Holiness Is Not An Option

          We continue looking at the book, The Pursuit of Holiness, by Jerry Bridges.

          Here are some of the important truths found in chapter three.


          Holiness is not an option.


                                 "Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to
                                   be holy;  without holiness no one will see the Lord."
                                                                                            Hebrews 12:14


          The best Christians can never in themselves merit salvation through their
     personal holiness.  Our righteous deeds are like filthy garments in the light of
     God's holy law (Isaiah 64:6).  Our best works are stained and polluted with
     imperfection and sin.

          Scripture repeatedly refers to the obedience and righteousness of Christ on
     our behalf.


                                "For just as through the disobedience of the one man (Adam)
                                  the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience
                                  of the one man (Jesus) the many will be made righteous."
                                                                                            Romans 5:19


                               "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the
                                 unrighteous, to bring you to God."
                                                                                            1 Peter 3:18


          These two passages teach a two-fold aspect of Christ's work on our (believers)
     behalf.  They are often referred to as His active and passive obedience.

          Active obedience means Christ's sinless life here on earth, His perfect obedience
     and absolute holiness.  This perfect life is credited to those who trust in Him for
     their salvation. 

          His passive obedience refers to His death on the cross through which He fully paid
     the penalty for our (believers) sins and placated the wrath of God toward us.

          In Hebrews 10:5-10, we read that Christ came to do the will of the Father.  Then
     the writer said, "And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of
     the body of Jesus Christ once for all."
          So we see that our holiness before God depends entirely on the work of Jesus
     Christ for us, by God's will.


          Scripture speaks of both a holiness which we have in Christ before God, and a
     holiness which we are to strive after.  These two aspects of holiness compliment one
     another, for our salvation is a salvation to holiness.

                                  "For God did not call us to be impure, but to live
                                    a holy life."
                                                                     1 Thessalonians 4:7


          To the Corinthians Paul wrote,

                                  "To the church of God in Corinth, to those sancitfied in
                                    Christ Jesus and called to be holy."
                                                                      1 Corinthians 1:2


          The word "sanctified" here means "made holy."  That is, we are through
     Christ made holy in our standing before God, and called to be holy in our
     daily lives.

          When the Holy Spirit comes into our lives at our salvation, He comes to
     make us holy in practice.

          True salvation brings with it a desire to be made holy.

          The whole purpose of our salvation is that we be "holy and blameless in His
     sight" (Ephesians 1:4).


          We might say that no one can trust in Jesus Christ for true salvation unless
     he trusts in Him for holiness.  This does not mean the desire for holiness must
     be a conscious desire at the time a person comes to Christ, but rather it means
     that the Holy Spirit who creates within us saving faith also creates within us the
     desire for holiness.  He simply does not create one without the other.


          God's nature demands holiness in the life of a Christian.  When he calls us to
     salvation, He calls us to fellowship with Himself and His Son Jesus Christ
     (1 John 1:3).  But God is light;  in Him is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5).
          How then can we have fellowship with Him if we continue to walk in darkness?


          Holiness then is required for fellowship with God.

          When we are holding on to some sin, we are not pursuing holiness and we
     cannot have fellowship with God.

                                                    ***********

          Holiness is also required for our own well-being.  Scripture says, "The
     Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes everyone He accepts as a son"
     (Hebrews 12:6).

          To persist in disobedience is to increase our necessity for discipline.  Some of
     the Corinthian Christians persisted in disobedience to the point where God had to
     take their lives (1 Corinthians 11:30).

                                                  ************

          Holiness is also necessary for effective service to God.  Paul wrote to Timothy,
     "If a man cleanses himself from [ignoble purposes], he will be an instrument for
     noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any work"
     (2 Timothy 2:21).  Holiness and usefulness are linked together.  We cannot
     bring our service to God in an unclean vessel.

                                                *************

          Holiness also is necessary for our assurance of salvation -- not at the moment of
     salvation, but over the course of our lives.  True faith will always show itself by its
     fruits.

                                       "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a
                                         new creation."
                                                                     2 Corinthians 5:17


                                             ***************

          The only safe evidence that we are in Christ is a holy life.  John said everyone
     who has with him the hope of eternal life purifies himself just as Christ is pure
     (1 John 3:3).

          Paul said, "Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God" (Romans 8:14).
     If we know nothing of holiness, we may flatter ourselves that we are Christians, but
     we do not have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us.

                                           *****************

          It is not those who profess to know Christ who will enter heaven, but those whose
     lives are holy.  Even those who do "great Christian works" will not enter heaven un-
     less they also do the will of God.  Jesus said,


                                   "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will
                                     enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does
                                     the will of my Father who is in heaven"

                                     "Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord,
                                       did we not prophesy in your name, and in your
                                       name drive out demons, and perform many
                                       miracles?'  Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never
                                       knew you.  Away from me, you evildoers!' "
                                                             Matthew 7:21-23


          Holiness is not an option!