Holiness

[Josh4Jesus24/7]

The Bible says without holiness no man shall see Jesus....What do u think about Holiness ways like no pants for women, no make up, for men no long hair and etc............What do u guys think about this

 

[MrPolo]

I think holiness is conformity to Christ. As long as one's dress or appearance isn't scandalous, then he/she can be holy. A person would have to discern whether wearing pants is sinful. I would tend to say no unless they were skin-tight or perhaps with any clothing, if the fashion of it became obsessive or a source of pride for wearing it. Long hair. Not related to holiness unless it is part of being unkept and not treating the body as a temple. Or if it were a source of pride/arrogance. But you see beneath any external visage, is the internal sin.

 

[Anoetos]

I think the holiness movement's emphasis on clothes and behavior often represents a kind of missing the forest for the trees.

Have we not all met folks so intent on censoring the dress and actions of others that they completely miss the fact that they are uncharitable and singularly repellant as ambassadors for Christ?

ISTM that holiness is much more a disposition of humility and gentleness than a tendency to look down on and manipulate others into perceived notions of "Christian propriety".

 

[icamewithasword]

I would think that first you would have to determine what "Holy" is, or what is its meaning.

As I understand it, God is so perfect in His justice, righteousness, knowledge, presence, love, truth, promise,..... that He can only be described in our limited wording as "Holy".
And not just "Holy", but rather "Holy, Holy, Holy". I don't think it has anything to do with whether or not He would wear pants.

None of us will be found "holy", nor could we EVER be found holy. God is the only holy; there will be no other.
It is by Christ's blood that we may be found "righteous" due to His righteousness; but not holy.

Peace.

 

[Serious Faith]

We are to strive to be holy out of our love for God. God commands us to be holy as He is Holy. If we do not have the desire to be holy we need to examine ourselves. For if the Spirit of Christ is within us, He will compel us to live a holy life.

Holiness is a choice we must make daily. Nothing can stop us from making that choice but ourselves. If we love Jesus we will make the choice to obey Him. Obedience produces personal holiness in our lives.

 

[E.C.]

This is getting a bit legalistic, don't ya think?

The spiritual state of someone is between them and God. None else.

 

[Morghaine]

I agree that the spiritual state of someone is between them and God, however, I think we should absolutely help one another as brothers and sisters in Christ that have the same goal, which is holiness. Wesley used to have weekly meetings, and he called on the men that attended to pray together, worship together, and confess their sins of the week to one another so that they could then throughout the coming week help one another avoid the same sin, as well as pray for that person.

I've done numerous studies on holiness, it's a subject dear to me. After all the studies I've done, I'm still not certain that we as humans can achieve holiness - but I do think it's imperative that we try, daily. And a key element to holiness, as discovered through a study done recently, as well as the Bible (of course) is LOVE.

 

[E.C.]

I agree that the spiritual state of someone is between them and God, however, I think we should absolutely help one another as brothers and sisters in Christ that have the same goal, which is holiness.

That is true, yet given its wordage the original poster sounded extremely legalistic as if whether a woman wears a headcovering to church or not is the basis of what will or will not save her soul.

 

[Linnia]

The Bible says without holiness no man shall see Jesus....What do u think about Holiness ways like no pants for women, no make up, for men no long hair and etc............What do u guys think about this

You ask about what we think about Holiness then you define it in your own terms. The word Holy literally means to be set apart. No where in Scripture is the word holy defined in any of the ways you suggested. Not one Scripture says these things make one "holy." In fact, in the Old Testament, men who were Nazarites (which meant "set apart") were forbidden to cut their hair, so long hair for men hardly seems "unholy" as it was required for a Nazarite vow in the Old Testament.

We should all aspire to live holy "set apart" lives, but it's an action of the heart out of love for God, not an outward appearance to earn favor or recognition as being "holy." As someone already stated, only God is holy, and we are to be holy because He is holy. He is not holy because of how He dresses, or because of the length of his hair. God is Spirit so looks and dress have nothing to do with it. God's holiness is who is He is. We need to focus on the motives of our heart, not our outward appearance. Just like the Pharisees who cleaned the outside of the cup while the inside was still dirty did them no favors, holiness will not come if you aspire to "look" holy rather than "be" holy. Yes, modesty will have a place in the life of a Christian, but that desire will come from the heart, not some mandated dress code made up by men who are aspiring to look holy, rather than aspiring to be like the one who IS holy.

 

[Serious Faith]

Amen! Holiness is a matter of the heart, holiness is to be set apart. Genuine love for God will result in obedience, which will result in holiness. If we truly appreciate what Jesus did for us on the cross we will want to express it by choosing to live for Him.

God desires truth in the inward parts. Those that worship God must worship Him in Spirit and in truth. We are to worship Him in the beauty of holiness.

 

[Shahzam]

Perhaps the Op is simply more familiar with Holiness (capital h) teachings more than teachings of holiness. In that case, and since the OP capitalizaed the h in holiness, I understand the question as "What do u think about [the tradition that calls itself] Holiness ways [which include]no pants for women, no make up, for men no long hair and etc."

If this is correct, I think this doctrin of "holiness" to be adding demands to salvation that were never intended to be there. These are not biblical, and the Bible is clear that we are not to add to salvation.

I think that when true salvation was set up, it was done perfectly; any additions to it are preposterous and a slap in the face of the Creator, who also created the way of salvation. Added rules say, "We can make salvation better then You originally planned it."

 

[fireandsalt]

The Bible says without holiness no man shall see Jesus....What do u think about Holiness ways like no pants for women, no make up, for men no long hair and etc............What do u guys think about this

I believe that to live a life of holiness requires a separation from the world. This includes modest of dress as well as appearance.

 

[Shahzam]

I believe that to live a life of holiness requires a separation from the world. This includes modest of dress as well as appearance.

Absolutely, and please add to that modesty of behavior.

But I think that too often, people mistake modesty for plain, old-fashioned weirdness, and I have actually HEARD people back up that belief by quoting the Scripture that says we will be "a peculiar people." These need to do a little work on word-meanings.

We are not called to weirdness; we are called to be separate from the unsaved by having behavior and modesty that best represents our Savior and a changed life because of Him.

Am I there yet? Am I perfect? No! I am learning just how imperfect I am, but by the grace of the One who saved us, I am learning, growing, and becomeing stronger through my weakness -- the weakness where He best shows His strength.

Oh, yes -- and modesty does not stop with one single gender!

 

[LST 1154]

None of us will be found "holy", nor could we EVER be found holy. God is the only holy; there will be no other.
It is by Christ's blood that we may be found "righteous" due to His righteousness; but not holy.

Peace.

If we are not to be holy why would we be commanded to be holy? 1 Peter 1:16, "Be ye holy; for I am holy." Again we are commanded to be holy in Eph 1:4, "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love." We are holy now! Col 1:22, "But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation." The apostle Paul in Romans 12:1 says, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship. In Titus 1:8, the apostle Paul says a church elder "must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self‑controlled, upright, holy and disciplined." The writer of Hebrews in chapter 3 verse 1 calls us "holy brothers." 2 Peter 3:11, the apostle Peter exhorts us that "Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives."

Those who have been "wholly sanctified" are holy and are sanctified!

LST 1154