"Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding" (2 Corinthians 10:12, ESV).
God rebuked Israel for having the so-called "holier-than-thou" attitude in Isaiah 65:5. The right frame of mind is "such were some of you..." (1 Cor. 6:11, ESV). George Whitefield saw condemned men sent to the gallows are remarked: "There but for the grace of God, go I." We see this haughty and complacent phenomenon today in "holiness" churches, such as the Neo-Pentecostal and Methodist, that teach "entire sanctification," or that a second salvation experience renders a believer incapable of "willful sin" or even destroys the sin nature, rendering him "holy."
It is true that Scripture does say that "without holiness, no man shall see the Lord," but all Christians are holy--there are no degrees of holiness this side of eternity, and it is not by grading on the curve, but a pass/fail basis that God uses. "Since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy'" (1 Pet. 1:16, ESV). Sometimes saints are referred to as "pious" and this is a reflection of our devotion to God, whose prime attribute, and the one that best describes Him is holiness (Isaiah 6:3, ESV, boldface added: "... Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts").
There is no caste system in the faith--no elite or clergy, as opposed to laity--we're all ministers of reconciliation and messengers of the gospel. We are all "one in Christ" and no part of the body has a right to deny the need for another part--it's not what gift you have, so much as the spirit you use it in.
(The sum total of God's attributes is His holiness and it's defined as "otherness," purity, or being set apart for service, like silverware set apart for special occasions. God's holiness is the attribute of attributes and regulates all the attributes.)
What is our righteousness then? It is as filthy rags according to Isaiah 64:6 and, like the wind, our sins sweep us away. Our righteousness and holiness are extrinsic and the gift of God, not our own working--we have nothing to boast of; our righteousness is God's gift to us, not our gift to Him. We have no inherent worth or righteousness, that we can offer God and it is entirely imputed to us by Christ on our behalf, by virtue of the atonement on the cross, which enabled the Father to be both just and the justifier.
There is no "second work of grace" to seek, once saved, and believing one is entirely sanctified leads to an inflated opinion of one's achievements. Martin Luther taught that the believer is at the same time just, and a sinner (cf. Gal. 2:17). Proverbs 20:9 destroys the premise of sinlessness: "Who can say, 'I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin?'" At salvation we are justified and declared righteous, not made righteous--in God's eyes, we are sinless. There are no saints walking around who have overcome their sin nature and don't sin willfully. Our righteousness is imputed, not actual. Don't overestimate your spirituality, because there are no shortcuts or easy roads to sanctification, apart from growing in Christ.
We must look into the matter of what holiness is: Christianity isn't a catalog of rules; neither is it legalism and adhering to certain taboos or rules, or lists of dos and don'ts; neither is it a philosophy or collection of religious ideas; it is not giving up something for God to make you feel superior or smug, either. When you dedicate your life to Christ (He wants you, not something you have, as we present ourselves to Him), and then you become holy, because holiness means being set apart for the service of something. All believers are vessels of honor and set apart for God's service. Holiness is essentially manifest in sanctification, and we cannot be saved apart from also being sanctified--a growing process from the point of salvation.
We are to accept all believers, regarding each other as better than ourselves, and to have an attitude that is humble and not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought. The business of the Christian life is the pursuit of experiential holiness or of becoming more conformed to the image of Christ--letting our minds become transformed and renewed. We cannot reach a state of perfection, and perfectionism, as taught by Methodists, is erroneous. John did say that a Christian cannot sin, but he meant to continue in its practice without conviction and discipline--because God corrects his wayward children per Hebrews 12:5-7.
There is a limit as to how sanctified we can become because our ultimate sanctification is in our glorified state in heaven--even Paul didn't claim to have attained unto it yet (cf. Philippians 3:12, ESV: "Not that I have already attained this or am already perfect...." The psalmist in Psalm 119:96 says that he had seen the "limit of all perfection" (ESV). This is interpreted to imply that no one's perfect and to err is human, as the cliches go. We have no right to judge or look down on our brother because "to his own Master he stands or falls." We are all "works in progress," and we must ask people to be patient with us because God isn't finished with us yet--we may even be cantankerous, but how much more we would be without Christ! We are not what we ought to be, but thank God, we are not what we used to be!
We are not to get into the "let's compare" mindset and to "look unto Jesus, the Author, and Finisher of our faith." We all look like saints compared to Saddam Hussein or Adolf Hitler, but perfection (Christ himself) is the standard, and direction is the test: "Be ye perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect" (cf. Matt. 5:48). Note well that God is the moral center of the universe, and it's unwise to play the "let's compare" game. Being in Christ we are holy positionally, and only God is holier than us by virtue of His very divine nature! We share in His holiness--we have none of our own! Only in achieving this God-given state of holiness do we solve the problem of our sin nature and find the way out of our dilemma. It would be vain to hand us a set of rules or guidelines to adhere to--we couldn't keep them--what we need is a Savior to change our nature, not a lecture to make us feel guilty. Soli Deo Gloria!
God rebuked Israel for having the so-called "holier-than-thou" attitude in Isaiah 65:5. The right frame of mind is "such were some of you..." (1 Cor. 6:11, ESV). George Whitefield saw condemned men sent to the gallows are remarked: "There but for the grace of God, go I." We see this haughty and complacent phenomenon today in "holiness" churches, such as the Neo-Pentecostal and Methodist, that teach "entire sanctification," or that a second salvation experience renders a believer incapable of "willful sin" or even destroys the sin nature, rendering him "holy."
It is true that Scripture does say that "without holiness, no man shall see the Lord," but all Christians are holy--there are no degrees of holiness this side of eternity, and it is not by grading on the curve, but a pass/fail basis that God uses. "Since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy'" (1 Pet. 1:16, ESV). Sometimes saints are referred to as "pious" and this is a reflection of our devotion to God, whose prime attribute, and the one that best describes Him is holiness (Isaiah 6:3, ESV, boldface added: "... Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts").
There is no caste system in the faith--no elite or clergy, as opposed to laity--we're all ministers of reconciliation and messengers of the gospel. We are all "one in Christ" and no part of the body has a right to deny the need for another part--it's not what gift you have, so much as the spirit you use it in.
(The sum total of God's attributes is His holiness and it's defined as "otherness," purity, or being set apart for service, like silverware set apart for special occasions. God's holiness is the attribute of attributes and regulates all the attributes.)
What is our righteousness then? It is as filthy rags according to Isaiah 64:6 and, like the wind, our sins sweep us away. Our righteousness and holiness are extrinsic and the gift of God, not our own working--we have nothing to boast of; our righteousness is God's gift to us, not our gift to Him. We have no inherent worth or righteousness, that we can offer God and it is entirely imputed to us by Christ on our behalf, by virtue of the atonement on the cross, which enabled the Father to be both just and the justifier.
There is no "second work of grace" to seek, once saved, and believing one is entirely sanctified leads to an inflated opinion of one's achievements. Martin Luther taught that the believer is at the same time just, and a sinner (cf. Gal. 2:17). Proverbs 20:9 destroys the premise of sinlessness: "Who can say, 'I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin?'" At salvation we are justified and declared righteous, not made righteous--in God's eyes, we are sinless. There are no saints walking around who have overcome their sin nature and don't sin willfully. Our righteousness is imputed, not actual. Don't overestimate your spirituality, because there are no shortcuts or easy roads to sanctification, apart from growing in Christ.
We must look into the matter of what holiness is: Christianity isn't a catalog of rules; neither is it legalism and adhering to certain taboos or rules, or lists of dos and don'ts; neither is it a philosophy or collection of religious ideas; it is not giving up something for God to make you feel superior or smug, either. When you dedicate your life to Christ (He wants you, not something you have, as we present ourselves to Him), and then you become holy, because holiness means being set apart for the service of something. All believers are vessels of honor and set apart for God's service. Holiness is essentially manifest in sanctification, and we cannot be saved apart from also being sanctified--a growing process from the point of salvation.
We are to accept all believers, regarding each other as better than ourselves, and to have an attitude that is humble and not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought. The business of the Christian life is the pursuit of experiential holiness or of becoming more conformed to the image of Christ--letting our minds become transformed and renewed. We cannot reach a state of perfection, and perfectionism, as taught by Methodists, is erroneous. John did say that a Christian cannot sin, but he meant to continue in its practice without conviction and discipline--because God corrects his wayward children per Hebrews 12:5-7.
There is a limit as to how sanctified we can become because our ultimate sanctification is in our glorified state in heaven--even Paul didn't claim to have attained unto it yet (cf. Philippians 3:12, ESV: "Not that I have already attained this or am already perfect...." The psalmist in Psalm 119:96 says that he had seen the "limit of all perfection" (ESV). This is interpreted to imply that no one's perfect and to err is human, as the cliches go. We have no right to judge or look down on our brother because "to his own Master he stands or falls." We are all "works in progress," and we must ask people to be patient with us because God isn't finished with us yet--we may even be cantankerous, but how much more we would be without Christ! We are not what we ought to be, but thank God, we are not what we used to be!
We are not to get into the "let's compare" mindset and to "look unto Jesus, the Author, and Finisher of our faith." We all look like saints compared to Saddam Hussein or Adolf Hitler, but perfection (Christ himself) is the standard, and direction is the test: "Be ye perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect" (cf. Matt. 5:48). Note well that God is the moral center of the universe, and it's unwise to play the "let's compare" game. Being in Christ we are holy positionally, and only God is holier than us by virtue of His very divine nature! We share in His holiness--we have none of our own! Only in achieving this God-given state of holiness do we solve the problem of our sin nature and find the way out of our dilemma. It would be vain to hand us a set of rules or guidelines to adhere to--we couldn't keep them--what we need is a Savior to change our nature, not a lecture to make us feel guilty. Soli Deo Gloria!
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