 |
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
-25-
The God Who Is
Two Kinds Of Holiness
There are two kinds of holiness: declarative holiness and experiential holiness.
Declarative Holiness
On the cross, the Lord Jesus Christ pronounced them to be holy who are the people of God. This is known as "declarative holiness," or holiness by declaration. God's people are therefore pronounced holy by the atonement of the Son of God; but whom God declares to be holy, He assuredly makes holy.
Experiential Holiness
Consider a sight commonly seen in many of today's church services. A man comes forward at the close of a service and asks to be baptized and to join the church. For the next few weeks he returns to the church and then begins contributing to the ministry. The church decides to put the man to work as a deacon, a Sunday school teacher, or some other position. Does this mean the man is truly a Christian man? Does it mean he has been born again?
How many church folk fit this very description, and have never been saved from the power and the pleasure of sinning! They have no desire to be holy. They do not love the Bible, and they have no desire to pray. God has never made them holy. There is therefore no real evidence that they are on their way to heaven.
If a person loves his sins, he loves that which God hates, and we should not pretend that such a man is a saved man. This is not to say that if a person sins he is not converted; but if he loves to sin, and his life is characterized by sinning, he is not saved. This is true even if the man is a deacon or is the pastor of a church. It is true if he is uneducated, or if he has a doctorate degree and teaches in a Baptist seminary.
The purpose of salvation is to wash away our unholiness. In this way God is glorified. Holiness is therefore the mark that God sets in His people to distinguish them from the people of this world. God is our pattern of holiness. Therefore, we are holy when we do His will. Our holiness is the only way of telling us apart from the ungodly.
Peter exhorted, "As he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written `Be ye holy; for I am holy'" (I Peter 1:15; see: Leviticus chapter 19, verse 2).
The Afflictions of God—As the promises of God are given to us to encourage our holiness, so the afflictions with which God as our Heavenly Father chastises us are designed to make us "partakers of his holiness" (see: Hebrews 12:9,10).
The psalmist declared, "Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word" (Psalm 119:67). "It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes" (verse 71). And again in verse 75, he declared, "I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me."
Holiness—The Mark That Distinguishes
Holiness is the mark that distinguishes the godly from the ungodly. If God's people are a holy seed, and constitute a holy nation, and have been given a holy call by the holy God, they will be a holy people. The reason there is so little practical holiness in our churches is because there is so little salvation among the membership in our churches.
It is a common error to equate religion with salvation. However, salvation is necessary before a person can be "religious" in an evangelical sense. One may be active in the church but die in his sins. The angel told Joseph regarding Mary, "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). Note that he does not say Jesus "shall save his people in their sins." Salvation has to do with deliverance from sins: a deliverance from the power of sin, and a deliverance from the pleasure of sinning. Therefore, a person who loves the music produced by drug addicts and sodomites is not saved. People who are ruled by their lust are not born again.
William Law wrote, "If Christianity has not changed a man's mind and attitude with relation to his riches, pleasures, indulgences, and recognitions; if it causes him no serious contemplations, what can we say it has done for him?"