Holiness...the Privilege Of All Believers Series

Holiness...The Privilege of All Believers - Captain Erika Hernandez

The Salvation Army Doctrine 10

Ephesians 5:1-7

http://pomonacorps.blogspot.com/2009/10/holiness-privilege-of-all-believers-tsa.html

Last month Captain talked about Salvation in our 9th Doctrine of The Salvation Army today we are looking at the 10th Doctrine which deals with Holiness which can simply mean the next stage in our life after salvation.

The doctrine goes as followed:

We believe that it is the privilege of all believers to be wholly sanctified, and that their whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Let’s first look at the question What is Holiness?

There a few ways to describe what Holiness is in other phrases or words like:

Set apart

Perfect love

Sanctification

Deeper life

Transformations

(my favorite) Christ-likeness

’Holiness or Sanctification’ is to have our sinful ways cleansed, and our heart filled with love to God and humanity.

2 Peter 1:3-4, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

Through these he has given us his every great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”

Samuel Brengle, a Salvation Army Officer wrote an amazing book on Holiness called “The Way to Holiness” which helps me explain how we can become holy. He says, “A spark from the fire is like the fire.

The tiniest twig on the giant oak, or the smallest branch of the vine, has the nature of the oak or the vine, and is in that respect like the oak or the vine.

A drop of water on the end of your finger from the ocean is like the ocean: not in its size, of course, for the big ships cannot float upon it nor the big fish that swim in it: but it is like the ocean in its essence, in its character, in its nature.

Just so, a holy person is like God. Not that they are infinite as God is; he does not know everything; he has not all power and wisdom as God has; but they are like God in His nature.

They are good and pure and loving and just, in the same way that God is.

Holiness then is conformity to the nature of God. But many say that this is impossible, since we are sinful creatures, how could we be like Jesus (God in the Flesh).

Think of it like this, when a child is born the parents are very happy and excited to see this new creation; just like our Heavenly Father is joyful to see our spiritual birth (salvation).

Now that baby isn’t done in growing right, they were born into this world now they have to learn how to live, they need help and guidance, food, and love in order to grow up and become adults like their parents.

We are the same, we are God’s newborn child when we accept Christ as our Savior. But we are not done, there is some much more than just being saved!

I don’t believe God just want us to be born but we wants to see us grow into our full maturity in our spiritual lives which is holiness. This requires food (scripture), teaching and guidance (prayer), encouragement (Holy Spirit) and we need to have the desire to grow up.

It’s important to go the the Bible and see what it says about the matter before we are able to understand and further seek holiness.

There is a chorus in the back of our Song Book # 107 which speaks to what we are talking about.

To be like Jesus, this hope possesses me in every thought and deed, this is my aim my creed. To be like Jesus this hope possesses me, His spirit helping me. Like Him I’ll be.

This Hope Possesses Me in Thought & Deed The Hope of becoming Holy, should possess us – to have a strong influence on us, our mind, to

take hold of or occupy that understanding of knowing that we can become holy. Possesses me can also mean to enjoy, to delight on the thought and the hope of wanting to be Holy as God is Holy.

You know how sometimes we hear something or meet someone and you just can’t get it or them out of your head. It’s like that, knowing that God has this hope for each one of us to take the next challenge in become more and more like Him.

Knowing this new truth gets us thinking and wondering and hoping to be like Him.

It is so powerful and influential that we keep seeking guidance and encouragement on how we can achieve this amazing thing in our lives.