But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and selfcontrol. (Galatians 5:22-23)
Traditionalists, denominationalists and legalists have really muddied the waters in trying to call Christians to holy living. Wesleyan-Arminians labor their doctrinal approach, Calvinists make their cryptic mention and so many Pentecostalists simply ignore the subject.
When God speaks in His Word of a person, place, or thing being "holy," He means that such a person, place, or thing, is no common, ordinary, insignificant person, place, or thing; that he, she, or it, has been set apart for a divine purpose. To be holy is to be unique or special. When a person, place, or thing is holy, it is different from the rest, distinctively better, reserved for a special purpose.
Sometimes I wonder: if John Wesley, Francis Asbury, John Fletcher, Charles Spurgeon, William Boothe, Charles Finney or P. F. Bresee should suddenly return to the present evangelical scene, would they recognize us as children of the faith? Or might they have to ask with the demons of old, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you?" (Acts 19:15). Of course, the real question is not how well we are measuring up to the expectations of our human fathers and heroes, but are we pleasing to the Lord? Are we holy? Do we want to be holy? Do we know what the Lord means when He demands holiness of His children?
My dear people, I'm truly concerned about the indifference and ignorance of so many professing evangelicals to the call to holiness. I say it with a broken heart, but I believe so many have conformed to the spirit of the age. Too many of our pastors spend more time with their computers than they do with the Word of God. They read more books on business management and public relations than they do on holiness and prayer. We need an outpouring of the Holy Spirit that will convict pastors and lay leaders of the sins of omission as well as the sins of commission, until our passion for holiness equals that of Isaiah's and the apostle Paul's.
No church in any culture will ever experience genuine revival until its people begin to respond to the Spirit's call to holiness. So please allow me to speak definitively about holiness. Let's not get lost in legalism, traditionalism, or denominational distinctives.
Purity of Heart
Holiness is, first of all, purity of heart. Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God" (Matt. 5:8). When Jesus and His apostles spoke of purity of heart, it is clear that they had at least two things in mind: (1) sanctity -- or freedom from the power of sin; and (2) singleheartedness -- freedom from insincerity or doublemindedness. The apostle Paul often expressed his prayer that believers prove to bear the scrutiny of the Lord's Presence in the Day of His coming. Even so we must live godly and holy before the eyes of men each day. This is done only as we live and walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.
