“God loves to bless His children!” That is the declaration of the Bible, a promise that we can live by. In this series of messages, my aim has been to teach how we position ourselves to stand in the flow of God’s blessing, to live in a way that is prosperous, not so much in financial terms, but in the enjoyment of a life rich in purpose and meaning.
Last Sunday, I spoke about the importance of living as a spiritual person, prepared to ‘go deep’ in godly matters, moving away from living for the stuff of this temporary realm. Baseline for spirituality is a new birth, born as a child of God by the Spirit. Alive to the Lord, we set our sights on eternity and live for God.
Holiness
Holiness can be a mysterious or frightening word to us. It is loaded with all kinds of meaning.
1. My early experience of Christianity was in a ‘holiness’ setting.
Intended or not those who discipled me led me to think that holiness was a set of rules for life, mostly about what I did not do. Christians did not touch alcohol, did not use tobacco products, didn’t even say the word, ‘sex,’ didn’t listen to popular music (at least around their parents), didn’t dress in a ‘worldly’ manner.... And if you did any of those things, God would know and punish you. Holiness was not a positive subject in any way. It was about “DON’T” and “PUNISHMENT.” I was wrong!1
The only people I thought could possibly be holy were those who were really old, cause I figured they didn’t want to do anything fun anymore! Did you catch what I just implied? That’s right. Holiness, as I understood it, was about killing any sense of fun and/or joy in life.
2. For some here today, the idea of ‘holiness’ is not about moral codes. Rather it is about priests in robes and or nuns in habit.
It is about religious rituals you didn’t really understand. “His Holiness” lives in Rome in the Vatican, and holiness, to you, is about “church” stuff, but it has no connection to the world you lived in.
Still others here today just don’t get any of this because to you ‘holiness’ is an undefined concept.
I am going to be talking about HOLINESS and my aim today is to help you
to define holiness,
to understand the benefit of being holy, and
to show you how to start to experience the formation of a holy character.
Know this - the formation of true holiness is a foundational part of preparing to prosper, of living in a way to
enjoy God’s blessings.
The Word says, “Without holiness, no one will see (that is, know and live close to) the Lord!”
TEXT - 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; 7:1
1. What is holiness?
Holiness is best understood by thinking about ownership!
It is about belonging to God, not the sense of oppression, but like a husband and wife belong exclusively to each other. (Walk down to stand near Bev)
On the ring finger of my left hand is a gold band, set with small diamonds, that is well-worn after 32 years! It makes me a marked man. That little symbol declares that I am married, that my affections belong exclusively to Bev. The ring never comes off for it is a constant reminder of the vows we exchanged - to blend our lives in an interdependent relationship. I am not so naive as to believe that simply wearing a gold band on my finger make me a married man, nor is that ring a guarantee of the ‘holiness’ of my marriage vows! My wedding band is a symbol of my status as a married man, but fidelity to my wife comes from thinking of myself as a married man, keeping my eyes and my thoughts, as well as my body, faithful to Bev.
I have never thought of the exclusiveness of my marriage vows as a negative! The exclusivity of our relationship is one of the aspects that makes our marriage fulfilling and joyful. I am not one of those men who bemoans the ‘loss of freedom’ that supposedly accompanies marriage. My marriage is a place of safety, security, acceptance, and intimacy. Then, too, I realize that marriage provides me many opportunities to serve, to learn to forget myself, and to submit to another for her benefit. It is a place to grow up spiritually!
I am owned by Bev, she is owned by me - but neither of us feels enslaved. Our mutual commitment provides security. Our lives are connected in such a way that "me" is replaced by "we;" every decision made to benefit the "Jerry-Bev" unity that was created when we pledged ourselves to live in holy matrimony 32 years ago!
In the Scripture, a primary illustration for the way we relate to God is the husband/wife relationship! Christ is the Husband of the Church, His bride. God often spoke to the Jewish people, the nation of Israel, as His wife, beloved and belonging to Him exclusively. As you and I consider holiness, it right and good to think of ourselves as belonging to God, avowed to Him exclusively.
Do not make the mistake of thinking that wearing a cross or going to church will make you holy! Holiness is heart deep. Only the person who has given away his rights to himself, who has surrendered his autonomy to God is holy. And that holiness will show up in the way that he lives an entirely different life from that man who does not belong to God, just as a married man lives a very different life from a single man!
Our text tells us that because we belong to God we must not allow ourselves to become ‘yoked together’ with those who do not share our devotion to Him. Let’s consider a couple of practical ways this is applied to our lives –
If we become partners in business with an unbeliever, our motives will soon clash.
The holy person sees his business as God’s and profit is not the sole consideration!
If we marry a person who is not a believer, our purposes will not mesh.
The holy person sees his marriage and home as a place for the glory of God to shine through,
a place where hospitality is first and foremost,
where children are raised to fear God, more than to succeed in this world,
and the list goes on and one.
Holiness is belonging to God - loving Him, as Jesus taught, with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
2. What is the benefit of being holy? (Re-read v. 17-18)
My immature ideas about holiness and punishment missed the truth by a mile. To be sure, if we reject God and His ways, there is a certain cost. Ultimately, if we persist in sinful disobedience, we are separated from Him for eternity, in a place of judgment that is simply too horrible to describe, a place devoid of life, of light, of all the things that give beauty to our existence!
But, choosing to live a holy life is not really about avoiding punishment. It is about building a strong, intimate, loving relationship with God, our Father.
Let me turn for a moment to the illustration of marriage, again. Am I faithful to Bev just to avoid punishment? Of course not! When temptation stirs in me, I don’t even consider ‘how might I indulge that sin or plot to avoid getting caught.’
The much more powerful reason to remain faithful is to remember the quality of our love and to consider the pain that any infidelity would bring to the woman that has loved me so faithfully, so sacrificially, for so long. Why would I, for a moment’s indulgence, want to damage the trust and love that we share?
A life of devotion, our choices to honor the Lord in our thoughts, in our words, in our choices, builds a relationship of intimacy. He says, “I will receive you... I will be a Father to you, you will be my sons and daughters.”
Holiness allows us to know God’s provision, to live under His care and to experience His comfort. Holiness lets us pray without fear, let’s us open our hearts before God, without feeling a need to hide anything from Him!
As we train ourselves to respond to God obediently, living lives that belong entirely to Him, His will becomes sweet to us, not hard, but fulfilling. Paul underlines this for us.
READ Romans 12:1-2
When we see holiness as a positive choice, when choose to honor Him, we grow stronger in every other part of our Christian life.
Spiritual gifts are expressed with greater power.
We perceive where God is leading us, and learn to hear His voice much more clearly.
Temptation is less a factor, as we grow in holiness.
The peace of God governs us when the tough stuff comes our way.
Some say, ‘but the way of holiness is so very costly. I don’t want to become a dull person who just goes to church all the time.’
What a lie! To be sure, there is a cost to holiness. Saying, “Yes,” to God requires that we say, “No,” to Self and Satan. Especially at first when we choose a holy life, devoted to God it may seem painful, as we learn to die to ourselves and our old ways of life. But, what we gain as God’s people, makes what we abandoned seem worthless! A truly holy person need not be dull, out of touch, or so Heavenly minded that he is no earthly good! A holy person is filled with God. He becomes a positive influence, carries the life the Spirit in himself, is creative, is empowered by the Spirit to be the best person he could possibly be!
3. How do we experience the formation of holiness in our lives?
Let me quickly tell you what is not the road to holiness - religion! Making a list of rules about what you can do and what you cannot do, then attaching some punishment or pain or even accountability to those things will not bring about true holiness. Every one of us here today has tried that and failed!
The best illustration of that are New Year’s Resolutions, closely followed by plans for diets. I have resolved to lose 20 lbs more times than I even know anymore. When I am gripped by something more than good intentions and/or vanity, I suppose I shall finally do it. Sadly, like a million other American men, I’ll probably do it right after my first heart attack!
Holiness does not come from good intentions. It does not come from fear of exposure. It does not come from a desire to be respected in the Church.
Holiness comes from God.
Holiness is formed in us by the Spirit who draws us to God.
Holiness is fed by growing in our knowledge of God as He reveals Himself to us
through the Word and by the work of the Spirit.
The average American Christian has a poor knowledge of the true nature of God. Many preachers make only glancing references to the Scripture in their sermons. The God that is presented in the Word and the Worship is mostly a Friend, a Father figure who exists to make our lives more comfortable, to come to our aid, and to take us to Heaven when we die.
Some of you are thinking, "But isn’t God a loving Father?"
Yes, God is gracious, loving, and "patient ... not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9, NIV) But He is still God, always just, and perfectly holy. Those who abuse His grace and refuse His mercy, will be disciplined and, if they persist in disobedience, destroyed. A high view of God’s attributes is important to building a deep love, faith, and trust in Him that creates a desire to live a holy life before Him.
Ill. - Have you ever watched a weak, ineffective father try to provide guidance to his children? In that situation, even a little child quickly realizes that his Dad is all talk, no action. That two year-old will throw a tantrum, slap, kick, and be generally obnoxious for he has no fear of parental authority. Watching a parent who has lost the respect of his children saddens me for inevitably the results are not good!
Am I making a case for child abuse, for a father’s roaring rage? Of course not! A father gains respect by being fair, firm consistent, and willing to take action. In the long run, children who live in a home where there is that kind of discipline need less correction, for their ’fear’ of the parent is a deterrent to disobedience. There is less nagging, less stress, less yelling where loving parental authority has created deep respect. A good parent projects wisdom that invites their child to submit to their guidance. Early, the wise parent teaches their little one to trust and obey, because that is the best way to avoid danger and harm.
The parallels to the Christian life are many.
If we Believers are taught only the grace of God, if we only learn of Jesus, as our Friend, but not as our Lord; we will lose the awe and respect that motivates us to subjugate our will to God’s will. We will see no need to let God own us (a definition of being holy) because we will trivialize His demands.
Informed by the Word and inspired by the Spirit, we need to cry out to understand the majestic ’otherness’ of God, that He is not a man! We need to ask Him to give us the true ‘fear of the Lord that is the beginning of knowledge.’
READ Isaiah 6:1-7
There is not much of that kind of Majesty in our lives. When was the last time you felt true Awe or deep Reverence? We fill our days with work, with chatter, with computers, TV, and music – and seldom do we ponder the greatness of our God in silence. We are, after all, Americans who live in a busy, noisy world. When everything stops, we often grow anxious for many of us are addicted to noise, hurry, and stuff!
We don’t talk too much about the fact of our inevitable appointment with the Lord Jesus Christ, who will ask us to give an accounting for the way we used our spiritual gifts, our money, our time, and the opportunities that He provided to us.
The net result is that many Believers are completely absorbed by the culture, living lives that are indistinguishable from the lives of their neighbors who do not know God. We tend to value the same things, to fight for our place just as intensely, to divorce each other as readily, to love our money, and to crave pleasure as much as the person who has not thought much about God for years! We are not generally a holy people and therefore we have little spiritual joy, no spiritual authority, and next to no discernment between right and wrong.
Holiness grows in us as we seek to know God in His fullness. As I close this morning, let me ask:
Is your God big enough to fear? Is He worthy of awe? Is He able to guide and keep you?
The God of the Scripture is all that and more, much more! The better question is, do you know Him in His fullness, or have you only glimpsed a part of Who He is? Recover a true fear of the Lord based on the full revelation of His nature and character in the Word. No, that will not be a terror that makes you cringe and hide. Rather, you will feel a deep sense of awe that causes you to tremble, to love Him, to serve Him in holiness.
Holiness is belonging to Him.
Holiness brings us intimacy with Him, opening us to enjoy the benefit of being His children.
Holiness is formed, not by our hard work at character reformation, but by knowing Him,
and thus, loving and serving Him as He is worthy of being served. Amen
Jerry D. Scott, copyright 2007
www.WashingtonAG.com
Washington Assembly of God
