MAINTAINING HOLINESS
If one reads the Old Testament with any
comprehension, he cannot avoid taking note of the many times some form of the
word "holy" appears in the sacred text. That is especially true of
reading Exodus, Leviticus, Isaiah and Ezekiel. The very first time the word
appears in the Old Testament is in a song that Moses and the Israelites sang to
express their gratitude to God for his delivering them from Egyptian bondage.
Please listen to just two verses from that song. "The Lord is my strength
and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him a
habitation; my Father God, and I will exalt him….Who
is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in
holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders" (Ex. 15:2, 11)? On another
occasion, the Lord called to Moses out of the mountain, saying, "Now
therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then shall
you be my treasured possession among all people: for all the earth is mine: and
you shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the
words that you shall speak unto the children of Israel" (Ex. 19:3, 5-6).
In the Old Testament, especially in the book
of Leviticus, the word "holy" is often applied to rituals and ceremonies
that were a part of the Mosaic covenant. A few verses from Leviticus will
confirm what I have just said. The Lord said to Aaron, the Jewish high priest: "Do not
drink wine or strong drink, you, nor your sons with you, when you go into the
tabernacle of the congregation, lest you die: it shall be a statute forever
throughout your generations; and that you may put difference between holy and
unholy, and between clean and unclean" (Lev. 10: 9-10). Later in that same
chapter Moses expressed anger at Eleazar and Ithamar, the surviving sons of Aaron. He asked them:
"Why have you not eaten of the sin offering in the holy place,
seeing it is most holy, and God has given it to you to bear the iniquity of the
congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord" (Lev. 10:16-17)?
One of the better-known Old Testament
passages dealing with holiness is in the book of Leviticus. "You shall not make
yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creeps,
neither shall you make yourselves unclean with them, that you should be defiled. For I am the
Lord your God: you shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am
holy: neither shall you defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creeps
upon the earth" (Lev. 11:43-44). The apostle Peter urged his fellow
Christians: "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope
to the end for the grace that is to
be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not
fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: but as
he who has called you is holy, so be
holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be holy; for I am
holy" (1 Pet. 1:13-16). Charles Williams renders verse 16: "You ought
to be holy, because I am holy."
Guy N. Woods' commentary on Peter, John and Jude (Nashville: Gospel Advocate Company, 1979) points
out that the Greek word translated "be"
is not the usual word for being. The word literally means to become (p. 42).
The verb has the force of an imperative. The apostle Peter urges Christians to
keep on becoming holy. Dr. Hugo
McCord translates the verse: "You shall"be
holy, because I am holy." Do
you get the impression from this verse that attaining and maintaining holiness
is optional for Christians?
Ezekiel, one of the prophets of the
Babylonian exile, expressed the Lord's displeasure with the ungodliness that
prevailed among the Israelite people. God charged Ezekiel: "Son of
man, say unto her (that is, the nation of
Would it surprise
you that some Calvinists deny that Christians must be holy to maintain their salvation? To be consistent, every Calvinist would
have to take that position. If we are saved by grace alone through faith alone,
we would not be required to do anything, including maintaining holiness. I know
it sounds very strange to those who are
unfamiliar with the teaching of Calvinists, but I ask you to listen carefully
as I prove conclusively that some Calvinists do not believe we have to maintain
holiness to be saved. Ron Rhodes has a doctorate from Dallas Theological
Seminary. He has written more then twenty books on apologetics, the New Age
movement, modern cults and similar topics. In his
book, The Challenge of the Cults and New Religions (
I wonder if Dr. Rhodes has bothered to read the rest of Romans 8.
Please listen to the following verses and decide if Christians must maintain
holiness to be saved. "For they who walk after the flesh
do mind the things of the flesh; but they who are after the Spirit mind the
things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be
spiritually minded is life and peace" (Rom. 8:5-6). Is walking after the
Spirit just one option among many for Christians or is it absolutely necessary?
Can Christians be carnally minded? Paul castigated the Corinthian Christians
for their carnality. "And I, brethren, could not write unto you as
spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you
with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto you were not able to bear it,
neither yet now are you
able. For you are yet carnal: for whereas there is
among you envying, strife, and divisions,
are you not carnal and walk as men" (1 Cor.
3:1-3)?
It is foolish to argue that Christians cannot
be carnally minded. Some of the Christians at Corinth were. Do you remember
what Paul wrote about those who are carnally minded? "To be carnally minded
is death" (Rom. 8:6). Paul cannot be speaking of physical death.
You and I are going to die physically even if we are spiritually minded. Paul unquestionably had eternal death—the second death—in
mind in this verse. Those who are
devoted to their fleshly appetites will be lost eternally.
Please listen again to Paul. "Because
the carnal mind is enmity with God; for it is not subject to the law of God,
neither indeed can be. So then they who are in the flesh cannot please
God....For if you live after the flesh, you shall die: but if you through
the Spirit mortify the deeds of the body you shall live" (Rom. 8:7-8, 13).
Will you please think of some questions based on these verses? Since the carnal
mind is enmity with God, is it possible Christians can have carnal minds? You
know what the answer is because I have read it to you from 1 Corinthians 3:1-3.
Those who live in the flesh cannot please God. Was it possible for the Roman Christians and for other Christians
to live after the flesh? If were not possible, why did Paul write these words
to the Romans? Can Christians
maintain their salvation if they fail to mortify (or to kill) the
deeds of the body? You and I both
know that Paul was not dealing in theoretical ideas. He was showing the absolute necessity of mortifying our carnal
desires and ungodly behaviors. Is that not also what Paul told the Colossian
Christians? "Mortify therefore your members that are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate
affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: for which
things' sake the wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience" (Col.
3:5). Does mortifying or killing
our evil desires and conduct have no relationship to our being holy?
I have two other verses from the book of
Romans I shall read before we examine the meaning of the word "holiness."
"I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of the flesh: for as you
have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity so now
yield your
members servants to righteousness....But
now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, you
have fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting
life" (Rom. 6:19, 22). Can there be any doubt in your mind that God
demands a life of holiness of all his people?
The Greek New Testament uses three basic
words translated either "holy," "holiness" and
"sanctify." I shall give you examples of each of these words. The
word "holy"
(hagios in the Greek) appears
two hundred twenty-nine times in the New Testament. That is the adjective that is
used over and over of the Holy Spirit. For example, the book of Matthew says concerning
the birth of Christ: "When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before
they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit....But while he (Joseph) thought on these things,
behold, an angel of the Lord appeared
unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, fear not to take unto
yourself Mary your wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy
Spirit" (Mt. 1:18, 20). The word is also used of the "holy city"
(Mt. 4:5), the "holy place" (Mt. 24:15), the "holy angels"
(Mt. 25:31), the "holy prophets" (Lk.
1:70), the "holy covenant" (Lk l :72) and the "Holy
Father" (John 17:11).
The Greek hagiasmos
(translated "holiness" and "sanctification")
appears only ten times in the New Testament. In the following verses, the word is
translated "sanctification." "For this is the will of God, even
your sanctification, that you should abstain from fornication: that every one of
you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor"(l Thess. 4:3-4). In the same chapter, the word is also
translated "holiness." "For God has not called
us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness" (1 Thess.
4:7).
The verb hagiazo
is translated "sanctify" except in two verses (Mt. 6:9; Lk. 11:2). The word means to set apart. Holiness or sanctification
means that Christians are set apart to serve the true and living God. Paul
provides a list of sins of which some of the Corinthians had been
guilty: fornication, idolatry, adultery, sexual perversion, covetousness,
drunkenness, reviling and extortion. He then observed: "Such were some of
you." Now please listen: "But you are washed, but you are sanctified,
but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus,
and by the Spirit of our God" (1 Cor. 6:9-11).
That the Corinthians had been
sanctified or made holy cannot be doubted, that is, if you believe what the Bible
teaches. Paul had earlier written concerning
the Corinthian Christians: "But of
him are you in the Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us, wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
as it is written, He who glories, let him glory in the Lord" (1 Cor. 1:30-31).
Fortunately for us, we know when the Corinthians were washed, sanctified and justified. The
apostle Paul had preached the gospel in Athens, Greece, before he traveled to Corinth, another
Greek city. When he arrived in Corinth, he found Aquila
and Priscilla, a Christian couple, whom Claudius Caesar had driven from Rome because
they were Jews. Paul stayed with Aquila and Priscilla because
they were of the same craft. They were all tentmakers. Paul took advantage of the fact he was a Jew and could speak
in the Jewish synagogue in Corinth. Every sabbath
he reasoned in the synagogue, and persuaded both Jews and Greeks. His sermon topic was that Jesus was the Christ.
Obviously, the Jews were angry with
Paul. They opposed themselves and blasphemed. But Paul's preaching
led some to obey the gospel. Please listen to Luke's account of what
occurred. "And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on
the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and
were baptized" (Acts 18:1-8).
The account of these conversions is so simple
it might be tempting to overlook it. But this was the time when the Corinthians
ceased being alien sinners and became saints of the most high
God. Please take note of what occurred. We have no way of knowing exactly what Paul
said about Christ, but we know he preached that Jesus was the Christ. Luke says that many
of the Corinthians heard the preaching of Paul. Did you know that every
conversion in the book of Acts always included hearing the word? Is this the
reason Paul wrote: "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word
of God" (Rom. 10:17)? How can people believe if they never have heard
(Rom. 10:14)?
Many of the Corinthians were open-minded.
When they heard the preaching of Paul, they believed. I need not read scripture
after scripture to show the necessity of believing. One verse should be adequate.
"But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he who comes to
God must believe that he is, and he is a rewarder of
them that diligently
seek him" (Heb. 11:6). Incidentally, every example of faith mentioned in
Hebrews 11 included works of obedience. This fact alone proves that faith alone
does not save. Faith alone, according to James, is dead (Jas. 2:17).
In his sermon on the truth that Jesus was the
Christ, did Paul
mention baptism? We do not know
exactly what Paul preached in that sermon, but we know it included baptism. How else could the Greeks have known about
baptism? Every time the gospel is preached in its fullness, it always includes
baptism. Acts 8 tells us that Philip the evangelist went down to the
city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them. Again we do not know all Philip preached
to the Samaritans, but we know some of the topics he discussed. "And when they believed Philip preaching the things
concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Christ, they were baptized, both
men and women" (Acts 8:5, 12).
Please take note of what baptism does. When
coupled with faith and repentance, it provides for the remission of our sins
(Acts 2:38). It washes away our sins (Acts 22:16). When we are baptized,
we put on Christ. "For you are all the children of God by faith
in Christ Jesus. For as many of you
as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ" (Gal. 3:26-27).
Please listen to what Paul told the Corinthians. "For by one Spirit are we
all baptized into one body, whether
we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one
Spirit" (1 Cor. 12:13). When the Corinthians were baptized into Christ, were they washed,
sanctified and justified? The answer must be a resounding YES.
Let us return to Romans 6 for just a
moment. Paul asked the Romans: "Do you not know that to whom you yield
yourselves servants to obey, his
servants you are to whom you obey; whether of sin unto death or of
obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked that you were the servants of
sin, but you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine that was delivered to you. Being then
made free from sin, you became the servants of righteousness. I speak after the manner of men because of
the infirmity of the flesh: for as
you have yielded your members servants to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto
holiness" (Rom. 6:16-19). The Romans became servants of righteousness when they obeyed their Lord in baptism
(Rom. 6:3-5).
I ask
you to remember what Dr. Rhodes said about holiness. "Maintaining
holiness is not a condition of
salvation" (p. 274). Will you please listen with
an open mind to these words from the
book of Hebrews: "Follow peace with all men, and holiness,
without which no man shall see the
Lord" (Heb. 12:14)? How can Dr. Rhodes harmonize his view with these
simple and powerful words from scripture? Incidentally, the tense of the word
"follow" is present active imperative. God demands that we keep on
following holiness. Charles Williams
renders the Greek: "Continue to live
at peace with everybody and strive for the
consecration without which no one can see the Lord."
Most of the Corinthian Christians came from a
background of idolatry and gross immorality. Paul knew there was a real temptation
some of them might return to their old ways. He pled with them: "Wherefore
come out from among them, and be separate, says the Lord, and touch not the
unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and you shall
be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. Having therefore these promises,
dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and
spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God" (2 Cor.
6:17-7:1).
May God help us all to
strive for holiness so that when we meet him face to face he will say, "Well done, good and faithful
servant, enter into the joys of thy Lord" (Mt. 25:21)!
Winford Claiborne
The
International Gospel Hour
P.O.
Box 118
Fayetteville,
TN 37334
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