Table of Contents
What comes to your mind when you hear the word “Holiness”? If someone is “struggling with holiness” what would you expect to see as evidence? Think about it. Now, put that idea on a shelf, because I’m bringing you out to a desert island. It’s so desolate here that we don’t even have our preconceived notions; all we have is a Bible, a few concordances, and a random monkey throwing coconuts. Ready to dive in?
Defining Holiness
In the King James Version the word “holiness” can be found 43 times, 13 of which are in the New Testament. However, the Greek root words for “holiness” (primarily ἁγιασμός / hag-ee-as-mos’) are also translated as “sanctification” (1 Corinthians 1:30, 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4′ 7, 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 1 Peter 1:2). The Helps Word Study defines this Greek root word (ἁγιασμός) as “use of the believer being progressively transformed by the Lord into His likeness” and the Strong’s definition is “the process of making or becoming holy, set apart, sanctification, holiness, consecration”.
A Deeper Look at the NT Passages on Holiness
Definitions are great, but what does it look like practically to be “progressively transformed by the Lord into His likeness”? What is our part in this process? Are there any commands we ought to obey: things to abstain from or things to practice? Let’s go to our NT scriptures to find out.
19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.
22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life” -Romans 6:19, 22
This passage teaches shows a contrast between before and after salvation. Before salvation, we were slaves to uncleanness which led to more and more sin. After salvation, we serve God. Serving God results in evidences of becoming like Him, and becoming like Him leads to eternal life.
17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.
18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. -2 Corinthians 6:17-18, 7:1
This passage is actually referencing back to Isaiah 52:11-12, in which those who were responsible for carrying the holy vessels were charged to come out of Egypt slowly with caution, so as not to defile them.
11 Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord.
12 For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the Lord will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your reward. -Isaiah 52:11-12
This noted, 2 Corinthians teaches us several things about holiness. First, just as the Israelites were required to keep the temple vessels clean, so must Christians keep themselves clean; not according to the OT rituals, but rather by cleansing ourselves from “all filthiness of flesh and spirit”. Flesh could be referring to the physical body (sexual sins come to mind) or the human nature, and spirit would be referring to the inner being (mind/emotions/will). Secondly, the present tense phrasing of “perfecting” (that is, accomplishing/completing) holiness is an even greater indicator that we have not attained holiness, but are rather striving for it (and by default are not currently holy beings). Lastly, perfecting holiness should be done with a healthy fear of God.
Ephesians 4 is another great chapter from which we can study Holiness. The Ephesian Christians are admonished not to walk as “other Gentiles” “who being past feeling have given themselves over to lasciviousness [sensuality], to work all uncleanness with greediness” (Ephesians 4:17, 19). In contrast, Christians ought to do the following;
22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. -Ephesians 4:22-24
“True holiness”, what does this look like practically? Paul begins his next thought with “wherefore” indicating that his following instructions should come as a result of putting on true holiness.
25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
27 Neither give place to the devil.
28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
5 :1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;
4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks
5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. -Ephesians 4:25-32, 5:1-5
According to Paul, true holiness implies putting away lying, stealing, corrupting speech, bitterness, anger, gossip, depravity (malice), and clamoring against each other, extra-marital sex, uncleanness, covetousness, foolish-talking, inappropriate joking, and replacing all that with truthfulness, honest working, edifying communication, kindness, tenderheartedness, forgiveness, following God, walking in love, and thankfulness.
11 Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you.
12 And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you:
13 To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints. -1 Thessalonians 3:11-13
“To the end”, this phrase means “towards the goal”, implying that the first statement is a step leading towards the second statement. Now, the second statement is about being established “unblameable in holiness”, so what was the practical step in attaining this goal? “Increas[ing] and abound[ing] in love toward another and toward all men”.
4:1 Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.
2 For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus.
3 For this is the will of God, even your sanctification [holiness], that ye should abstain from fornication:
4 That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification [holiness] and honour;
5 Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God:
6 That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.
7 For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. -Thessalonians 4:1-7
This is one of the passages where “sanctification” is translated from the same Greek word (ἁγιασμός / hag-ee-as-mos’) which is also translated “holiness”. Paul says in this passage that the Thessalonians already know how to walk and please God, because they were given commandments from Christ (recorded for us in other portions of the NT). He continues that the will of God is for our holiness and describes this as abstaining from sexual immorality. Rather, we must possess our vessels (most likely bodies) in holiness and honor-never passionate lust; furthermore, we must never defraud/wrong our brothers in this matter. Thus, holiness in this passage is being taught as synonymous with sexual purity. The passage continues;
7 For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.
8 He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.
9 But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.
10 And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more;
11 And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;
12 That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing. -Thessalonians 4:7-12
Paul continues with a “therefore” suggesting that more practical implications of holiness are about to follow. First, he warns that anyone that despises the above teaching on sexual purity is despising God. Secondly, he says that God has also taught them to love one another. Thirdly, he tells them to aspire to live a quiet/peaceful life, working to provide for themselves, and walk honestly before the world. This is very similar to the passage on practical holiness in Ephesians.
The next two passages on holiness are specifically looking at how holiness should be applied in the life of a Christian woman.
15 Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety. – 1 Timothy 2:15
3 The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;
4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,
5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. -Titus 2:3-5
The Greek word translated as “becometh holiness” in Titus 2:3 is different from the rest (ἱεροπρεπεῖς/ hieroprepeis) and leans more towards the idea of reverent behavior. That said, there are still several practical implications of holiness, specifically for ladies, that can be gleaned from this passages. First, holiness is linked with faith (which refers to abiding in the faith) and love, and should be lived out with sobriety. “Sobriety” is from the Greek word σωφροσύνης/sōphrosynēs meaning self-control/soundness of mind, and is also used in 1 Timothy 2:9. Secondly, we learn that reverent (holiness) behavior should entail the following for married women: no gossiping/lying, no alcoholism, and teachers of good things, which further include: soberness, loving their husbands and children, discreetness, chastity, home keeping, goodness, and obedience to husbands.
10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. -Hebrews 12:10-16
The first thing this passage teaches is that God’s chastening comes that we would be able to partake of His holiness, and that this process will bear the “peaceable fruit of righteousness”. Secondly, we see following peace with all men linked to holiness in verse 14, as well as the importance of holiness. Verse 15-16 go on to be more specific on what will defile personal holiness, namely, bitterness, fornication, and profanity.
Now, if these New Testament passages were all you knew of holiness, what would your concept of holiness look like? You would define holiness as progressively becoming like Christ, and you would keep in mind several biblical things which would either be practiced or abstained from the more a Christian grows. Let’s condense these acts of obedience, as well as the commands closely linked with holiness, into a couple of lists:
Scriptural List of What to Abstain From in Regards to Holiness:
Sexual Sins
Uncleanness (Romans 6:19, 2 Corinthians 6:17, Ephesians 4:19, Ephesians 5:3, Ephesians 5:5, 1 Thessalonians 4:7)
Filthiness of flesh and spirit (2 Corinthians 7:1, Ephesians 5:4)
Sensuality (Ephesians 4:19)
Illicit sexual relationships (Ephesians 5:3, Ephesians 5:5, 1 Thessalonians 4:3, Hebrews 12:16)
Lust (Ephesians 4:22, 1 Thessalonians 4:5)
Defrauding others in sexuality (1 Thessalonians 4:6)
Verbal Sins
Corrupt Conversation (Ephesians 4:22, Ephesians 4:29)
Lying (Ephesians 4:25)
Gossip/Slander (Ephesians 4:31, Titus 2:3)
Foolish Talking (Ephesians 5:4)
Crude Joking (Ephesians 5:4)
Inner Sins
Bitterness (Hebrews 12:15)
Depravity (Ephesians 4:31, Hebrews 12:16)
Covetousness (Ephesians 5:3, Ephesians 5:5)
Giving place to the devil (Ephesians 4:27)
Grieving the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30)
Behavioral Sins
Sinful anger (Ephesians 4:26, Ephesians 4:31)
Clamoring against each other (Ephesians 4:31)
Stealing (Ephesians 4:28)
Alcoholism (Titus 2:3)
Scriptural List of What to Practice in Regards to Holiness:
Holiness Towards Others
Kindness (Ephesians 4:32, Titus 2:5)
Tenderheartedness (Ephesians 4:32)
Forgiveness (Ephesians 4:32)
Love (Ephesians 5:2, 1 Thessalonians 3:12, 1 Thessalonians 4:9, 1 Timothy 2:15, Titus 2:4)
Teachers of good things (Titus 2:3)
Obedience to husbands (Titus 2:5)
Quiet Living/following peace (1 Thessalonians 4:11, Hebrews 12:11, 14)
Giving to the needy (Ephesians 4:28)
Verbal Holiness
Edifying Communication (Ephesians 4:29)
Truthfulness (Ephesians 4:25)
Giving Thanks (Ephesians 5:4)
Inner Holiness
Righteousness (Romans 6:19, Ephesians 4:24, Hebrews 12:11)
Fear of God (2 Corinthians 7:1)
Blamelessness (1 Thessalonians 3:13)
Behavioral Holiness
Separation from paganism/idolatry (2 Corinthians 6:17, Ephesians 5:5)
Honest labor (Ephesians 4:28, 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12, Titus 2:5)
Possessing oneself with honor (1 Thessalonians 4:4)
Self-control/Soundness of mind (1 Timothy 2:15, Titus 2:4, Titus 2:5)
Abiding in the Faith (1 Timothy 2:15)
Chastity (Titus 2:5)
Take careful notice of these categories. The New Testament authors taught strongly against sexual sin, verbal sin, inner sins and sinful behaviors. Equally strongly, they urged for inner holiness, holiness in the treatment of others, holiness of words to others, and holy behavior. Notice what is not mentioned in all these passages; a holiness appearance is never mentioned.
Sexual sin and lust were taught against repetitively, while chastity, honor and love were upheld; these principles would seem to lead to decency of dress, however, not even modest clothing was directly linked to holiness, neither was gender distinct clothing. Furthermore, jewelry, cosmetics, organized sports, dancing, public entertainment, facial hair, body piercing and tattoos all existed, and were even common practice in the first century, but they are not even named in the biblical passages on holiness.What then, is the biblical basis for preaching against these things as the evidence of personal holiness? Why is it that when a holiness preacher announces that he will be preaching holiness that we brace for a sermon on sleeve-length and makeup rather than tenderheartedness and giving to the needy? Could it be, that preaching which puts the emphasis on an outward appearance is not actually holiness preaching from a biblical standpoint?
It could certainly be argued that in applying principles of humility and modesty, Christians will tend towards an outer appearance that does not put themselves in the limelight. However, scripture leaves discerning the details of this appearance entirely up to the individual Christian. There are no external regulations such as “hand-breadth past thy knee” or “abstain from all appearance of paint”. How, then, can modern day preachers be comfortable in setting hard and fast rules when not even the apostles would do such? Can we really improve upon the Biblical standard of holiness? Or are we standing in danger of adding to God’s Word, while neglecting to teach the genuine principles of holiness?
Sources:
All Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version
Definitions/word clarification taken from https://biblehub.com/greek and the English Standard VersionFind this interesting? Check out all of our articles here.
While I appreciate your desire to challenge tradition with truth. It is needful that you provide the full evidence of your claims. One does not have to be part of the so called Holiness Movement to notice a bias in this statement “Take careful notice of these categories. The New Testament authors taught strongly against sexual sin, verbal sin, inner sins and sinful behaviors. Equally strongly, they urged for inner holiness, holiness in the treatment of others, holiness of words to others, and holy behavior. Notice what is not mentioned in all these passages; a holiness appearance is never mentioned.”. The simple truth is that holiness is linked to appearance and apparel. The way we dress matters. 1 Timothy 2:9. The call to modest dress with bashfulness, is a call for holiness. 2 Corithians 7:1 . To cleanse ourselves from the filthiness of the flesh is a call to Holiness in appearance.
Hi, I appreciate your engagement with our content, but I believe you overlooked a key point. Natalie’s claim is not that the Bible says nothing about personal appearance. Her claim is that in every New Testament passage which specifically talks about holiness, appearance is never mentioned. Her claim is both true and relevant. True, because she examined every passage before she said it and relevant because it shows what God chose to emphasize. It’s fair to say that we should follow all of God’s commands, but it’s also true to say that some commands are central starting points and some are outgrowths of a vibrant faith.
You will never get a congregation to a vibrant faith by focusing on the things that God mentioned occasionally at the expense of the commands that God repeated all the time. Perhaps your church does a great job of “majoring on the majors,” but the churches I knew which held to strict appearance standards had it completely backwards. They would be quick to point out a dress code violation, but known sins of all other sorts were rarely confronted. This is the problem which Natalie is addressing, by refocusing not only on what the Bible says, but also on what it emphasizes.
The problem I had with that statement it “seems” to make the case that the NT testament apostles singled out the concept of dress holiness as not important. ” Notice what is not mentioned in all these passages; a holiness appearance is never mentioned.”But history and tradition teaches shows us that early christians, even though they were not uniform about what to allow and what not to allow, yet place a sufficient emphasis of dress with regards to Holiness. I know you have read the works of Tertullian and Origen. But I will advise that you follow the Youtube series by David Bercot, as he deals with this subject too.I will look for more material on these subjects and probably share the with you.
Best Regards in our Lord Jesus Christ
Nkorni Katte
The article is a well written itemized list of things that are specifically mentioned, but what is missing and what separates apostolic churches from others is principles. We can see the principle of separation from creation, through Abram, and eventually woven through to the New Testament. While X [fill in the blank] may not be specifically mentioned, there is probably a principle behind X that a pastor would teach. X might not be a heaven or hell issue, but once taught in love, the hearer will be challenged to consider the principle.
While I would not teach “X is evil”, I would teach a believer to think about the purpose of X and to pray about X. I’ve been to a church that made short sleeves a heaven and hell issue, then to churches that didn’t see it as any issue whatsoever. Both pastors were elders, soul winners, and had genuine love for people. The pastor that preached against short sleeves did so because of several occasions where females would raise their arms and reveal too much. The Bible nowhere mentions short sleeves, it was the prerogative of the pastor.
From reading the articles on your site, I can tell exactly your origins. I’ve taken a course on statement analysis and I can see in your writing the old wounds. My caution would be against marginalizing churches, even if accidentally. I would also clarify that the first saints called Christians in Acts 11 were taught by the apostles for a whole year. Their doctrine was clear. A person must be born into the family name of Jesus through baptism and must have the Spirit of Christ or will be none of his. One of your articles seemed to embrace a universal church. Do you believe that a person must be baptized in Jesus’ name and receive the Holy Ghost, evidenced by speaking in tongues, in order to become part of the family of God?
Nathan, this might be a stretch, but allow me the latitude to compare the church family to a natural family. In the natural family there is a parent, an authority figure, that will lead by example and teach their kids. Eventually, the baby that runs around without clothes would be expected to dress appropriately. It’s the parents’ job to teach their kids what is appropriate in their family.
My four kids grew up hearing, “you’re a reflection of your mom and I”. Could we not say that a pastor, as an authority figure, has an obligation to teach about how the church family should appropriately reflect the church? The issue is “when”. I believe that there is a time to teach and that time usually is when a person asks questions regarding dress.
I’ve been in a church once where I had no right to question anything. Every “why” was considered rebellious. The best that I could expect when asking “why”, even with the best attitude, was met with, “Why do you want to know that?” and a narcissistic demeaning invalidating sarcastic glare. Thank God that experience was many many years ago, but that experienced has helped me to pastor with love and understanding and to understand the great need of the hour to teach “why”.
Thank you again for taking our content seriously and engaging with it!
In this article, my purpose is not to do away with the concept that Christians ought to glorify Christ in every aspect, appearance included. My purpose is to restore a proper, biblical emphasis on how Christ’s holiness will evidence itself in our lives. Instead of reading into the statement, “a holiness appearance is never mentioned,” I would like you to determine its truth value. Is it a true statement or is it not?
If it is a true statement, then I believe it is high time for Christians who love holiness to re-evaluate our emphasis. It is extremely common for the words “holiness” and “holiness standard” to be referring to outward appearance and little else. However, if the New Testament authors, who lived in cultures just as depraved as our own, never even mentioned outward appearance when they taught on holiness…then are we really emphasizing issues in the same way scripture does?
You bring up history and tradition; however, the scope of this article is only the New Testament. The emphasis on outward appearance through church history will be dealt with in-depth in future articles. They will follow our existing article on Tertullian and Clement. Remember, even if we could find that church history put a great emphasis on outward appearance, this still must bow to scripture before being accepted as ideal.
In Christ,
Natalie
I really do believe that much of the misunderstanding and division in the Church today is due to Preachers and Teachers who have never taken the time to fully study the Bible all the way through, before they get involved in ministry. The Bible has much to say about being “fully prepared unto every good work”:
2 Chronicles 12:14 – And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the LORD.
2 Chronicles 27:6 – So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the LORD his God.
Joshua 4:4 – Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man:
1 Chronicles 15:3 – And David gathered all Israel together to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the LORD unto his place, which he had prepared for it.
Ezra 7:10 – For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.
2 Timothy 2:21 – If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.
Luke 12:47 – And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
2 Chronicles 20:33 – Howbeit the high places were not taken away: for as yet the people had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 – All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
The Baptist have done a better job of preparing people for ministry in the past, but the Pentecostals have done much better in the last 50 years too. Unfortunately, the Pentecostals have put too much emphasis on education and not enough on prayer, fasting, and obedience. Some of the Pentecostal organizations have become lukewarm and full of compromise. Alot of the division among the Holiness Pentecostals over Holiness issues is because they allow people to be ordained who have not fully studied their Bibles in a proper setting with the right kind of God-called anointed people. I have met people who have said, “I don’t need to go to Bible School, I have my Bible and that’s all I need”. What they are really saying is, “I don’t want somebody telling me what to do or I don’t want to submit to authority”. But the Bible says that God will resist the proud in spirit (James 4:6). The Bible also says that we are to submit ourselves one to another in the fear of God (1 Cor.16:16; Hebrews 13:17; 1 Peter 5:5). Many of these types of people are really “country folk” who don’t have much education and they resist any kind of education or authority in their lives. They want to be a “free” person and do as they please, and they naturally attract people of the same caliber. I don’t believe that everybody needs to go to Bible school in a school or church setting, but this is an exception. Some parents have done a great job of educating their children through their godly lives and godly example. And yes it’s true that there are many “educated fools” in the church today who have become very liberal and full of sin and compromise. Many of these problems exist because there is no oversight (1 Peter 5:2) due to bribes and the love of money and people who want to use the pulpit to express their hatred and anger against others. Some organizations have been guilty of allowing many people to be members who are members of the KKK and Racist in the past. We must ask God to baptize us with the Holy Ghost and Divine love, we must seek His face in a greater way than ever if we are to make progress in world evangelization. We have to ask God to deliver us from selfishness and conform us to the image of His Son Jesus (Romans 8). We have to put prayer back in our homes and churches first if we expect prayer to be back in our schools and government. We have people who attend Holiness churches who come to church on Sunday to worship a God they don’t even pray to during the week. Many in the church have become weak, sickly, and have died (fallen asleep) because they won’t rightly discern the Lord’s body (1 Corinthians 11:30). There should be the Fruit of the Spirit in a person’s life if the Spirit is really there! (John 15; Galatians 5). The greatest gift is love and this is the more excellent way (1 Corinthians 13).