allenroy@cs.pdx.edu (callen roy) (06/15/91)
THE JUDGMENT: WHAT GOOD ARE THE GOODY-GOODY PEOPLE? Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming....So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.'(2 Peter 3:11-14) And so Peter echoes a familiar theme: a pure and holy people are somehow related to these final events. And since these final events are close at hand, spare no effort to be read for them. But why? Is God suddenly 'elevating His standart' of salvation for those unlucky enough to be living the the last days? Hardly! Look at it this way: WHAT DOES HOLINESS MEAN? It doesn't mean arriving at some level of goodness beyond which there is no more room for growth. (Philippians 3:12,13) Indeed, since growth into Jesus' image will occupy the redeemed throughtout eternity, He wants us ready and eager for that growth even now. Some have described this as 'perfect teach- ableness,' or as constant willingness to say Yes to whatever God offers to us. It means being all done with our rebellion, that He might teach us ever more fully His ways eternally. Holiness, as one author expresses it is Wholeness for God. HOLINESS IS NOT TO IMPRESS GOD . . . The Christian seeks holiness, not so that God will think better of him; for he knows that he is already 'accepted in the beloved.'(Ephesians 1:6) God's opinion of the Christain is identical to His opinion of His beloved 'Son', and there is absolutely nothing man can do to improve upon that! BUT TO INFORM THE WORLD . . . The Christain seeks holiness of life, not so God will think better of Him, but so that the world will think better of the God they see through him. The Christian detests sin in his own life, not because he fears that God will think less of him, but because he fears that his friends will think less of God. He knows that some people will actually decide whether or not to glorify the 'Father' based on how he lets his light shine.(Matthew 5:16) He joins Paul in admitting that 'we are ambassadores for Jesus, God making his appeal through us.'(2 Corinthians 5:20) John's Gospel, in recording Jesus' prayer for His disciples, contains a com- pelling line of logic. At the end of His earthly ministry, Jesus gratefully reports that He has 'accomplished the work which you gave me to do.'(John 17:4) And what was that work? 'I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world.'(John 17:6) In fact He even says, 'I am glorified in them.' (John 17:10) But now comes a transition: 'I will remain in the world no longer. but they are still in the world,'(John 17:11) Since He is leaving, He forwards to them (as His corporate body) the continuation of His same mission: 'As You sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.'(John 17:18) For this very reason, the Christain consecrates himself to LIVE the truth, just as Jesus consecrated Himself in truth.(John 17:17) And for this very reason, Paul prays that the believers might 'be filled with all the fulness of God'.(Ephesians 3:19) Because Paul knew that 'thrugh the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the principalities and powers in heavenly places.'(Ephesians 3:10) AND TO DEMONSTRATE GOD'S RESTORATION POWERS Christains sing, 'There is power, power, wonder-working power....in the precious blood of the Lamb.' And Satan taunts darkly from his corner, 'There's no power in the blood! Just look at the way they live!' Who is telling the truth? Could you decide by doing a survey among professed Christains? Satan taunts Jesus with our sins. The enemy taunts the One we love! The angel promised that Jesus would save us FROM our sins.(Matthew 1:21) But the old 'snake' laughs and says, 'If He saves you at all, it will have to be IN your sins.' And some Christains slink sadly to their corners, sighing, 'Oh well, I guess forgiveness is about all I could expect, anyway.' For reasons known best in His heart of infinite love, God has been willing to be embarrassed by His people's unwillingness to live the Christ life. He longs for a people who will get their attention off themselves and recognize that they are 'a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.(1 Peter 2:9) THE MOTIVES OF A HOLY PEOPLE 'For the love of Christ controls us, because we are convinced that one has died for all . . . that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him..'(2 Corinthians 5:14,15) This is a turn-around verse! But so few Christains turn around. Let me explain. A life of love is a life moved by unselfishness. Yet sin has made us all desperately self-centered. We are incapable of living unselfishly until our own needs are met first. We cannot love until we know that we are loved. And so, in the death of Jesus, God sends an enormous love-message to us. On the cross, He says, 'That's how valuable you are to me!' God intends that the cross-message shoud heal my self-centeredness--that it should so thoroughly meet my needs that it sets me free to live no longer for myself but for Him. But even 'Christians' can continue to live for themselves--for their own blessings, their own secure spot in heaven, their freedom from trials. A key identifying mark of God's final generation, however, will be that they are so sure of God's opinion of them that they are set free to live entirely for Him. Their consuming desire is that their wonderful God be made known to the world. With Paul, they will be able to endure all manner of persecution and trial 'so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.' (2 Corinthians 4:10) For, you see, only the unselfish motive will lead one to be truly unselfish. Only the one who, for Jesus's sake, wishes to be like Jesus will reflect His character to others. Those who wish to turn Christlikeness of character into a selfish grasping for God's approval, will--by the very selfishness of the motive--fail to experience the unselfishness they seek. Those who would use Christain growth as a selfish means to earn God's approval will never under- stand the Unselfish One who has already given His approval. A christain who does not 'turn around' and live for God's glory will never understand the place of good works in the life of the believer. Every time he hears about victory, overcoming, perfection of character, sanctification, or any other growth-related term, he will turn it inward and see it as a basis for achieving standing or approval with God. Seeing his inadequacies in this department, he will then doubt God's forgiveness and acceptance. This will only reinforce his selfish insecurities, thus giving rise to even more sinful behavior. Thus he will know only failure. He will then either scrap Christianity altogether or will settle for a 'forgiveness only' form of it, since that's all he has been seeking anyway. In brief, motives are profoundly important for God's last-days people. GROUNDLESS FEARS ABOUT HOLINESS Speaking about a holy people always seems to raise fears of some people. For example, 'isn't this the heresy of 'sinless perfectionism'?' There's nothing unbiblical about being sinless, so long as we understand it. It doesn't (at least it shouldn't) mean 'incapable of sinning.' Rather it describes a people who have turnded decidedly from the delusions of Satan, who are all done rebelling, and who find sin to be repulsive because Jesus has given them a new set of values. The word perfectionism, as often referred to in a scornful sense, implies man's perfection in place of, or added to, the perfection of Jesus as the basis for acceptance by the 'Father.' Such a view deserves to be scorned. Others worry that to speak of a holy people is to open the door to that old heresy of 'holy flesh. The 'holy flesh' problem grows out of the belief that sin has its primary focus in the flesh and that Jesus can only solve the sin problem by doing something miraculous to the flesh. Once He has done it, then, sin is no longer possible. But remember our development of the sin problem in the first installment on this subject, in which we emphasized that sin is a function of the mind and loyalties, not of the physical body. In fact, Paul often stressed that 'the life of Jesus may be manifessed in our mortal flesh.'(2 Corinthians 4:11; Galatians 2:20) Still others worry that to speak positively of a holy people will produce an arrogant group of self-acclaimed, self-satisfied snobs. They quote passages such as this in support of their convern: 'If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves.'(1 John 1:8) And it is a valid concern. But as you think about the holy people described here, keep this thought in mind: there is a big difference between a people focused on their own performance--for their own sakes--and a people so captivated by the lovely Jesus that they are lost in Him. God has always named His people; they never name themselves. Job wouldnot have suggested himself as ready for the trial, but God named him because he was indeed ready. (So also Isaiah and John the Baptist.(Isaiah 6:1-9; John 1:26-34)) The beauty of holiness is its utter selflessness. What a privilege of being thus transformed by our selfless Lord!