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November 5 - November 24, 2020
The hole in our holiness is that we don’t really care much about it.
If ungodliness is your delight here on earth, what will please you in heaven, where all is clean and pure? You would not be happy there if you are not holy here.
We aren’t asking the nations to look at Jesus’ commands like an interesting Rembrandt. We are teaching the nations to follow his commands. The Great Commission is about holiness. God wants the world to know Jesus, believe in Jesus, and obey Jesus. We don’t take the Great Commission seriously if we don’t help each other grow in obedience.
But in all this necessary nuance, do not miss what many churches have overlooked: Jesus expects obedience from his disciples. Passing on the imperatives of Christ is at the heart of the Great Commission.
As A. W. Tozer put it, “Plain horse sense ought to tell us that anything that makes no change in the man who professes it makes no difference to God either, and it is an easily observable fact that for countless numbers of persons the change from no-faith to faith makes no actual difference in the life.”10
Then there’s the reality that holiness is plain hard work, and we’re often lazy. We like our sins, and dying to them is painful. Almost everything is easier than growing in godliness. So we try and fail, try and fail, and then give up. It’s easier to sign a petition protesting man’s inhumanity to man than to love your neighbor as yourself. It’s one thing to graduate from college ready to change the world. It’s another to be resolute in praying that God would change you.
We need more Christians on our campuses, in our cities, in our churches, and in our seminaries who will say with Paul, “Look carefully then how you walk” (Eph. 5:15).
The fact of the matter is, if you read through the instructions to the New Testament churches you will find few explicit commands that tell us to take care of the needy in our communities and no explicit commands to do creation care, but there are dozens and dozens of verses that enjoin us, in one way or another, to be holy as God is holy (e.g., 1 Pet. 1:13–16).
that we should be holy and blameless before him. (Eph. 1:3–4)
We are justified by faith alone, but the faith that justified us is never alone.
The holiness of Hebrews 12:14 is not a holiness we receive but a holiness we “strive” for.
Faith and good works are both necessary. But one is the root and the other the fruit.
But don’t be so scared of works-righteousness that you make pale what the Bible writes in bold colors. We are saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8). And we were created in Christ Jesus for good works (v. 10). Any gospel which purports to save people without also transforming them is inviting easy-believism. If you think being a Christian is nothing more than saying a prayer or joining a church, then you’ve confused real grace with cheap grace. Those who are justified will be sanctified.12
At its most basic, holiness means separation.1 It is a spatial term. When someone or something is holy it is set apart.
Our holy God sets us apart to live in a way that reflects, however imperfectly, his holiness.
“definitive sanctification.”
“progressive sanctification.”
He said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15).
“If only things could be like they used to be.” Well, that might help with public standards of sexual decency, but the good ol’ days weren’t so good on race relations. Every generation has both its insights and its blind spots. It
worldliness is whatever makes sin look normal and righteousness look strange.
We simply don’t believe that friendship with the world is enmity with God (James 4:4).
The goal of sanctification is the renewal of this image.
That means, if you don’t believe what you are doing is acceptable, then it’s not acceptable for you to do it. You must not ignore your conscience.
Incidentally, I’ve learned over the years that the simplest way to judge gray areas like movies, television, and music is to ask one simple question: can I thank God for this?
It sounds really spiritual to say God is interested in a relationship, not in rules. But it’s not biblical. From top to bottom the Bible is full of commands. They aren’t meant to stifle a relationship with God, but to protect it, seal it, and define it. Never forget: first God delivered the Israelites from Egypt, then he gave them the law. God’s people were not redeemed by observing the law, but they were redeemed so they might obey the law. “By this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments” (1 John 2:3). We can talk all day long about our love for God, but if we do
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When we love God and others we fulfill the law and the prophets.
The whole goal of our salvation is that we should be conformed to the image of God’s Son (Rom. 8:29).
I know the danger with imperatives is that we end up getting all law and no gospel, making Christianity a religion of good advice instead of good news.
We usually think of law leading us to gospel. And this is true—we see God’s standards, see our sin, and then see our need for a Savior. But it’s just as true that gospel leads to law. In Exodus, first God delivered his people from Egypt, then he gave the Ten Commandments.
I simply want to show that the good news of the gospel leads to gracious instructions for obeying God.
Some Christians make the mistake of pitting love against law, as if the two were mutually exclusive. You either have a religion of love or a religion of law. But such an equation is profoundly unbiblical. For starters, “love” is a command of the law (Deut. 6:5; Lev. 19:18; Matt. 22:36–40). If you enjoin people to love, you are giving them law. Conversely, if you tell them law doesn’t matter, then neither does love, which is the summary of the law.
So, there is no abiding in Christ’s love apart from keeping Christ’s commandments (John 15:10).
But the Bible does not reason this way. It has no problem with the word “therefore.” Grace, grace, grace, therefore, stop doing this, start doing that, and obey the commands of God.
Here are just some of the ways in which the Bible motivates us to pursue holiness:
Duty.
God knows all and sees all. “For
It’s right.
It’s for our good
God’s example.
Christ’s example.
Assurance.
Being effective as a Christian. “For if these qualities are
Jesus’ return
The world is not our home.
To win over our neighbors.
To lift up a nation
For the public good
For the sake of our prayers.
The fear of future judgment.
The surety of our inheritance.
