Holiness vs. Man-Made Rules

When Strict Rules Fail

A successful Ruckmanite pastor would post on the internet, insisting that Christians had to obey a list of man-made rules in order to live holy lives. The list included various dress codes, restrictions on music, places where Christians were not allowed to go, and others.

Another pastor, who had graduated from a strict Bible college that had commanded those same rules, wrote in to ridicule him. He had turned against those rules, and he now practiced scorn and ridicule on those who obeyed them. Later, it turned out that the second pastor was having an affair while still pastoring his church.

The first pastor went on in triumph, until his wife caught him having an affair that had lasted nine months. A few weeks later, he was back on the internet, teaching with authority, as if nothing had happened.

While there have always been scandals in the ministry, Ruckmanites (people who believe that the King James Version IS the Word of God, and it is sinful to use any other translation) have had a far heavier share than most; yet they have stricter rules than most.

Is it possible to live a holy life without obeying a list of man-made rules?

A believer has a holy nature that is the seed of Christ in them. 1John 3:9 That which is born of God, the new creation, is a holy and righteous nature. It is a new man that cannot sin. Still the old man, the flesh, lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. Gal. 5:17 The old man can never be made better because it is flesh. It doesn't need to be taken to the hospital to be cured but to the cross to be crucified. True holiness is that holiness which is in Christ alone. It is that holiness which He gives us without which no man shall see the Lord. There are no degrees to righteousness or holiness. It must be perfect to be accepted. You are either holy and righteous or you aren't. If you are almost holy you ain't holy.

Col 2:20 Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: 21 "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"? 22 These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. 23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

2Ti 4:3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.


It appears to me that Paul has quite completely answered this question in two different places somewhat glued together...

Originally Posted by Vince53

When Strict Rules Fail



A successful Ruckmanite pastor would post on the internet, insisting that Christians had to obey a list of man-made rules in order to live holy lives. The list included various dress codes, restrictions on music, places where Christians were not allowed to go, and others.



Another pastor, who had graduated from a strict Bible college that had commanded those same rules, wrote in to ridicule him. He had turned against those rules, and he now practiced scorn and ridicule on those who obeyed them. Later, it turned out that the second pastor was having an affair while still pastoring his church.



The first pastor went on in triumph, until his wife caught him having an affair that had lasted nine months. A few weeks later, he was back on the internet, teaching with authority, as if nothing had happened.



While there have always been scandals in the ministry, Ruckmanites (people who believe that the King James Version IS the Word of God, and it is sinful to use any other translation) have had a far heavier share than most; yet they have stricter rules than most.



Is it possible to live a holy life without obeying a list of man-made rules?

I guess I would have to ask what you mean by holy.

But in general, if we live lives focused on Christ and Him crucified, then He takes care of the rest.

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"We are like dwarfs sitting on the shoulders of giants. We see more, and things that are more distant, than they did, not because our sight is superior or because we are taller than they, but because they raise us up, and by their great stature add to ours." John of Salisbury, 1159

As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.

Amazing that we can't learn the lesson of the Jewish Pharisees that ruled during the time of Jesus Christ. They too were following rules - some of them "man made" but others based on the ten commandments. However, they rejected the Lord Jesus Christ and most likely died and went to Hell. Now doesn't that answer the question about strict adherence to rules (without Faith and Fruits of the Spirit such as Love, patience, kindness, etc)?

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For God did not send his Son into to the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him (John 3:17)


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How the Rules Began

It helps if you understand where, when, and how today's bunch of man-made rules began. In the early part of the twentieth century, Hollywood found that movies provided a lucrative method of introducing immorality, glamor, and worldliness to the general population. At a time of strict government laws against indecency, Hollywood fought for sin, and wealthy producers made a fortune doing so. A small number of rebellious women began wearing pants in public. Playing cards provided opportunities to gamble, drink, and neglect families.

A small number of churches objected, but these objections were not well-organized....yet.

Why Fundamentalists Accepted the Rules

"Modernists" are people within Christianity who seek to turn their church or denomination away from Christ. In the early twentieth century, they were opposed by the "fundamentalists," who believed the fundamental Christian doctrines. The fundamentalists were not a new group; Christianity had always believed in the Deity of Christ and His virgin birth, the literal Second Coming of Christ, His literal resurrection from the dead, salvation by faith alone, and the total innerrancy of the Bible.

Having rejected Christ, modernists also rejected holy living, which is a natural product of the new birth (which they also rejected). Fundamentalists over-reacted, preaching holy living (which the Bible commands) but adding man-made rules that dealt with the current situation.

They preached against movies, cards, women wearing slacks, and various other offenses. At one time, some of these rules might have made some sense. But as the decades rolled by, the "current situation" that had produced these rules changed. Fundamentalists found themselves stuck with obsolete rules that their own people did not want to obey. Their response? Preach heavily on these rules; it was the only way to keep them in force.

The old "we don't smoke, drink, cuss, or chew, nor run around with them that do" mentality, whereby personal holiness was judged by outward adherence to strict rules of outward behavior, which do nothing to change the heart. Man has this inherent desire to lord it over others, to control others, mark and separate, and in general perpetuate a carnal, unholy attitude toward others. Usually, the strict rule crowd looks down their nose at the heathen, and others who claim to be Christian, but don't live by their strict rules. All they have done is exchanged easily identifiable "outward sins" for the more subtle and ultimately more deadly "inner sins" of pride, envy, lust and greed.

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Jas 1:2-4 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. But let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth! (Psa 57:5)

We didn't believe in order to be born again, we were born again in order to believe.

I am the watchman on the wall....

No Matter Where You Go, There You Are...
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Do Man-Made Rules Make You Holy?

Is it possible to obtain holiness by obeying a list of man-made rules?

Col 2:20 Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations--
21 "Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,"
22 which all concern things which perish with the using--according to the commandments and doctrines of men?
23 These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.

Paul explains that these man-made rules only appear to have wisdom, because they cause you to sacrifice. But they do not improve your flesh or keep you from sin.

Holiness=Separation

We have seen that holiness cannot be obtained by obeying a list of man-made rules. So, how do you obtain holiness?

The words "holy," "sanctified," and "separate" are all the same words in the Greek and Hebrew. "Holiness" means "separation." It does not mean "spiritual" or "religious." The Bible uses these three words in only two ways: separation from sin, and separated to God. TO BECOME HOLY, YOU NEED TO SEPARATE FROM SIN.

Okay, how does this happen?