There are three aspects of wholeness that I believe are helpful in our understanding of what it means to live a holy life.1. All encompassing
Holiness is everything that God is. Holy is a word that you can put in front of every aspect of his nature. If we talk about his love, it is holy love, if we talk about his wisdom it is holy wisdom, if we talk about his power, it is holy power and so on. And when we see God’s love, his power, his kindness it is breathtakingly beautiful. This beautiful God said, “You shall be holy unto me for I the Lord am holy."
Jesus, as a human being, perfectly reflected God’s beautiful holiness. When we see him see the Father and we also see what a truly holy life looks life. Most of us have places in our homes where we hide rubbish or unsightly things. In our house they are called glory holes. Jesus lived a life without any “glory holes” Every thought, every deed, every word, everything about him could be said to be holy and his life is a beautiful life.
If we are to be holy as God is holy, then we will need to be like Jesus. True holiness will “beautify” every part of us. There must not be any aspect of our life where we say to God, I don’t want you to put the word holy before it.
So we are to be holy Salvationists but also holy wives and husbands, holy parents, holy neighbours, holy workers, holy friends, holy in our leisure, holy in our study, holy in our goals and aspirations. The theme of Roots 2010 was a good one it was “Wholly holy”
It is the plan of God to invade every area of your life with his beauty. This includes your spirit, your mind, intellect, will and your body.
If we are to be holy as God is holy, then we will need to be like Jesus. True holiness will “beautify” every part of us. There must not be any aspect of our life where we say to God, I don’t want you to put the word holy before it.
So we are to be holy Salvationists but also holy wives and husbands, holy parents, holy neighbours, holy workers, holy friends, holy in our leisure, holy in our study, holy in our goals and aspirations. The theme of Roots 2010 was a good one it was “Wholly holy”
It is the plan of God to invade every area of your life with his beauty. This includes your spirit, your mind, intellect, will and your body.
2. Integration Wholeness also speaks about something that is truly connected and integrated. If we only outwardly conform to holy living but inwardly we are in rebellion at some point we will fall apart. Some Christians try to live chameleon type lives. They try to merge in with the background they are in. So they are one kind of person at work and another at home or at church. But even if Christians are outwardly consistent but inwardly rebellions they will eventually find the stress of the conflict between the two, too much.
Paul talks about the work of Christ being one of reconciliation. "God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself." (2 Cor 5:17)
To reconcile- literally means to mend what is broken, to put back together again.
It is the work of Christ to pick up the brokenness of our lives and re-integrate us and bring us back to harmony.
3. Free from disease
The Bible likens the nature of sin as being a disease which all men have.
"Sin, like a venomous disease, Infects our vital blood; the only balm is sovereign grace, And the physician, God." - Isaac Watts
The idea that sin is like a disease is found both the Old and New Testaments.
Isaiah 53:4-6
Matthew 9:10-13
The bottom line is that people do not become sinners because they sin. They sin because they aresinners. Well sin is a deeply ingrained problem for mankind. Brengle describes it as “a big dark something in him that wants to get mad when things are against him, something that will not be patient, something that is touchy and sensitive; something that wants to grumble and find fault; something that is proud and shuns the shame of the Cross, something that sometimes suggests hard thoughts against God; something that is self-willed and ugly and sinful.”
The NT calls this big dark something many different things but it is so real that Paul calls it the “old man”
If this dark something is not dealt with, then it leads to death. We know that Christ has stepped in and he has by his shed blood stopped this sin being life threatening but many Christians are of the belief that we will never be really free of “the dark something” in us, this “old nature” this “sin disease” this side of heaven. It will remain in you and war against you till you die. They are not altogether gloomy because they believe that the new life within you from Christ will help to subdue it and repress it.
Some of you here have diabetes, which without insulin would kill you. Modern medicine means that you can live with the disease but it is still a part of you. You have to manage it. At the moment there is no “cure”
But if we apply that spiritually, to me that is less than satisfying. Surely the gospel can go further than offering us sin management. Can we not be cured?
The New Testament seems to offer that possibility.
Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life” and he add, “and have it to the full” (John 10:10)
“If any man is in Christ he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Cor 5:20)
“You were taught with regard to your former way of life to put off your old self which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” Ephesians 4:22-24)
1 John 3:9 “No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning because he has been born of God.”
The criticism against this view is of course that the Salvation Army teaches that once a person has been sanctified then it is impossible for them to sin. Doesn’t the letter of John also say in chapter 1:8 “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”
Let’s use an illustration. One of the tragic things we saw in Romania was babies with HIV. Many of them had been given blood transfusions of either infected blood or dirty needles and they were infected with HIV. There were then no effective ant-viral drugs and many of the babies we saw died with Aids.
All human beings are infected with a propensity to sin. Untreated and living in the world it is inevitable that they will be sinners. These days, the onset of Aids can be avoided by people with HIV if they have access to anti-viral drugs. It cannot yet be cured.
However for all people who are sinners, the blood of Jesus affects a total cure. Not only does it save them from death, it also rids them of the actual disease within them, if they apply it. They can be free, they can be whole again, they do not have to live with sin-disease any more.
However the virus of evil is still out there, sin is still in the world. The blood of Jesus cleanses us from sin but it does not provide us with an immunity to it. God does not take away our freedom to re-infect ourselves. He does not take away our free will.
It’s a bit like an HIV sufferer having been cleared of HIV choosing to engage in unprotected sex with strangers or taking drugs through a dirty needle.
The difference is now there is a choice. Hopefully I choose not to sin, before I couldn’t do anything else but sin.
We live in a sin contaminated world, we have an enemy who comes against us and tries to make sin attractive to us again. The difference is that if we have dealt with our “old nature” we are now fighting against an intruder from without; not an enemy within.
But we are not left alone in this. When we become Christians the Spirit of God comes to dwell in our hearts. God does not only take something out but places his life and power within. So when we are faced with temptation to let sin back in the Spirit of God within us resists that. The inclination within us now is towards goodness not evil.
There is a new gravitational pull in our lives. Sin used to pull us down, but now the Spirit pulls us up. This is why Paul encourages us in Ephesians 5:18 to be filled with the Spirit.
We believe that it is the privilege of all believers to be wholly sanctified that their whole spirit, soul and body may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Hallelujah!
God bless
Carol
The NT calls this big dark something many different things but it is so real that Paul calls it the “old man”
If this dark something is not dealt with, then it leads to death. We know that Christ has stepped in and he has by his shed blood stopped this sin being life threatening but many Christians are of the belief that we will never be really free of “the dark something” in us, this “old nature” this “sin disease” this side of heaven. It will remain in you and war against you till you die. They are not altogether gloomy because they believe that the new life within you from Christ will help to subdue it and repress it.
Some of you here have diabetes, which without insulin would kill you. Modern medicine means that you can live with the disease but it is still a part of you. You have to manage it. At the moment there is no “cure”
But if we apply that spiritually, to me that is less than satisfying. Surely the gospel can go further than offering us sin management. Can we not be cured?
The New Testament seems to offer that possibility.
Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life” and he add, “and have it to the full” (John 10:10)
“If any man is in Christ he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Cor 5:20)
“You were taught with regard to your former way of life to put off your old self which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” Ephesians 4:22-24)
1 John 3:9 “No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning because he has been born of God.”
The criticism against this view is of course that the Salvation Army teaches that once a person has been sanctified then it is impossible for them to sin. Doesn’t the letter of John also say in chapter 1:8 “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”
Let’s use an illustration. One of the tragic things we saw in Romania was babies with HIV. Many of them had been given blood transfusions of either infected blood or dirty needles and they were infected with HIV. There were then no effective ant-viral drugs and many of the babies we saw died with Aids.
All human beings are infected with a propensity to sin. Untreated and living in the world it is inevitable that they will be sinners. These days, the onset of Aids can be avoided by people with HIV if they have access to anti-viral drugs. It cannot yet be cured.
However for all people who are sinners, the blood of Jesus affects a total cure. Not only does it save them from death, it also rids them of the actual disease within them, if they apply it. They can be free, they can be whole again, they do not have to live with sin-disease any more.
However the virus of evil is still out there, sin is still in the world. The blood of Jesus cleanses us from sin but it does not provide us with an immunity to it. God does not take away our freedom to re-infect ourselves. He does not take away our free will.
It’s a bit like an HIV sufferer having been cleared of HIV choosing to engage in unprotected sex with strangers or taking drugs through a dirty needle.
The difference is now there is a choice. Hopefully I choose not to sin, before I couldn’t do anything else but sin.
We live in a sin contaminated world, we have an enemy who comes against us and tries to make sin attractive to us again. The difference is that if we have dealt with our “old nature” we are now fighting against an intruder from without; not an enemy within.
But we are not left alone in this. When we become Christians the Spirit of God comes to dwell in our hearts. God does not only take something out but places his life and power within. So when we are faced with temptation to let sin back in the Spirit of God within us resists that. The inclination within us now is towards goodness not evil.
There is a new gravitational pull in our lives. Sin used to pull us down, but now the Spirit pulls us up. This is why Paul encourages us in Ephesians 5:18 to be filled with the Spirit.
We believe that it is the privilege of all believers to be wholly sanctified that their whole spirit, soul and body may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Hallelujah!
God bless
Carol
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