Holiness
Yahweh desires holiness for His people. No student of the Word can doubt this for a moment, and no honest child of Yahweh should want to doubt it for a moment.
Holiness is our goal, our destiny, and our portion. It expresses the very essence of the nature and character of Yahweh and describes the highest level of spirituality attainable by man. Holiness is just plain wonderful. Certainly no genuine believer would ever argue with that, right?
Wrong! Many believers actually recoil at "holiness teachings," calling it unscriptural and contrary to the gospel. How can this be?
For some, it is a simple reaction of the flesh. They don't want to be shaken out of their comfort zones or called to take up their crosses and deny their own wills and desires. They don't want to be confronted with the high standards of Yahweh and would rather live in their snug shelters of self-justification than to come out and hear the truth.
They are like the rebellious Israelites of old who were unwilling to listen to the Yahweh's instructions: "[They] say to the seers, 'see no more visions!' and to the prophets, 'Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things, prophecy illusions. Leave this way, get off this path, and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!'" (Is. 30:10 - 11).
For such a people, the Holy One of Israel has a word: Repent - or else (see Is. 30:12 - 17)
But for many people who spurn "holiness teachings," rebellion, self-will, and love of the world are not the real problems at all. The problem for them is that they equate holiness with legalism, finding it binding and not a beautiful. In their minds, holiness is a system based on fear and characterized by joyless judgmentalism, producing futility instead of freedom.
They perceive the "holiness message" to be a man-made brand of religion governed by law and not love, a mere following of rules without a relationship. That is not holiness! Holiness is being like Yahusha in though, word and deed.
Legalism grasps part of the truth, rightly understanding that holiness requires us to put away sin and uncleanness, calling for change of conduct and attitude. But legalism is more wrong than right, failing miserably to understand the essence of holiness (it concentrates on outward forms and is not inner realities) and the process of holiness (emphasizing human effort without the grace and power of the Holy Spirit). Legalism kills!
"FREE TO BE HOLY"
Though legalism has several different forms, all of them flow from the same source, namely, religion with out relationship, emphasizing standards more than the Savior. To the unsaved person the legalist preaches justification by works, saying, "You're a wicked sinner, and you need to get rid of all your filthy habits if you want the Yahusha to accept you."
There is no grace in this message, no exalting of the life-changing, sin-cleansing power of the blood of Yahusha, no clear proclamation of mercy. The declaration of Yahweh's love expressed through the cross is muffled, if heard at all. Consequently, the proof of the new birth is seen almost entirely in what someone no longer does.
Within the church legalism is easy to spot. It judges almost entirely by externals, quickly condemning those who don't immediately conform to the particular group's outward norm. And, generally speaking, the more legalistic a church group is, the more particular they will be about one or two specific aspects of behavior or dress, making those the standards by which everything else is measured.
Of course, Yahweh has high standards, and He calls for us to live up to those standards. The problem with legalists is that:
(1) They try to change a person from the outside in, whereas Yahweh deals with us from the inside out.
(2) They fail to present a balanced picture of the Lord, too much emphasis on His wrath.
(3) They do not point the struggling sinner (or believer) to the Lord's supernatural empowerment, making holiness a matter of human effort alone.
(4) They add law, standards, and customs and traditions that are not found in the Word, making them more important than the biblical commandments themselves.
All this stands in stark contrast to the biblical message and method of holiness. Biblical holiness begins with the heart and flows from an encounter with Yahweh and His Word. It calls for repentance in response to the Yahusha's gracious offer of salvation, and it offers a way to be holy, the blood of Yahusha and the Spirit of Yahweh, Yah.
Biblical holiness is free, although it requires discipline and perseverance. For the legalist, nothing is free. Everything must be earned! Legalism leads to bondage; holiness leads to liberty.
Unfortunately, many believers who flee from the clutches of legalism especially when they never seemed to measure up to legalism's demands fall right into the grasp of libertarianism. Now, almost anything goes. They have cast off all restrictive rules and oppressive regulations, and in the name of liberty they have opened the door to license.
Whatever comes naturally to this "liberated" believer is accepted as normal. And they believe they are "understood," by Yahusha. Biblical commandments are brought down to the level of this Christian's own experience, and anything that brings any kind of spiritual pressure to bear on this previously discouraged believer is rejected as not being the easy yoke and light burden of Yahusha.
Making things even worse is the fact that many preachers and teachers who have glory in the grace of Yahweh often do so at the expense of the Bible's clear call to holy living. Thus helping to push the libertarian Christian further and further away from discipline ("No one is going to tie me up again!"), conviction ("You're not going to condemn me anymore!"), and biblical standards ("Who are you to tell me what to do?"). And so, while legalism slays its thousands, libertarianism may even slay its tens of thousands.
How can I say that? It's simple. Just look at our American society today. It is saturated with the sensuality and permeated with pleasure. Most Americans, in the church and in the world, watch unclean videos or movies (containing nudity, sexual scenes , profanity, gratuitous violence or blatantly unchristian themes); have various habits or addictions ranging from drugs and alcohol to sports, sex, or foods; are seriously in debt, largely due to the pull of materialism; waste countless hours every week watching television, needlessly surfing the Internet or playing video games; are over weight to the point of being considered obese (meaning 20 percent higher than our proper body weight - Ouch!). Need I say more?
Of course, legalism is not the answer to these serious problems! The best legalism can do for struggling sinners is put a Band-Aid on their deep heart problems, offering no real cure. And more often than not, it will condemn rather than convert, destroy rather than deliver.
But Yahweh is calling His people to come out of the world and be separate, to repent of our sinful compromise, to break free from domination of the flesh and to present ourselves as living sacrifices on the Yahweh's alter, set aside totality to the will of Yahweh. It is imperative that we heed that call. Otherwise our nation will fall and rise no more, and we will sail off into spiritual and moral oblivion. Yes, legalism is deadly, but license is damnable.
So why would genuine Followers of Yahusha want to embrace a message that supposedly gives them liberty to sin? Why would true lovers of Yahusha look for a theology that justifies disobedience?
"THE LETTER KILLS"
The fact is, there is no reason to bounce from one extreme to the other. Spirit empowered holiness, not sin driven license, is the biblical option to legalism.
The apostle Paul can help us with this, too. He wrote the words "the letter kills" when explaining to the Corinthians that their very lives served as a letter of commendation for his ministry, written "not on tables of stone but on tables of the human hearts" (2 Cor. 3:6).
What did Paul mean by this? He was referring to the effects that the laws of Moses, engraved on tables of stone, had upon the Israelites, calling it "the ministry that brought death" and "the ministry that condemns men" (2 Cor. 3:7, 9). Yet Paul still called it a "glorious" ministry (see 2 Cor. 3:9)! This is in keeping with the fact that Paul was always careful to state that the law itself is good (see Rom. 7:12).
The problem is that the law does not give us the power to live for Yahweh (see Rom. 8:1 - 4). It shows us the way with out enabling us to go that way.
Where the Spirit of Yahusha is, there is freedom (see Cor. 3:17 - 18), but it is freedom to become like Yahusha, freedom to fulfill the laws demands, freedom to be holy. There is no room for license here. Rather, through the power of the covenant, we are currently being transformed into the likeness of Yahusha. How glorious this spiritual operation is!
Really, there is no mistaking the point. Paul's epistles to the Corinthians are strong holiness letters. In 1 Corinthians, he instructed the believers that they "must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat" (1 Cor. 5:11). Why such a severe exhortation? Paul answered that question in the clearest possible terms: "Do you not know that the world is wicked will not inherit the kingdom of Yahweh? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor the greedy nor the drunkards nor the slanderers nor the swindlers will inherit the kingdom of Yahweh" (1 Cor. 6:9 - 10). Those kinds of people will one day be put out of Yahweh's kingdom, so if such people, without repentance and change, claim to be believers, they must be put out of the church today.
But in his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul gave one of the most beautiful calls to holiness found anywhere in the Bible. That passage associates believers with righteousness, light, The Messiah and the temple of Yahweh, telling us, in fact, that we are that temple! How then should be live? Read Paul's words carefully. "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Yahusha and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of Yahweh and idols? For we are the temple of Yahusha. As Yahweh has said: 'I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their Elohim, and they will be my people.'"
" 'Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Yahweh. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Almighty.' Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates the body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for Yahweh" (2 Cor. 6:14 - 7:1).
And these verses appear just a few chapters after that famous phrase, "the letter kills." Obviously, Paul was not advocating license! Rather, he was calling us to make holiness perfect in fear of Yahweh, cleansing ourselves from everything that pollutes body or spirit. When Paul wrote, "the letter kills" he meant simply that externally imposed religion brings death while internally birthed religion brings life. One is written on stone, a covenant that condemns men. The other is written on the heart, a covenant that transforms men.
"AVOIDING LEGALISM'S LURE"
So how can we strive for holiness with all our hearts and yet stay clear of legalism? Here are some helpful hints:
1) MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO KEEP YOUR FIRST LOVE. A heart aflame with love for Yahusha will not quickly degenerate into legalism.
2) LIVE A LIFE OF THANKSGIVING AND PRAISE. Be a worshiper, not a murmurer or a complainer. This will help you to keep your focus, looking upward with gratitude as opposed to outward with grumbling.
3) BE VERY CONSCIOUS OF YOUR OWN SINS AND SHORTCOMINGS. Always look to remove the beam from your own eye before you point out the speck in the eye of your brother or sister (see Matt. 7:1 - 5).
4) GIVE YOURSELF TO PRIVATE PRAYER FOR THOSE WITH WHOM YOU DIFFER, and for those you don't particularly like! This will produce in you a genuine desire to see them blessed and lifted up, as opposed to see them brought down or hurt. You won't become critical of others if you spend quality time interceding on their behalf.
5) LEARN TO APPRECIATE THE BEAUTY OF HOLINESS. Recognize holiness as one
of the most wonderful aspects of our eternal destiny and as something marked
by the very character of Yahusha. This way, you won't be able to reduce holiness
to a mere system of laws and regulations. You will embrace holiness as a
wonderful, pure way of life.
6) NEVER USE THE BIBLE AS A WEAPON AGAINST OTHER BELIEVERS. Avoid bashing people with Scripture, allegedly backing up your position in the name of "My Bible says . . .!" This is a common tactic of legalists.
And then stand firm for holiness! In fact, the next time some one tries to reject a strong call to holiness by telling you that "the letter kills" you can tell them what the verse really means (externally imposed religion kills!). Remind them of the dangers and horrors of sin (sin kills even more than "the letter" kills!), and point them to the purpose of the cross of our savior (to save us from our sins).
The bottom line is that the Almighty, Yahweh is at work in us to make us like His Son, Yahusha. That is not legalism, That's His way, It's called Holiness.
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