I inwardly grimaced when the worship leader led us all to sing:Holiness, holiness is what I long for
Holiness is what I need
Holiness, holiness is what
You want for me, for me.
What's my problem with that chorus? It's because it asks for something we already have! We don't need holiness. We have it right now! The reason so many people squeeze their eyes closed and sing like they're begging God for holiness is because they think they aren't holy based on how they've acted, felt and thought lately. But it's not about that at all.
If you think holiness has to do with moral perfection, I encourage you to take a look at the New Testament Church in Corinth. To say that these people misbehaved is an understatement. Inside that church there existed divisions, drunkenness, jealousy, immorality and many others sinful behaviors.
The Apostle Paul wrote the Corinthian Christians a letter and here is how he began it: “To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling …” (1 Corinthians 1:2). Paul said the Corinthians were “sanctified in Christ Jesus.” He knew about their behavior and even addressed it later in his letter, but Paul knew something that many believers today don’t understand. Our behavior does not determine who we are! These Corinthians were saints, regardless of their behavior. They were saints, even if they were “saints behaving badly.” Their holiness didn’t have a thing to do with what they did or didn’t do.
Paul reminded them a little later, “But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30). He says that it was God’s doing that they were in Christ, and that Christ is their sanctification, or holiness. Again we see that the Corinthians were already holy in God’s sight.
Paul made very clear how we have become holy. God did it through Christ. As the writer of Hebrews put it: “By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10).
It is by Christ’s work that we have been made holy. What about places in the Bible where the Scripture seems to teach that we are to seek holiness? Consider, for example, Hebrews 12:14: “Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.” What does the verse mean when it tells us to “pursue” sanctification (holiness)? The answer has to do with what we mean by pursuing it.
If you define “pursuing sanctification” as getting better and better at keeping rules, you will find yourself right back in legalism, but we have already seen that rules-keeping is not the meaning of holiness.
To pursue it means that we act diligently to agree with God concerning what He has said about us and we act like it’s true – because it is true! You have Jesus Christ and He is your holiness. So we are pursuing sanctification or holiness when we are living out of the reality of His indwelling life. We grow in the expression of holiness in our thoughts and attitudes and even in our actions, but we don’t become more and more holy. You are holy. That is what you are!
Thanks, Steve. I've had the same reaction when singing that beautiful chorus. I change the words to songs I'm singing when the doctrine is off - I figure, if I'm the one making the declaration in song, I can sing words I believe! In that chorus I sing, "Holiness is what you've given me."
ReplyDeleteGreat blog Steve !!
ReplyDeleteI sooooo relate to that....So many times in worship times there have been songs like this that tend to force one to 'strain to please God'. And they detach 'holiness' from the person of Jesus - making it something to achieve'. Holiness is a person as you say in 1 Cor 1:30
Yup, too true. Like with Eula, if I hear a song that I like melodically, but the doctrine is off, then change it! Too many great harmonies out there to let the songs go to waste due to false doctrine. Might as well clean them up some, and have another avenue of presenting the Gospel :-)
ReplyDeleteI think you're confusing positional holiness with practical holiness. What you've said is true, regarding how we are made holy through the blood of Christ. That's our position in Christ. We are holy because he has made us holy. That doesn't change the fact that day in and day out we must choose our behavior. God commands us to BE holy, and we have the option of disobeying God's command. 1 Peter 1:15-16 says, But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.” He's not talking about your position there, He's talking about your practice. And since Tierce Green is talking about seeking holiness in what we practice, not our position, the song is Scriptural. The chorus says "Take my life and form it, take my mind transform it, Take my will conform it, to yours, to yours O God." Very accurate description of what I want in my life.
ReplyDeleteMy brother - your viewpoint is the one most people hold and which I held for many years, but in fact the Bible teaches no such thing as "positional holiness." That's a teaching created to try to sort out why our experience doesn't sometimes seem to align itself to what the Bible says. The fact is that we must let the Scripture be our authority and not our experience.
ReplyDeleteFirst, think of the importance of sound biblical hermeneutics - being intellectually honest in how we interpret Scripture. The Bible says that we were made sinners in Adam and are made righteous in Jesus. (Romans 5:19) If you believe we are only "positionally" holy in Jesus, would you also think we were only "positionally" sinners in Adam? No, we were actual sinners in Adam and we are now actually righteous in Jesus. We can't have it both ways.
As to your reference to the biblical injunction to "be holy," you've missed a point here. The fact that the Scripture tells you to "be" holy doesn't mean you aren't holy now. For instance, if I tell you, "Be a man!" does that mean you aren't already? No, what it means is "act like who you are." That's exactly what the imperative command you cited is saying. Our actions don't change our identity. We are holy whether we act that way or not - just like you and I are men whether we act like it or not. But when we know our true identity, that understanding becomes the catalyst for us to then "be" who we really are in this world.
Thanks for writing.
I agree Steve, "positional" is a cop out, often to cover up unbelief. The more we understand & believe we are holy through the finished work of the Cross and our Adamic nature is cut off the easier it becomes to manifest His holiness through us.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I do the same with worship lyrics as Eula, OTC & Amazing Grace :) In His Bliss.
Is it possible, as each of us may be in different places in our walk with God, that song lyrics may take on hues of different colors as we filter them through our relationship with Him? Could it be that some may see these lyrics as a way to open the heart and pour out what has been inside, asking God to replace it, as an act of worship before Him? Sometimes, even though my faith has grown considerably over the years, there are still times when I feel like I'm back at the beginning, when I'm running back to God as if I have been so far away. Maybe this is for those moments when our hearts have wandered that far.
ReplyDeleteI don't really see how this song denies God's truth, as much as I do see that it points me towards it. Sure, maybe it's not theologically perfect, but I never go to God's Word to endorse a songwriter, as I would go to a songwriter to endorse Gods word. The song was never intended to replace teaching directly from God's Word. It's when we are not in God's Word, that something like this could be a danger to us.
Thank you for letting me share - Michael