Holiness and Its Opposition

The principle of holiness is clearly taught in Scripture and must be pursued if one desires to gain entrance to heaven.  This foundational belief of our doctrine can be found in Hebrews 12:14.  Although the Bible teaches holiness, or sanctification, as a requisite for heaven, a person is not born with a nature of holiness, but receives it upon accepting salvation and progresses in it as he draws nearer to God (Roberts, 1972).  Begun at salvation, sanctification starts with a correct view of God and sin and deals with the extirpating of the roots of our flesh, that “inward spiritual work” which God works in us to, literally, make us godly (Ryle, 2012).  A person must be submissive to this process of deliverance from all “dispositions, tempers, and desires” (Roberts, 1972).  Although the doctrine of holiness suffers some fierce opposition (namely, from the sinful nature and attackers of holiness), the Bible explicitly expresses the need for holy living.  Wherefore, Christians must be careful to pursue holiness steadily, teaching that sanctification remedies our sinful nature, transforms our hearts, and prepares our souls for that Celestial City.

            When Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, he single-handedly threw the entire human race into sin.  Since we are human, and after the similitude of Adam, we have a natural propensity to sin, since, in a word, we are sin. Therefore, the source of sin in humans is the virtue of our being born. (Ryle, 2012).  According to the Bible, sin is completely antithetical to the very nature of God and not desirable to His creation.  It ruins the individual, making him a liability to society (Knudsen, 1947).  This terrible moral disease sent Christ to the Cross and rises itself against God (Turner, 1956).  Even if a sinner attempts to live a good ethical life, inevitably he will do an action which blatantly opposes God, for this ailment “pervades and runs through every part of our moral constitution” (Ryle, 2012).  Furthermore, sin is no respecter of persons.  It affects each ethnicity, plagues all countries, and binds every tongue.  Regardless if a person is the President of the United States, the Queen of England, or Donald Trump, he must face the unavoidable fate of dealing with the sin nature (Turner, 1956).  Hence, Christians should place an emphatic importance upon holiness, if they desire to deal with their sin nature.  Holiness erodes away at our sinful nature, creates in us a heart after the similitude of our Savior, and prepares us for heaven.

            Unfortunately, there are several opponents who vehemently object to holy living.  R. T. Williams asserted that sanctification is attacked more than any other doctrine of the Bible, except the Deity of Christ (Williams, 1989).  Although Scripture unequivocally instructs us to “be ye holy,” the vast majority of alleged Christians have a loose, crooked view of holiness.  For some, the reason for their opposition is the result of bad teaching.  Nothing worse could turn a heart from holiness more than a weak presentation of the Scriptures (Geiger, 1963). As a consequence of this poor teaching, some opponents develop misunderstandings, leading to biased presuppositions when they read and study the word (Williams, 1989). Still yet, others struggle with holiness due to the strict requirements demanded. Mankind is often quick to follow behind something which would immediately benefit them and give them tangible possessions, yet hesitant when a demand is made that would take away from their possessions (Williams, 1989). The Bible teaches against various sins, and when Christ begins to work in our hearts, we must be willing to give up our sinful affections if we desire to deepen our experience with him, leaving many to reject the sanctified life. This animus toward holiness is extremely troubling. Fortunately, much of the antagonism can be assuaged if we become more diligent in our declarations of holiness dogma, being cautious to realize that souls could be in the balance. We must strive to lift the holiness standard high, proclaim that it is the only solution to our sinful nature, and attempt to convey it in a way that convicts the sinner and pleases our Savior.

           

           References

Geiger, Kenneth (1963). Further Insights into Holiness. Kansas City, Missouri: Beacon Hill Press

Knudsen, Ralph E. (1947). Christian Beliefs. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The Judson Press.

Roberts, B.T. (1972). Holiness Teachings. Salem, Ohio: H. E. Schmul.

Ryle, J.C. (2012). Holiness. Lexington, Kentucky: Renaissance Classics.

Turner, J. Clyde (1956). These Things We Believe. Nashville, Tennessee: Convention Press.

Williams, R. T. (1989). Sanctification: The Ethics and the Experience. Salem, Ohio: Schmul Publishing Company.