Acquiring Holiness

Thursday morning, September 13, 2007
Your response to my last two perspectives has, as I expected, run the full length of the field—from fear to faith. I have found it interesting that some, who normally respond, have not responded at all, which is fine with me but it does raise some questions, which for the moment, I will keep to myself.
Some of the responses reminded me of the frustration both Jesus and Paul must have felt, as they attempted to eradicate religion and replace it with relationship. Both Jesus and Paul pressed the religious very, very hard and on many occasions, only to be rejected, a rejection that continues even today.
It is sad to me to see so many Christians living, as if it is their job to somehow acquire holiness by living up to what they believe is the “standard of holiness.” They, inevitably, have their own “sin list” and they use it as the standard for holiness. Of course, their “list” always presents a standard for holiness that is much lower than God’s standard, which, as you know, is perfection. It is not, however, just “any old perfection”; instead, it is perfection, as He sees perfection, which is, obviously, very different than we see it. In our “sincere” attempts to be holy, to reach the standard, we do the most amazing thing—we lower His standard to one we can reach and call it holiness. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warned against this but for some reason, most do not heed the warning.
This is a quote from that sermon: “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). We respond to this in the same way as the religious of Jesus’ day responded; we lower His standard to something reachable by saying, for example, I have never had sex with another man’s wife. Obviously, He knew we would do this, so He raised the standard even higher than the standard of the Ten Commandments. Listen to what He said: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; but I say to you, that everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Matthew 5:27-28). Anyone want to make the boast that you reach this standard? I might add this: if sin came in categories, it would be obvious to me that the sin worse than committing adultery is the sin of being proud that you haven’t.
On the other hand, some of your responses reminded me of the incredible joy both Jesus and Paul (especially, Jesus) must have experienced when eyes were opened to see the incredible truth of the gospel. I can only imagine how they felt when they witnessed some of the religious abandoning the old way of religion and entering into that “Song of Songs”, intimate, relationship with Jesus—the kind of relational intimacy that says, “You are altogether beautiful, My darling and there is no blemish in you” (Song of Songs 4:7).
Look at what Paul had to say: “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:56; emphasis, added); “Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account” (Romans 4:8); “Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Or works? No, but by a law of faith” (Romans 3:27; emphasis, added).
In the end, my strong belief in the gospel has left me with this attitude toward Him: “ I am lovesick”; “My Beloved is mine and I am His”; “I must seek Him whom my soul loves”; “Many waters cannot quench love” (Song of Songs 2:5b, 16a; 3:2b; 8:7a). I am no longer trying to reach the standard; instead, I am resting in an incredible relationship of love!