I can't narrow down a date in history, but at some point, holiness became a bad word in the church. Somewhere along the line, encouraging people to live right before the Lord became a judgmental discipleship method. In the 21st century, preaching against sin, and exhorting people to turn away from a sinful lifestyle and abstain from immortality is seen as counterproductive and sending the wrong message. For some reason, we have adopted the mentality that not contaminating ourselves with the world, and living as a separate people is a self righteous world view.
If that wasn't bad enough, we question God's moral standard for our lives. Every time a minister encourages believers to stop living in a way that displeases God, someone responds, "But why?" Whenever people hear the Bible condemn behaviors and lifestyles that are pretty much normal and accepted today, they ask, "Should we still believe this?" or "Do I really have to obey the Bible like that?" Who do these people think they are? I don't know what makes people, especially Christians, think that they can question God Almighty! Who are we to say, "You know God, I'm not so sure that's appropriate anymore. That's just not how I feel about that". Who are we? How arrogant we have become!
Why did this happen? What in the world makes us think that this is an acceptable view of the Christian life? Don't get me wrong, I am all about grace. As long as the Lord lends me breath I will proclaim the message that we are not made right with God by religion or what we do or don't do, but solely by our faith in the finished work of the cross. We are not righteous before God by our own efforts, but because God declares us righteous based on our faith in His Son Jesus. Romans chapter 4 actually says that when we put our faith in Christ, God "credits" our faith as righteousness.
But that's the point! Holiness is not something we strive for, it is something we get to be! It is a gift from God. If holiness was something we had to work for, I could understand how it would be burdensome. It would be an obligation. But it's not. It is a life that we have the privilege to live. God by His grace has made us His chosen people. How cool is it that we get to live like that?
We need a return to holiness. Not only do we need to preach holiness we need to live and practice it. In Romans 12 Paul writes, "Be not conformed to this world..." We should not compromise the Word by aligning ourselves with the world's moral standard. We are not meant to fit in with society. We are a chosen people. Called out to live separate as a holy nation.
We should not shy away from this kind of rhetoric. It is not due to our own efforts or godliness. It is not through our discipline that we are a holy people. It is by the grace of God! We have been given the righteousness of Christ through faith. God has adopted us into His royal family. We are now co heirs of the Kingdom with Christ. We should take pride in the fact that we get to live differently than everyone else. We should take pride in the fact that because Christ has saved and liberated us from sin, we get to abstain from it. We don't have to be holy, we get to be holy!
The problem is that we have been fed too much sugar. We want to live like we want to live and think that God is pleased with it. NO! God never changes, He is always the same. Our favorite scriptures have become "Judge not that ye be not judged" and "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God"; not understanding they are not to be used in conjunction with a sinful lifestyle. The bible says come out from among them not do everything that they do. Great post.
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