How Then Shall We Live? (Pt. 2)
In the last post, we began to talk about the implications of the New Covenant, that “better” covenant that we are part of as followers of Christ. We’ll continue our discussion in this post. The primary thing we need to remember here is this truth:
Under the New Covenant, there is no sin that we cannot be freed from. Change and growth is possible.
There are some who largely discount the New Covenant, practically speaking. This is a dangerous view for a few reasons. First, it denies that God keeps His promises. As we said in previous posts, God does what He says He will do. He keeps His Word. Second, if such views were true, then we are no better off than the people of Israel were. Yet, that is neither the witness of the New Testament nor the experience of millions over the centuries. So, then, how do we live in light of the New Covenant? We’ll continue with our questions.
#3: What does it mean to be holy, to grow in holiness?
This is a deep subject. Entire books have been written on the subject (not to mention the Bible itself). So, we really won’t go very deep here. Some people look at holiness in terms of my outward life–the old standard of, “I don’t smoke, drink, cuss, or chew, or go with girls who do.” Holiness in these sense means being clean on the outside. We avoid activities (and people) that may tempt us to engage in “sinful activities.” Certainly there are activities that are contrary to Scripture and should be regarded as sinful and avoided by the believer.
Holiness, however, is more than the outward appearance of righteousness. Look at a few things that Jesus said:
Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. . . . And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18)
And he called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” But Peter said to him, “Explain the parable to us.” And he said, “Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.” (Matthew 15:10-20)
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel! Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.(Matthew 23:23-28)
As we look at these passages, an important truth sticks out. The Pharisees and scribes appeared to do the right things. They prayed, they fasted, they gave, they tithed. Yet, Jesus clearly says that’s not enough. Why is that not enough? Because their hearts weren’t right. Firstly, they were doing those things with impure motives. They wanted the public recognition. They wanted an earthly reward for their “devotion.” Those things, though, are to be done to God’s glory and honor alone. Because of their heart attitude, Jesus said they were hypocrites–outwardly religious and righteous but inside “full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matt. 23:28). Lawlessness and hypocrisy combine to make one self-righteous, and that is the exact opposite of righteousness. Thus we can say this about holiness:
Holiness is primarily inward. As the inner attitudes are changed, so the person grows in holiness that is expressed outwardly.
There is another aspect of holiness that we need to look at here. It goes back to our identity at creation. Recall what God said about mankind when He created Adam:
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:26-27)
Fundamentally, then, humans are created in God’s image. The Fall and sin have distorted that image in us, however. Contrary to schools of thought that insist the image is completely lost, we still retain God’s image. It is shrouded often by the flesh and our sin, but it’s still there. So, the second thing we can say about holiness is this:
Growing in holiness means cooperating with the Holy Spirit in the process of being progressively transformed into God’s image, to reclaim that which has been distorted in us.
There is one final aspect of holiness that we need to touch on before moving forward. It’s often taught in churches that we are to be sanctified and the actions we take are what makes us holy, or to put it another way, the more we obey the holier we become. That is not the case, however. Here is what the Lord told Israel:
Keep all my decrees by putting them into practice, for I am the Lord who makes you holy. (Leviticus 20:8, NLT, emphasis added)
What does the Lord say to Israel? He is the one who makes them holy. And He says the same to us. This is another truth that deserves special attention.
Holiness and transformation is a work of God, not man. There is nothing we can do to make ourselves holy.
We need to ponder that statement. It prompts another question about our role and responsibility in transformation. We’ll take a look at that in our next post.
