It’s no surprise the concept of “Holiness” has been misused and misunderstood. In many places, it has referred to what we turn away from or don’t do. But turning away from _____ doesn’t give us life. What gives life is who we turn to. In the very first sentence of Romans 8:12-17, we find a powerful truth about what has happened to us as we turn to receive what God has done in Jesus by the Holy Spirit. It’s not just about being called “family”. Paul believed being set apart in this new identity also meant we are transformed and no longer live according to the flesh. We declare holiness includes deliverance from the destructive power of sin. It may be easy to see how God delivers us from the impact of others’ sin. We can be healed from the hurt they caused us, etc. God enables us to forgive and even be reconciled where we never thought possible, and it’s miraculous. But what about being delivered from the destructive power of sin in our own hearts?
It’s probably important to define “sin” at this point, before moving forward. In his sermon on the “First-Fruits of the Spirit”, John Wesley offers 5 categories of what we mean by “sin”:
1. Past Sin (guilt)
2. Present Sin (outward sin)
3. Inward Sin (corruption of nature)
4. Infirmity (involuntary failings by ignorance, omission, etc.)
5. Sins of Surprise (impulsive/reactive responses)
As a church with deep roots in the Holiness movement, we believe in God’s desire to set us free from sin as described in 1-2, and possibly even 3 & 5, completely. This is an important part of our testimony to the world. Paul declares to us the truth of what God offers in Romans 8. In verse 11, Paul had just finished telling them, “If the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead is in you, He will make you alive by dwelling in you.” In contrast to this literal living New Creation, we find two other extremes:
- Sin Will Always Be There. There are some followers of Jesus, because we’ve never examined the specifics before, who believe sin must and will always be a part of our lives. Some Bible verses from the Old Testament are discouraging, talking about how evil our hearts are. Yet the Bible calls us to “be holy” over and over again, so how does this group make sense of it all?
First, it’s important to remember “holy” means “set apart”. In this case, “set apart for the purposes of God.” Keith Drury talks about different approaches to Holiness in his book “Holiness for Ordinary People”. Of this first group, he writes, “When the Father looks our way, Christ is between so that the almighty can’t see our sinfulness; he sees only the holiness of Christ. Christ is holy, not me. Seeking holiness in daily life is futile and might even lead to more sinfulness, like pride and boasting in my own holiness, instead of focusing on the holiness of Christ. All I can do is confess my constant sinfulness and trust the holiness of Christ.” Whew. Sounds like a tough and pessimistic view of what God offers us.
On the other end of the extreme are those who do exactly what this group wants to avoid. I’ll confess this next group is one that shaped some of my earliest years in theology. Aspects of it clung to me even for years in ministry, blinding me to my own weaknesses.
2. Sin is Fully Eradicated. This is a group that tries hard to put a “date on the calendar” for when entire sanctification happened, and believes it involves all 5 areas of sin we talked about. After that date, those who have achieved or claimed such a moment must continue to deny or dismiss any signs of any form of sin in their life. This encourages hypocrisy, prevents us from being fully known by others, and eventually even ourselves. On this path, we can be rotting away on the inside without even allowing ourselves to become aware of it, without God’s intervention.
Drury writes, “The whole business calcifies into legalism when a people come to believe these outward test issues are the price and proof of the inward work. This is the way outward signs can gradually replace the real work of the Holy Spirit in legalism. When a group reaches this final step, people begin to trust the rules for their holiness instead of trusting Christ.”
Hopefully you’ve concluded that if we don’t pretend God only sees Jesus, and we don’t pretend sin is no longer a concern, there’s got to be a third “middle” way.
3. Sin is Continually Cleansed. Our vocabulary isn’t always helpful when it comes to salvation. We ask each other, “When were you saved?” or “Have you been saved yet?” Even if we ask “Have you become a Christian?” or “Have you been baptized?”, they are helpful but fall short. When two people get married, they don’t celebrate their wedding day and then assume the rest of their lives will be automatically a “married life” on autopilot. There will never be a day when we don’t need to depend on both the initial saving work of God’s grace in Jesus and also the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in our lives as those who live in a healing relationship with God.
Regarding this way, Drury writes, “This is continual cleansing. It’s being connected to Christ in a daily, obedient walk of submission and cleansing. Such a life commences with a once-and-for-all yielding to His will. But it continues as we keep connected to Jesus Christ and walk in daily submission to his leading…The sanctified life is a practical daily life of love and obedience, lived by continual consecration and faith and continually receiving Christ’s ongoing filling and cleansing.”
This is why we pursue ongoing relationships of vulnerability with both God and one another (see Discipleship Bands). We aren’t called to become Holy as isolated individuals. John Wesley wrote: ““Holy Solitaries” is a phrase no more consistent with the gospel than Holy Adulterers. The gospel of Christ knows of no religion, but social; no holiness but social holiness. Faith working by love, is the length and breadth and depth and height of Christian perfection.”
We believe God has given us one another in family as a potential “means of grace” by which we can experience knowing fully and being known fully. We join the work of Love and forgiveness by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, calling forward New Creation life in one another, and speaking challenging words of Truth when needed as well. Not as members of an organization, but as members of a family. This is a path of Holiness so deeply rooted in love (God IS Love), it naturally bears (gives) genuine life as a fruit of responding to this invitation. Both eternal life with God one day, but also a transformed and empowered depth of flourishing life even now.
But Paul doesn’t leave them thinking about sin management. He points to this New Creation reality as they’ve become family again in verse 14 when he says, “all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God,” and verse 16 “it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”
Paul uses two distinctly different words here, making sure we understand this new reality. Being led by the Spirit in verse 14, Paul calls these “huioi” (hwee-oy), which refers to children with the full right of legally representing and acting on behalf of their family/household. Paul specifically talks about our “Spirit of adoption” into this status. But he also doesn’t want us to think it’s all about becoming legal representatives of God’s family. The Spirit bearing witness with our spirit, Paul refers to us here as “tekna”, which conveys more of a dependency and relationship of tender care. I believe he purposefully weaves in both of these words, because as New Creations we have become both. We are brought together as a family of God by the Holy Spirit sent by Jesus Christ. We are empowered and authorized to live according to this New Family reality, as those who are also deeply loved and cared for as His children.
Will we spend some time this week, drawing near to our Father’s Love? Here, there is life (of the age to come)…
words from wick 