God's Way to Holiness

God's Way to Holiness

Discover God's way to victory against temptation

“Holiness is necessary to present peace and future glory.” —William Jay¹

“There is no holiness without a warfare.” —J.C. Ryle²

“Holiness is the preparation for the presence of God.” —Anonymous³

In this lesson, our aim will be to discover God’s way of holiness.

Revelation: Seeing the Issue

When you hear the word “holiness,” what immediately comes to your mind?

What do we need to understand about holiness? First and foremost, holiness is a Christian priority. Read these verses to discover what God says about holiness.

1 Peter 1:15-16—These verses tell us that holiness is God’s basic requirement of us.

• What this means: God is the divine standard for personal holiness. Those who would have close association with Him must decisively settle it, once and for all, that they will be holy and seek to bring every area in their lives under construction, becoming conformed to God’s will.

1 Thessalonians 4:3, 7, 5:23—These verses tell us that holiness is a command as well as a gift.

• What this means: God’s desire for our good is that we are holy, but we cannot obtain it apart from His gracious initiative and influence.

Ephesians 1:4, 2:10, 5:25-26—These verses tell us that holiness was and is the goal of our election and redemption and holiness is the basis of all His providential dealings with us.

•  What this means: since God’s goal is to make you holy, He has provided all the means to make you holy as well as orchestrate the circumstances that move you toward that end.

Romans 12:1—This verse tells us that holiness is the believer’s appropriate response of living a life of sacrifice by giving himself daily to God.

• What this means: holiness starts in the mind with the recognition of what He did for us through Christ in mercy and love.

2 Corinthians 7:1—This verse tells us that holiness is something that we need to pray for and practice each day of our lives.

• What this means: we do not strive to be holy in order to be saved; that is legalism. We do not strive to be holy in order to prove that we are saved; that is bondage. We seek to be holy because that is God’s purpose in saving us and because we have come to be thankful for it.

In a word, holiness is Christ-likeness. Holiness is godliness. Godliness is not a mystic trait; it is a moral trait. Holiness can be viewed as the fruit of the Spirit displayed as the Christian walks and lives under the control of the Spirit. (Gal.5:16, 22, 25)

Just to make sure we are clear:

• Holiness in relation to God takes the form of a single-minded passion to please God by love and loyalty, devotion and praise. (2 Cor.11:3)

• Holiness in relation to sin takes the form of a resistance movement—namely a discipline of not gratifying the desires of the flesh, but putting them to death or weakening their desires by growing in grace. (Gal.5:16; Rom.8:13)

Preparation: Identifying the Challenges

The challenges to holiness, or sexual purity, are rooted in what we think it is and how to obtain it. So let’s be clear about WHAT HOLINESS IS NOT.

1. Holiness is not activity or busyness. Activity in ministry, or doing things for God and people, is possible apart from trusting in Christ, obeying Christ, looking to Christ, and relying upon Him (Cf. John 15:5). Busyness is often done in self-reliance and self-confidence, not in self-distrust and dependence on God. However, imbalance will arise if one forgets that indwelling sin naturally operates by making us reluctant, apathetic, and lazy to do the will of God. Indwelling sin often leads us to play games with ourselves and justify our slackness, which is not the purpose for which God saved us. (Eph.2:20; Titus 2:11-14)

2. Holiness is not passivity or conscious inaction. Holiness is not found in “letting go and letting God,” but by “trusting God and moving ahead.” Holiness is not experienced by “handing it over to God,” but by submitting our wills to His Word and reporting for duty! (1 Cor.15:10, 58)

3. Holiness is not found in a series of steps or plans. Holiness is a matter of being a disciple of Christ, listening to His Word and obeying His commands, loving and adoring Him as one’s personal Redeemer, and seeking to please and honor Him as your Master; in preparation of seeing Him and being with Him for all eternity. (John 8:31-32, 12:24-26)

Direction: Finding the Solution

If we are to develop a lifestyle of holiness by progressively becoming consecrated (set apart) for God’s use and fellowship, there are nine principles about holiness that we must understand.

1. The nature of holiness is transformation through consecration (Phil.2:12-13).

2. The context of holiness is justification through Christ (Rom.5:1-2).

·         J.C. Ryle— “There are none justified who are not sanctified and there are none sanctified who are not justified.”⁴

·         R.C. Sproul— “There is no time lapse between our justification and the beginning of our sanctification…as soon as we truly believe, at that very instant, the process of becoming pure and holy is under way, and its future completion is certain.”⁵

·         A.W. Tozer— “When God declares a man righteous he instantly sets about to make him righteous.”⁶

·         Geoffrey B. Wilson— “Those who are unwilling to cleanse themselves from every stain of sin only show that they have not been cleansed from the guilt of sin. The unsanctified are the unjustified.”⁷

3. The root of holiness is co-crucifixion and co-resurrection with Jesus Christ (Romans Chap.6).

4. The agent of holiness is the Holy Spirit (Gal.5:16, 18; Rom.8:14).

5. The experience of holiness is one of conflict (Gal.5:17; Matt.26:41; Heb.12:3-4).

6. The rule of holiness is God’s revealed law (Eph.4:23-24; 1 Cor.9:21; John 14:15).

7. The heart of holiness is the spirit of love (Matt.22:35-40; Gal.5:22; 1 Cor.13:1-3; 1 John 3:16- 18, 4:7, 10, 11).

8. The display ground of holiness is human relationships (1 John 3:14-18, 4:20).

9. The essence of holiness is Christ-likeness (1 John 2:6).

Inspiration: Learning From Example

Alexander Whyte once told his Edinburgh congregation: “The man who claims perfection is self-deceived, and riding for a fall. You’ll never get out of the seventh chapter of Romans while I’m your minister.”⁸

What does the seventh chapter of Romans teach?

• The fight with sin is life-long.
• The law can sanctify no man.
• The law cannot change you from being bad (7:14).
• The law cannot enable you to be good (7:15-21).
• The law cannot free you from bondage (7:22-25).
  
  The only hope is Jesus: “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”  (Rom.7:25)

Application: Bringing it Down to Life
 

There is more to maintaining holiness than simply avoiding sin. Rather than waiting for temptation to strike and then react, we can take proactive measures to nurture holiness in our lives. Spurgeon said, “They tell me there is as much of a tree under as above ground, and certainly it is so with a believer: his visible life would soon wither if not for his secret life.”⁹ Spurgeon was a man with nothing to hide. Near the end of his life, someone wrote him a letter threatening to expose him in some way. Spurgeon responded, “You may write my life across the sky; I have nothing to conceal.”¹⁰

Do you have any unconfessed or unforsaken sin? Claim Proverbs 28:13.

Once you do this, what are you to do?

Learn about:

1. The ministry of the Spirit (Rom.8:1-17)
2. The glory of God’s children (Rom.8:18-27)
3. The steadfastness of God’s love (Rom.8:28-39)

Reflection: Something to Remember
 

Under the law with its ten-fold lash,
Learning, alas, how true,
That the more I tried the sooner I died,
While the law cried, “You! You!! You!!!”

Hopelessly still did the battle rage,
O wretched man, my cry,
And deliverance I sought by some penance bought,
While my soul cried, ‘I! I!! I!!!’

Then came a day when my struggling ceased,
And trembling in every limb,
At the foot of the Tree where One died for me,
I sobbed out, “HIM! HIM!! HIM!!!”¹¹