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And it is that Holiness which most defines God. [Originating in
God's nature, holiness is a unique quality of His character. The
Bible emphasizes this divine attribute.
"Who is like you, O LORD?"
(Ex. 15:11).
"There is none holy like the LORD" (1 Sam. 2:2).
"Who shall not fear You, O Lord . . . For You alone are holy"
(Rev. 15:4). God's high expectations of His people flow out of His
own holy (Ex. 19:6); "You shall be holy, for I the LORD your
God am holy" (Lev. 19:2).]
Holiness is the "centerpiece of
God's attributes." Of all the things that God is, at
the center of his being, God is holy. God's holiness is central
to understanding who God is, and all that he does. Consider that
never in the Bible is God called "love, love, love," or
"eternal, eternal, eternal," or "truth, truth, truth"
but twice in the Bible, God is addressed emphatically by his central
attribute: "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts.
+++++++++But what does
it mean to be holy?++++++
We may say that holiness, as it is expressed by redeemed mankind,
is Christ-likeness!
To be holy is to be Christ-like; to be holy in thought, word and
deed is to be Christ-like in thought, word and deed.
One of the meanings of holiness is the idea of being "set
apart". God is apart from us . . . He is in a class by Himself.
"There is a profound difference between Him and those He has
created. When the Bible speaks of holy objects or holy people or
holy time, it refers to things that have been set apart, consecrated,
or made different by the touch of God upon them. It was the nearness
of the divine that made the ordinary suddenly extraordinary and
the common, uncommon."
Being 'Set apart' is one 'Definition' of Holiness.
The dictionary defines holiness as: 'To be set apart by, and dedicated
to, God'.
Now, Christians are a holy people, a chosen nation, a royal priesthood.
But you are a chosen
people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to
God.
I Peter, 2:9
LEGALISM DEFINED:
Strict, literal, or excessive conformity to the law or to a religious
or moral code
| Legalism: |
| – |
The belief that one's salvation depends upon strictly
following religious laws and rituals. |
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The belief that salvation is at least partly dependent
on one's good works. |
Article…………….."THE
BEAUTY OF HOLINESS"
Written by an adjunct professor of a well-known Christian university
and published in a major "Pentecostal" church organization's
magazine.
"Holiness. What a strange word. Sounds a little fanatical
maybe? What does it mean?…………..If holiness only
meant keeping certain rules and now the rules were gone, was the
idea of holiness extinct? If not, what did it mean to be holy without
being legalistic? Was such a thing possible?………………"
Are you living according to a long list of "Do's and Don'ts?"
Or do you live according to an "Anything Goes" lifestyle?
John 1:17
17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace
and truth came by Jesus Christ. (KJV)
Gal 2:16
16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the
works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have
believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith
of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of
the law shall no flesh be justified. (KJV)
Gal 2:21
21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for
if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. (KJV)
Looking into these verses, we see that being declared righteous
could never happen as a result of the works of or by obeying the
law. The law can not possibly save us. But after we have become
Christians it can guide us to live as God requires.
To often Christians act a though they are little more than sitting
ducks! They lack thought and discernment. Our faith is characterized
by naive assumptions, intellectual laziness, and practical shallowness.
Instead of being alert sheep, watching for danger, we wander in
ignorance. Are you wise? Or is your faith largely second hand and
rarely analyzed, vulnerable to the slightest change? Have you thought
through your faith or are you susceptible to every wind of doctrine?
Looking further into the text, has God's indwelling of His Spirit
come as a result of legal efforts or a simple believing response?
Are you trying to please God by your own good works or are you trusting
in
Jesus Christ and then living to please God? Do you practice diligent
service, discipline, and obedience in hope of reward? Or do you
confess, submit, and commit, yourself to Christ's control?
| There are two ways to falsely understand our
relationship with God: |
| 1. |
To believe that we can be saved by works, or |
| 2. |
To believe that we can grow by our works. |
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Almost every state in our nation still has laws on their books
that would surprise most people. For instance, In Florida, a woman
may be fined for falling asleep under a hair dryer.
In Indiana, citizens are not allowed to attend a movie house or
ride in a public streetcar within four hours after eating garlic.
That seems like a good law.
In Eureka, Illinois, a man with a moustache may not kiss a woman.
In Moline, ice-skating at the Riverside pond during the months
of June and August is strictly prohibited.
In Normal, it's against the law to make a face at a dog.
State of Wisconsin
In the Dairy State…
At one time, in an effort to help the sale of butter, margarine
was considered illegal, especially when smuggled in by the "flat-landers"
of Illinois.
It's against the law to serve apple pie in public restaurants unless
there is cheese on top of it.
We may laugh, or groan, at these out-of-date laws, because many
of them seem absurd and ridiculous. But, if we were to list all
the rules, expectations, and laws that are on the books in many
churches today, chances are we'd stop laughing pretty quickly. Most
of these religious regulations are not written down anywhere but
many of us either attempt to keep them, or expect others to do so:
Red dresses
Toeless shoes
Hose with seams up the back
Legalism can be defined as a strict adherence to the law.
Specifically, as it relates to faith, a legalist is one who believes
that performance is the way to gain favor with God. Legalism is
the human attempt to gain salvation or prove our spirituality by
outward conformity to a list of religious "do's" and "don'ts.
| 1. |
We tend to think others
are legalistic, but that we're not. The fact is that
we're all legalistic by nature. We tend to judge others by our
own standards of what is acceptable and what isn't. In essence,
we think our sins smell better than other people's. As I've
said before, we have very little tolerance for people who sin
differently than we
do. |
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| 2. |
Legalism is highly
contagious.
While it's usually less conscious and systematized in our minds
than it was among the Pharisees, legalism can spread like a
bad virus through an entire congregation. That's why Jesus reserved
some of his harshest criticism for legalistic list-makers in
Mark 7:6-8: "These people honor
me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship
me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men." |
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| 3. |
Legalism can take
a vibrant faith and make it dull and lifeless.
It can evaporate enthusiasm, jettison joy, and stifle spirituality.
Instead of finding freedom through Christ, many believers become
burdened by the church. |
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| 4. |
Legalism produces
large quantities of self-righteousness, judgment and condemnation.
It majors in guilt and misguided sacrifice, urging its followers
to evaluate their relationship with God on the basis of standards
and scores and expects others to do the same. Superficial spirituality
short-circuits the work of grace. It’s often disguised
in Christian terms and behavior. |
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| Legalism - a mixing
of faith and works
A. The Galatian Error - Legalism
|
| 1. |
Galatians 1:6 "I marvel that ye are so
soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ
unto another gospel:" |
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| 2. |
Galatians 3:1 "O foolish Galatians, who
hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before
whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified
among you?" |
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| 3. |
Galatians 4:11 "I am afraid of you, lest
I have bestowed upon you labor in vain." |
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| 4. |
Galatians 4:20-21 "I desire to be present
with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of
you. Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not
hear the law?" |
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| 5. |
Galatians 5:7 "Ye did run well; who did
hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?" |
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| 6. |
The church at Galatia had those who were guilty
of mingling grace and works. They taught that in order for a
person to be a Christian they had to believe in Christ by faith,
but also had to submit to and observe the rituals and regulations
of religion - i.e. circumcision, the Levitical Law. |
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| B. "What must I forsake?" a young man
asked. |
| |
"Colored clothes for one thing. Get rid of
everything in your wardrobe that is not white. Stop sleeping
on a soft pillow. Sell your musical instruments and don't eat
any more white bread. You cannot, if you are sincere about obeying
Christ, take warm baths or shave your beard. To shave is to
lie against him who created us, to attempt to improve on his
work." Quaint, isn't it this example of extra-biblical
scruples? And perhaps amusing. The list has constantly shifted
over the 1,800 years since this one was actually recorded. Jim
Peterson, Living Proof, NavPress, 1989, p. 106. |
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| C. Do's and don'ts |
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There's something comfortable about reducing Christianity
to a list of do's and don'ts, whether your list comes from mindless
fundamentalism or mindless liberalism: you always know where
you stand, and this helps reduce anxiety. Do's-and-don'ts-ism
has the advantage that you don't need wisdom. You don't have
to think subtly or make hard choices. You don't have to relate
personally to a demanding and loving Lord. |
License - Faith with an absence of works
A. The Opposite Extreme - I am free in Christ therefore, I can
do anything I want to do. Many believe that freedom means license
to do whatever we want, whenever we want.
B. Someone has said that license, is the abuse of grace to serve
oneself selfishly and sinfully. It is an unrestrained life that
scorns God's commands. The Christian who falls into license may
reason that he can indulge in sin because his eternal salvation
can't be lost, or because he is forgiven already, or at least, he
rationalizes, "God will forgive me when I sin." This is
the immature attitude behind the objections noted in Romans 6:1
and 6:15.
C. Romans 6:1 "What shall we say
then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?"
D. Romans 6:15 "What then? shall
we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid."
E. License," or "lasciviousness," is a Biblical
term. "For there are certain men
crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation,
ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and
denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ." (Jude
1:4)
F. The term "lasciviousness" means "without restraint."
Those in license see no problem in restraining the sin, which easily
besets them.
G. 2 Timothy 3:1-5 "This know also,
that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be
lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers,
disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection,
trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of
those that are good, Traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures
more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying
the power thereof: from such turn away."
H. Part of the problem of the lack of discipline and the over abundance
of self-indulgence on the part of believers is that feelings have
become more important to us than finding God.
REMEMBER THIS:
GOD IS H-O-L-Y!
That's who He is and what He is.
As He is holy if we are to be like Him then understand that it
is imperative that we must be holy.
"Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord!"
HOLY.
. HOLY . . HOLY
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