s chosen people-- we must have pastors, evangelists, and teachers who preach and teach holiness and demand such of those who would associate themselves with us or desire our fellowship. We are definitely instructed by the Apostle Paul, to “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness (sin), but rather reprove them.”

Paul further states in Rom 6:1, 2, 6 “What shall we say then? Shall we CONTINUE in sin (after God has saved us), that grace may abound (for forgiveness of sin every day we live, after being saved)? GOD FORBID. How shall we who are dead to sin, live any longer therein? ...Knowing this that our OLD MAN (the carnal man, that is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” --Rom 8:7) is crucified with Him (Christ), that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth (from this time on) we SHOULD NOT serve sin.”

Then, we further read in Rom 6:11-14, “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed (in fact or action) unto sin...Let not sin therefore (or for the reasons already stated) reign in your mortal (fleshly) body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof...For sin shall not have dominion over you.” Paul was a staunch believer in, and a great advocate of holiness, as “The Lowest Standard of Christian Living.”

HOLINESS, GOD’S STANDARD FOR ALL AGES

1. The Dispensation of Innocency. Go back to the garden of Eden and you will find that Adam and Eve were expelled from that earthly paradise because they sinned by transgression (Rom 5:12-14 and 1 Tim 2:14). If God put them out of the garden for committing sin, do you think He is going to permit people to sin (in any age) and stay in His holy church or go to heaven? See Rev 21:2, 7, 8 and Eph 5:25-27.

2. The Dispensation of Conscience or the “antediluvian age” --which extended from Adam’s expulsion from the garden of Eden on to the time of the flood. You know how God punished the first murderer of this age, Cain, and then sent that awful flood “upon the world of the ungodly” (2 Pet 3:5) Righteous Noah and his immediate family were the only ones who escaped the judgments of God at this time. It was holy living or punishment for sin, in this dispensation, the same as for Adam and Eve in the first one.

3-4. The Dispensation of Human Government and the Patriarchs, which extended from the time of the flood unto the giving of the law by Moses. How could anyone figure that God demanded less of the people of this dispensation, when He commanded of Abraham, “Walk before Me and be thou perfect,” and “rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven” (Ge 19:24)? See also 2 Pet 2:6-8.


5. The Dispensation of the Law, extending from the giving of the law by Moses, unto the death of Jesus on the cross. “And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, ‘Speak unto ALL the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye SHALL BE holy...’ ” (Lev 19:1,2). There can be no argument here as to what God demanded of them. positively, they were to live free from sin and be a “holy nation” unto Him (Ex 19:6).

6, The Dispensation of Grace, extending from the death of Christ unto the beginning of His millennial reign on this earth. Every scriptural reference that we used under the “introductory headings” of this article applied to this dispensation of time. But for further proof, hear Jesus in His sermon on the Mount: “Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall IN NO CASE enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 5:20), and they were commanded to live holy during the law dispensation (Lev 19:1,2)

You might also read Luke 1:74-75; Titus 2:11, 12; 1 Thes 3:13, 4:7; 1 Cor 6:9, 10, 11; 15:34, 55-57 and 2 Cor 7:1. If these references do not demand that we live holy in the “Dispensation of Grace,” please inform me as to what dispensation of time they would apply.

7. The Kingdom Age or Dispensation, which begins and ends with our Lord’s one thousand year reign on this earth, which is to be a reign of peace and righteousness. His demands of that age will be nothing less than holiness and righteous living. See Isa 52:10-12.

Zechariah prophesied of that future day by saying, “In that day (see verses 16-20) shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD...Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be HOLINESS unto the Lord of Hosts.” So, you see the Lord is going to have the pots people cook in, or use otherwise, and the bells on horses preaching and ringing out the message of holiness continually. How could a holy God demand less of any people of any age or dispensation? It never has been the case and it never will be anything less than holiness unto Him. Does He not say, “I am the Lord, I CHANGE NOT...”? (Mal 3:6). Then, the writer of Hebrews follows with these words, “Jesus Christ the same YESTERDAY (in His demands for holy living), and TODAY (His demands are the same), and FOREVER (it will still be holiness, as you will see in the following paragraphs).

THE ETERNAL CRY OF HEAVEN

Lest someone should forget God’s eternal demand of holiness, after they reach heaven, God has created FOUR BEASTS, as described in rev 4:6-9 TO CRY (translated “singing” by the R.S. version) the message of holiness “forever and ever” (vs. 9).

Oh glory, brother! I am glad I am one of those Pentecostal preachers who endeavors to live and preach holiness; for it is such ministers and saints, who ae going to shine “as the stars forever and ever” (Dan 12:3).

As a followup, this is from “What Oneness Pentecostals Believe and Teach,” third edition by B.E. Echols, Marshall, TX, 1956 pages 10-12

A few things the Oneness Pentecostal People believe and teach that a Christian should NOT do or partake of are: drink beer, wine, whiskey ... use snuff or tobacco ...attend or take part in basketball, football and baseball games, picture shows, boxing and wrestling matches, visit pool halls, play golf or cards, dance, go swimming where both sexes are present ... telling jokes ... reading funny papers, novels ... listening in on comic radio programs and ungodly TV broadcasts. All such things rob a Christian of his spirituality and will eventually drown his soul in perdition.

Christian women should not bob their hair (1 Cor 11:5-11) get permanents (1 Tim 2:9, 10), wear jewelry as ornaments (this applies to men also); wear socks, use rouge and lip-stick or paint their eyebrows, eyelashes or fingernails; neither should they wear low neck, short skirt and short-sleeve dresses --especially in public ... abstain from all lustful and pagan customs of the ungodly, such as necking, kissing, spooning and keeping late hours at night.

[Sam]

This was posted here or on another Apostolic forum some time ago. I can't remember who posted it or when it was posted.

“Remember this --the wrong desires that come into your life aren’t anything new and different. Many others have faced the same problems before you. And no temptation is irresistible. You can trust God to keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can’t stand up against it, for he has promised this and will do what he says. He will show you how to escape temptation’s power so that you can bear up patiently against it.
1 Corinthians 10:13 from The Living Bible


“Follow peace with all men, and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord”. Hebrews 12:14

The crudely painted sign, with its mis-spelling, would have been humorous had its message not been so important . There it stood, all but hidden by the tall grass along the highway. Originally hand painted with bright red paint on a white back ground, the words “Holyness or Hell!” were now faded and peeling. The bright sun and weather had taken a toll on the wooden sign- its message, like the sign itself was hardly noticed and mostly forgotten. The lower left hand corner of the sign was gone, tiny, tell-tale holes around the jagged edge was enough to tell me the damage came from a shot gun blast that almost, but not quite, missed its mark.

I looked around the area and noticed, not 100 feet away, a tall, brightly lit billboard displaying a curvaceous young woman holding a glass of Jack Daniels on the rocks. On the other side of the highway a huge sign boasted of nights of fun and pleasure at some vacation spot somewhere. In the distance I could see a road side bar, its ample parking lot filled to overflowing as patrons sought to drown their sorrows and mourn over some lost love. All the while cars and trucks of every size and shape zipped by, their occupants oblivious to the old fashioned, yet timely message that tried desperately to snag their attention. “Holyness or Hell!”

Old fashioned? Without a doubt. The phrase seems to be dying out among Pentecostals as we move, from generation to generation, further and further from our Holiness roots. The very word “Holiness” seems to be all but stricken from our Pentecostal/Charismatic vocabulary today. Its an old fashioned word. Archaic. A word used in days gone by but hardly has a place in this “emergent” and “progressive” day in which we live. When is the last time you’ve heard someone say, “Holiness or Hell”? Come to think of it, it really is an old fashioned phrase… it seems there’s just a few left who believe in a place called hell. Fewer still left that believe in a word like “holiness”.

It’s a timely message, nonetheless. A much older, and much more neglected signpost stands mutely in the pages of God’s Word reminding us that God, the Holy God of all eternity, still requires holiness of those who claim Him as Lord. Lev 20:7 Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I [am] the LORD your God. Lest there be some who claim this OT passage to be irrelevant for these more progressive days, we should remember the Apostle Peter reiterated God’s call to holiness: 1Pe 1:16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

In OT times, for one to approach the Holy God of Israel, it was required of him to undergo ritual cleansings and purification. There could be no sin in his life. It was pertinent that he do all he could do to make himself holy before he could enter into the Presence of God. The consequences for attempting to harbor sin in his life was swift and certain.

With the coming of Jesus, and through His sacrifice on Calvary, a New Covenant was instituted. No longer was it necessary for one to attempt to attain holiness before coming before God. The New Covenant granted access to all, even to the most unholy of sinners, to come to God in repentance where the Blood of Jesus cleansed the heart and brought new converts into a holy estate with God. We became holy through the Blood of Jesus when our sins were forgiven. 1Jo 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. Fallen man could never, without the shedding of Christs Blood, attain holiness. Only through the cleansing Blood are we made holy.

To maintain our right relationship with God, the Bible teaches we are to maintain a life of holiness. Those who know the Lord, according to the Apostle Paul, were chosen before time began “…that we should be holy and without blame before him in love” (Eph. 1:4). Our hands are to be holy (1Thess. 2:8). Our talk is to be holy unto the Lord. (1 Peter 1:15). We are “…a chosen generation a holy nation… a peculiar people…” (1 Peter 2:9)

The word “holiness” should not be used as just a word to refer to some of our old fashioned and out-dated predecessors. “Holiness” should be who and what we are- not by anything we think we can do to attain holiness- but because of what He did for us, and what He made us, when He saved our souls and brought us into the Kingdom of God. The word “holiness’ means:

Holiness (OT):
1) apartness, holiness, sacredness, separateness
a) apartness, sacredness, holiness
1) of God
2) of place

1) consecration, purification
2) the effect of consecration
a) sanctification of heart and life

3) of things
b) set-apartness, separateness

Holiness (NT):
1) consecration, purification
2) the effect of consecration
a) sanctification of heart and life

Our lives are consecrated unto Him. We are set apart unto the Lord. We have been purified, not by some effort we put forth, but through His soul cleansing Blood.

Are we embarrassed and ashamed of being referred to as “Holiness people”? It is true that much legalism and much man made ritualism has tarnished the word somewhat… but the fact remains: Rather than running from and distancing ourselves from the word, we should busy ourselves with “….perfecting holiness in the fear of God“. (2 Cor. 7:1). We have been called from sin “…unto holiness”. I Thess. 4:7.

We should note, however, that there is what the NT calls “true holiness”. Eph 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. True holiness does not bring us into condemnation, but rather to liberty in the Spirit. False holiness is that which is conceived in the minds of men that ensnares souls into a life of bondage and captivity to rules and rituals that have no basis in God’s Word. This “false holiness” is that which makes one to believe the mistaken notion that God‘s merit is to be earned by our own works of righteousness. True holiness is that which was attained when the Blood of Jesus cleansed us from sin and made us holy. True holiness breaks the chains of sin and frees us from condemnation.

Old fashioned? Yes. Timely? Absolutely. The Holy God of creation has made us holy through the shed blood of Jesus and freed us from the stain of sin. We are THE chosen generation. We are THE holy nation. We are HIS peculiar people! Maybe we aren’t as old fashioned as we use to be, but we are still “Holyness people”!