MAYBE HOLINESS DESERVES ANOTHER LOOK!

"Without faith it is impossible to please God." "He who does not love does not know God for God is love." "Follow peace with all men and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord."

 The Bible tells us that we cannot please, know or see God without faith, love and holiness, yet holiness is the only one of the three that we try to legislate. Once an attribute is legislated, it must be DEBATED, DEFINED AND ENFORCED. To enforce any law there must be a penalty for violation that creates enough fear to force the individual into obedience.

EX: If wearing red is unholy, orange, pink and maroon must be DEBATED. Once red is DEFINED, the “law of red” must be ENFORCED and those who violate the law must be shown the error of wearing red so that they never want to shame God by wearing red again. 

Galatians 5: 14-15 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; you shall love your neighbor as yourself.  But if you bite and devour one another, take heed that you be not consumed one of another.

Paul made it very clear in Galatians 5, that Christ becomes of no effect to us if we choose to once again become entangled under the law. By legislating holiness, we have set love aside and begun to devour one another.  Paul said through love, however, we can fulfill the whole law.  Just as genuine love cannot be legislated, neither can we legislate holiness. 

Judgmentalism now consumes us and we assign varying degrees to holiness. According to your experience and previous teaching, the definition of holiness is subjected to individual interpretation. Our definition becomes the standard by which others are measured. 

EX: If you do not measure up to my set standard of holiness laws, you are not holy and will not see the Lord. 

WARNING: There will always be another individual that has a tougher set of holiness laws than you and will judge YOU as unholy!!!

Herein lies the problem, NO ONE CAN MEASURE UP TO GOD'S HOLINESS! IT CANNOT BE DEFINED, HE JUST IS! 

Holiness is the very essence and character of God and only He has the right to confer it on us. Just as we are saved because of the Grace of God, we are made holy by the Grace of God.

Yes, we are to be obedient, we are to walk uprightly, we are to be pure in our thoughts and conversation, but is that HOLINESS?

     1.      Nothing is holy of itself but only as it relates to God

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2.      Only HE is Holy and only He can make US Holy.

Maybe our definition of Holiness deserves another look.