ABSENCE OF HOLINESS (Part III)
Updated: Aug 5, 2024
In Part II on holiness I presented the definition of holiness. Simply put it is "otherness". As Christians we should be different from non-believers. In order to have a clearer understanding of what follows it is necessary to add a little meat to the bones of holiness. By that I mean, there is what some refer to as "positional holiness" and "practical holiness". Others break holiness down by calling it "positional sanctification" and "progressive sanctification".
Positional holiness (sanctification) is what we become when we put our faith in Jesus Christ and make Him Lord of our lives. We are sanctified, made holy in Him. We see this in Titus 3:3-7, (NIV): "At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life." The key word here which I have emphasized is "justified". I've heard it said this way: "justified - just as if we had never sinned." It's at that moment in time when we make that confession of faith that we are made holy.
Paul follows up "positional holiness/sanctification" with what follows in v.8: "This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone" (emphasis added). "This is practical holiness/progressive sanctification." This is observable holiness. There should be an obvious change in us. We were going one way - now we are going the opposite way. This is where born-again believers are different from the world.
Now, to be clear, this takes effort on our part. Paul says it this way: "For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:10, NIV). The good news is God through His Spirit supplies the grace we need to live out lives of holiness. "Christ’s life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. " (Galatians 2:20, MSG).
I love the way Jessica Van-Roekel expressed this truth. "We do not drift into spiritual maturity. We determine to cooperate with the power of God that is within us" (crosswalk.com). In thinking about the quote above in Titus 3:5, "...not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us...", the Holy Spirit showed me that we do not do good works in order to be righteous - we do good works because we are made righteous in Christ.
What follows next is a look at the nuts-and-bolts of practical holiness/progressive sanctification.What I'm about to write may be misunderstood as a desire to return to legalism in the church, where holiness is defined by the outward appearance and actions rather than what proceeds from the heart. That's the last place I want to return too. Please don't check out now, but bear with me for a little bit.
Were you alive when almost everyone who attended church in America were dressed up in their "Sunday best?" Suits and dresses were the norm. Now, for most men it's the casual look, jeans and t-shirts, and for some men (especially younger men), it's shorts and flip-flops. Women attending church, in my observation, are not as inclined to be as casual as men. They are comfortably dressed many times in jeans and sandals. There are some women (not many), who tend to be a little too casual, who wear low cut tops and short skirts, or, shorts too short. I know of a pastor who instructed the church maintenance supervisor to lower the temperature during the summer in an attempt to discourage women from dressing too scantily.
When did America start to go casual and why? On August 5, 2015 Time Magazine had an article by Deidre Clemente who addressed these questions. As a professor she teaches seminars on "material culture" on “why” and “when” "our sartorial standards went from collared to comfortable." It first began in the 1920's. "As Americans, our casual style uniformly stresses comfort and practicality—two words that have gotten little attention in the history of fashion but have transformed how we live."
She goes on to write, "Americans dress casual. Why? Because clothes are freedom—freedom to choose how we present ourselves to the world; freedom to blur the lines between man and woman, old and young, rich and poor. The rise of casual style directly undermined millennia-old rules that dictated noticeable luxury for the rich and functioning work clothes for the poor. Until a little more than a century ago, there were very few ways to disguise your social class. You wore it—literally—on your sleeve. Today, CEOs wear sandals to work and white suburban kids tweak their L.A. Raiders hat a little too far to the side. Compliments of global capitalism, the clothing market is flooded with options to mix-and-match to create a personal style" (emphasis added).
Casual attire began to show up in the church in the 1960's. Some would say it was a result of the Jesus movement which brought an influx of hippies into the traditional church setting. Speaking of which, many of you may have seen what I considered a great movie, "The Jesus Revolution". I remember when the church I attended began to go casual. The reason given was that we didn't want anyone, no matter their status in life, to feel uncomfortable when attending our church. One of the concerns was that those who couldn't afford nice clothes would not come for fear of standing out like a sore thumb.
I struggled with the change at the time (I'm 70 now), but I was fully on-board with the focus of changed lives through the Gospel of Jesus Christ, rather than a change of attire. Does all of this mean that there should be little, if any concern, about what we wear as Christians when we attend church? I think we could be in danger of throwing out the baby with the bathwater.
I want to leave you with this question to mull over. What would you do if you were Satan and you wanted to diminish the reverence and awe given to God by His people? Wouldn't it be just like Satan to give a seemingly good spiritual reason to start them down that path? Something like: "You don't want to keep people who can't afford to dress nice from coming to church do you?" The Song of Solomon speaks of the little foxes that spoil the vines. I like how the Amplified Bible (Classic Addition) says it: "[My heart was touched and I fervently sang to him my desire] Take for us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards [of our love], for our vineyards are in blossom" (ch. 2:15). He couches his schemes in spiritual language. It's the little things that can lead to bigger issues. "Catch the foxes, the little foxes, before they ruin our vineyard in bloom" (MSG). Isn't it possible if he (Satan), can get us to relax our standards in one area of our life, he can then move on to other areas until we have little, if any, standards at all? Oh Garry, you're making a big deal out of nothing. All your doing is trying to get us back into legalism. Esme Partridge is a writer and consultant working between religion, philosophy and politics. Listen to what she says: "The decline in contemporary style is commonly accepted as 'going goblin mode,' saying that 'teenagers today are doing away with all ideals...They like their celebrities upholding hardly any standards at all.'"
[For those who are friends, relatives, or for that matter, anyone else reading this, please don't infer that I am judging you by what you wear to church or anywhere else. My purpose is not to condemn or make you feel guilty with my words or my convictions. Satan is the author of condemnation. Jesus himself said in John 3:17 (NIV), For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." The Holy Spirit doesn't condemn either, He convicts. "And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment" (John 16:8 (NIV).] One of the purposes of the Holy Spirit is to bring conviction of sin in our lives that we try to cover up, ignore, or make excuse for. That's between you and God. None of my business.]
I believe there are two questions that should be answered which will assuage any fears you may have about a return to legalism. I will attempt to do that in Part IV.
1.) What or who is our focus? 2.) What are our motives?
Recent Posts
See AllThere is no greater mockery of the church than a life that claims Christ yet is unchanged by Him.” – Anonymous I believe one of the...
“THUS YOU ARE TO BE HOLY TO ME, FOR I THE LORD AM HOLY; AND I HAVE SET YOU APART FROM THE PEOPLES TO BE MINE.” (Leviticus 20:26) For...
God's focus was not changed when He instituted the New Covenant. The difference is the emphasis is now more on how we clothe the inner...
Comments