A Christian’s Journey into Holiness.

Holiness Isn't a Magical Arrival, but a Journey!

First, Christians must understand that the transformation into holiness isn't some sort of abstract
theology. Holiness can be learned. Agur says in Proverbs 30:2, "Surely I am more stupid than
any man ...and I neither learned with them, nor have I any knowledge of the HOLY ONE."

What a tragic place to be, stupid (Paul's words) because of not knowing God's Holy character.
Agur-type people say, "I never learned about this Holy One. I'm not prepared, life isn't fair,
nobody told me!" There's a solemn indictment against those who crave excitement without
substance. You must learn to draw near as the hart panteth after the waterbrook (Ps.42:1);
choosing to learn, longing to become absorbed by His attributes. It's time to come apart unto Him
or come apart.

What is holiness anyway? To tell you that most churches don't generally teach their congregation
how to be holy, is stating the obvious. You know that already. They usually educate believers on
prayer, giving, authority, and many important subjects. But not holiness. That's a downer. And, if
they do try to teach about holiness, they usually hand out some helpful hints that are almost
always the same. There's column A- the activities you should never do. That was obviously
copied verbatim from your personal list of favourite pastimes. Then, there's column B - the stuff
that you can still do. Basically, that second list sounds more like what a caged snail might enjoy
doing.

Man has such a strange concept of what constitutes holiness. Religious people invent rules that
make us "appear" holy, while others sit with pursed lips and a "holier than thou" demeanour,
piously judging the rest of us. They tell women not to wear earrings or pants. Boys can't have
long hair - girls can't cut it short, etc.

One day I took a new church member down to the park to play volleyball at our church picnic.
She wore a little pink dress and little pink high heels, because she sincerely wanted to be "holy."
When she finally wore slacks one day, the church stood up and cheered.

We knew a couple who wouldn't eat catsup, raisins, mustard, or anything with vinegar in it -- all
because they wanted to be holy. Others won't eat lard so God will accept them. Imagine thinking
that if you don't eat that soda cracker or that piece of bacon, then God will love you more...
Others think that if they don't watch TV they're better than everyone else. Lots of people decide
that dressing in the styles of the past generation means looking holy. Anything old, out of date,
baggy, unbecoming, and undesirable must be what God wants!

While legalistic religion may have previously occupied our time and attention, the Lord waits for
us to discover that it neither satisfies nor changes us. Surely we know that true holiness doesn't
make life uncomfortable or ugly -- but it adds to life. All these external ideas only hinder and
never change the inside disposition. An internal change takes time. Fortunately, God measures
our success (progress) differently than we do. It's not about the outward changes of adornment;
but the character in our heart, and that's a far more difficult transition. While we just want to
"arrive," God relates with the process (the trip) and what happens within our attitudes during that
journey.

Anyway, most of us don't like our lives changed, at all. Change is often like a kidney transplant,
where the body tries to reject the foreign object. We immediately attempt to get back to "normal."
If anything intrudes into what has been our steadfast routine, we unknowingly struggle against it.
Arriving at maturity becomes a deliberate step-by-step process for those willing to persist and not
give up. Our destination becomes not just achievement of a short-term goal, but obtaining the
wisdom of God within.

Holiness is not another doctrine but a way of thinking and acting.

Meanwhile, Jesus lingers near --waiting to be wanted and expecting us to end our vain pursuits
and indifferent prayer life. He brings us to the place of craving after intense relationships. Once
we find Him, there must be a persistent moving toward His presence and pressing toward His
mark (Phil. 3:13, 14). Paul's success came from his ability to concentrate on his goal of being like
Christ, forgetting the past and pressing to lay hold of what God wanted him to gain. The Living
Bible explains this verse, "I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing." This
same ability to press ahead on the road to His likeness becomes our daily responsibility.

After we're born again the Lord intends to change our character -- to cause a yearning for the
crucial quality of holiness. Peter tells us that God's instructions are, "Be holy yourselves also in
your behavior, because it is written, You shall be holy; for I am holy" (1 Peter 1:15-16
NAS). We'll soon learn that only to the degree we die to the spirit of the age and the vanity of our
mind, can we develop the character of Holiness within our lives. (Notice that as these themes are
repeated they are marked in italics.)

Holiness is the character and name of God. It isn't a systematized dress code, nor a contrived
method to take away all our fun. Holiness isn't a superior level of spiritual achievement, or
cloistered in a convent for years. It isn't negative piety, syrupy sweetness, nor the insincere
pretense of being good. No! Holiness duplicates the moral wholeness of Godlike character. It
means that we come into a place of conforming our will to His. Humans can never live in
absolute holiness, but Jesus died to give us His.