What Happened to Holiness?

An honest evaluation reveals that not all is well today with twenty-first-century Christianity. There are trends that should alarm us, even among the so-called fundamentalists. One of these trends needing urgent attention is the loss of holiness—the absence of a Bible-based, God-honoring expression in the daily lives of many professing believers in Christ. True Christianity is not just talk but also a walk, a way of life.

The New Testament, speaking clearly to every Christian, says, “As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: but as he [God] which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation” (1 Peter 1:14, 15). The word conversation as it is used here, means “behavior.”

Dear friends, our calling in Christ Jesus is to be a distinctive people, set apart for God, pure and Godlike in every area of life. Jesus came to “save his people from [not in] their sins” (Matthew 1:21). “But now being made free from sin [through Christ], and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life” (Romans 6:22). “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). Please notice that the hope of eternal life depends on holy living.

Holiness, or sanctification, is both instant and progressive. It is instant upon our repentance toward God, upon faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for His saving, cleansing power, and through the transforming work of God’s Spirit in our hearts and lives. Holiness is progressive as we pursue Christian growth and obey all the revealed will of God through Bible study and prayer and through relating to other believers in the body of Christ.

Jesus, “declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead” (Romans 1:4), is our source of power for holiness. Holiness begins in the heart and works its way out, affecting the thoughts, talk, actions, dress, and lifestyle of the person who allows the Spirit of Christ to rule. The result is a powerful testimony of God’s saving grace.

But today, mainstream Christianity has exchanged piety for pleasure, conscience for convenience, and modesty for moral looseness. People have taken God’s holy Son and reduced Him to a “popular” Jesus. He is now supposedly the Jesus of the professional athlete, of the country rock singer, and of the seminude beauty contestant.

This Jesus supposedly smiles and forgives as unisex, divorce and remarriage, immodest dress (undress), fashion, sports, and the pleasure craze, along with the health-and-wealth gospel, settle into comfortable acceptance in many church circles. Dear friends, this is not the Jesus I know, and this is not the Jesus of the Bible!

The devil has deceived people into believing that they can somehow do their own thing and still be in the center of God’s will and under His blessing. Well might Jesus say to many today, “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me” (Matthew 15:8). “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). All must repent and turn to the Bible, lest when Jesus comes—He is surely coming again—He will say, “I never knew you: depart from me.” (See Matthew 7:20–27.) “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me” (John 14:21).

We are plagued today with a twofold heresy.

Easy-Believism

“Just raise your hand, sign your name, say a prayer beside the TV or radio,” softly say the preachers of the day. (We speak with caution here. We do not want to discredit anyone who may have gotten a right start with the Lord in such a way.) But I fear that we have reduced becoming a Christian to a respectable social event rather than emphasizing a radical, life-changing, death-to-self experience that the Bible teaches. Jesus still says, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23).

The Gospel is simple; it is a free gift. We also need to give up ourselves, along with all that we have, to receive this great salvation. We need to return to the practical, every-day Gospel of the New Testament.

Unconditional Eternal Security

“Once saved, always saved—no matter what you do or how you live. Once you are born, you can’t be unborn.” Right? Wrong! It’s true that a person cannot be unborn, but he can die. Romans 8:13, speaking to the Christian, says, “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify [cut off, put to death] the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” There is security in Christ when we meet the Bible conditions. The verse above is just one of many that prove that our Bible is a book of conditions.

These twin errors of easy-believism and unconditional eternal security are a scourge in many pulpits today. Either people are not reading their Bibles thoroughly enough, or they are reading them wrong!

Praise God for all the strong verses of assurance and security to the disciple who walks closely to his Lord in true faith and obedience. “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (John 10:27, 28). We have a blessed security, a sure promise, but with the conditions of hearing His voice and following Him in a life of obedience.

Thank God for all the strong verses of warning to the careless backslider. “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12). Note also verses 13­ –15; Hebrews 10:19–39; and 2 Peter 2:20, 21.

Both the verses of sweet assurance and those of warning serve a valuable purpose. It depends so much on where we are in our Christian experience. When we are hot and on fire for God, we can, with deep thanksgiving and humility, claim assurance and victory. But if we cool off and feel a lukewarm casualness creeping into our relationship with our Lord and His Word, then let those verses of warning drive us back to the foot of the cross. This is just another example of the balance of God’s Word. This is the Bible package!

We do not know at exactly what point God cuts off a backslider. But having a Scriptural understanding that it can happen should prompt all of us, by God’s grace, to stay well on this side of the line.

Many well-meaning (but ignorant) people are embracing this cheap brand of Christianity. We reach out with love and a broken heart to our many dear friends who are in unscriptural situations, both in personal and church experience. We plead with you to read these words with an open heart and prayerfully study the Scriptures to see if these things are so.

This powerless religion, which allows people to go to church on Sunday morning and then go home to watch the World Series or Super Bowl in the afternoon, must be put away. All must return to the New Testament Gospel of Jesus Christ, which not only saves but also delivers from the sinning business, be it smoking, drinking, filthy talk, lust, immorality, pride, hatred, or whatever. (See 2 Corinthians 5:17.)

The meek and lowly Jesus still calls those who would follow Him to leave the health-and-wealth thrust of our day and follow Him “without the camp, bearing his reproach” (Hebrews 13:13).

God is still calling His children to be separate and holy in this wicked, hell-bound world (2 Corinthians 6:17, 18). Let us express by word and deed the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ by living above all the sin of our twenty-first-century society. Then the world and Satan will again recognize Christianity as a force to be reckoned with, to the glory of our God and Jesus our Lord!

Friends, the choice is yours. Either return and embrace Bible holiness, or perish with the ungodly. “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Amen!