What Holiness Isn't
Theme for the Week: Holiness and the Spirit
Saturday, November 17, 2001
 1 of 1
Q. Many Christians associate holiness with a long string of "do's and don'ts." What's wrong with that?
A. Seeing holiness only as rule-keeping breeds serious problems.
How so?
It limits the scope of true biblical holiness, which must affect every aspect of our lives.
But aren't many of these rules biblically based?
Even if they are, we often end up obeying the rules rather than God; concern with the letter of the law can cause us to lose its spirit.
Emphasis on rule-keeping also deludes us into thinking we can be holy through our efforts. But there can be no holiness apart from the work of the Holy Spiritin quickening us through the conviction of sin and bringing us by grace to Christ, and in sanctifying usfor it is grace that causes us even to want to be holy.
Can seeking holiness become self-centered?
Yes. Our pious efforts can become ego-gratifying, as if holy living were some kind of spiritual beauty contest. Such self-centered spirituality in turn leads to self-righteousnessthe very opposite of the selflessness of true holiness.
If holiness isn't a set of rules, what is it?
A whole lot more. It is the opposite of sin. Sin, as defined by the Westminster Confession, is "any want of conformity to, or transgression of, the law of God." So holiness is the opposite: conformity to the law of God. Separating ourselves from sin and cleaving to Him. That is the essence of biblical holiness.
Charles Colson is the founder of Prison Fellowship.
Adapted from: A Dangerous Grace (Word, 1994) with permission.
Copyright © 2001 by the author or Christianity Today, Inc./Men of Integrity magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity. 1 of 1
Father, motivate me to cooperate with your Spirit to build holiness into my life.
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