Greetings......since holiness is in the title of this new blog, I figured I would jump off of the diving board into the pool of ideas and see who wants to go swimming with me?
I came across the following quote from C.S. Lewis.... "How little people know who think that holiness is dull … When one meets the real thing, it is irresistible"
Do you think he was right or wrong? What exactly does "real" holiness look like, not only in the pages of the Word, but as an active and breathing entity or concept or fleshed out reality?
Contrastingly, what is the false ideas of holiness that so often can make the world think that we are completely out of touch? Or even make our selves think that?
Trust me, I am never lacking in opinion.....but I want to hear from you! ; )
4 comments:
Doesn't it always seem to be easier to say what something isn't than what it is? Holiness is not legalism. Holiness is not a destination.
For me, there is a connection between holiness and living a grace-filled life. I have to continually recognize that God's grace covers everything--not only my sins, but my mistakes and my human frailties, too.
I also think "real holiness" comes about as we strive to align our will to God's will. For me, this is when I'm happiest and life goes the smoothest.
Leslie
I totally agree that holiness does not equate to legalism. Holiness is pursuing God. I think one of the reasons we have problems with Holiness is because everyone wants to make it prescriptive - everyone else's journey must look like mine. I just do not see that in Scripture.
Striving to “align our will to God’s,” as Leslie said, is not a process of making our will conform to a set of rules, philosophies, or principles. That is only a different form of legalism. Rather, it is what happens as our spirit - that part of us which is made new and given life through the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit - ministers to our hearts and minds in order to create in us a new basis for will and action.
Romans 8 speaks of this as the process through which we “live according to the Spirit” and not “according to the flesh.” As the Holy Spirit communes with our spirit, He is able to speak to us in the moment based on the heart, mind, and will of the Father. Jesus said that he only said and did what the Father said and did. When we live the way Jesus did, by allowing the spirit to govern our heart, mind, and will, we become a Christian (literally “little Christ”) in the truest sense. We can live our lives as Jesus with skin on.
Certainly we, as human beings, will experience feelings and desires that anything but holy! We experience anger when our desires are not fulfilled, or pain and shame when we are violated. But as our spirit draws near to the breath of God, as we hear His heart and mind, He unlocks for us the eternal and infinite life and goodness that encapsulates and swallows up even the greatest of evils. As He speaks to us His thoughts, His feelings, His desires, and His purposes, we gain new perspective and understanding. As His ministry overflows our spirit into our hearts and minds, we are able to develop new feelings and thoughts, which lead to new desires, goals, and actions that reflect His will.
This is not to trivialize the extreme experiences of tragedy, abuse, or life altering trauma. But these must be understood in the context of the cross. As we live as Jesus lived, we will begin to see our own crosses the way Jesus saw His. He was able to “endure the cross, scorning its shame” because of the “joy set before him” (Heb. 12:2). That same joy is available to each of us as we pursue a heart ruled by the spirit. And grace covers the rest.
I have been contemplating the second part of the holiness question - why be passionate about it? Is it merely a passion to pursue a different lifestyle or pattern of behavior? Is it really that fun to live a "good, holy" life vs. "carnal" life? Is it about happiness that I'm not getting myself in trouble? Or that we now conform to the Christian version of values or knowledge about God?
If holiness is living in constant communion with God through the Holy Spirit, allowing that to saturate my thoughts and emotions and desires, then isn't holiness a process of living intimately with God? Intimacy isn't always comfortable, smooth, happy, or intillectual, although all of these are woven deeper into the fiber of intimacy in order to make relationship with that person something to be treasured and pursued.
Intimacy always comes at a cost - stepping outside the comfort zone, working to develop and maintain it, the pain of knowing how we have failed, and the commitment to pursue with ever increasing commitment and passion what we have with that person. If I am passionate about my relationship with my lover and mate of my body, would I not pursue with the same passion the ultimate Lover and Mate of my Spirit and Soul?
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