Understanding Holiness

[JAL]

Psalm 63:
1 O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;

2 To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.

3 Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.

4 Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.

5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:

6 When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.

7 Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.

Deflection. What is Psalm 85:6 referring to exactly? What exactly is revival?

 

[JAL]

And it is by faith that we actively seek Him.
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Exactly. We're not likely to get revival if we foster the Galatian error - we have to seek it.

And most of us are not likely to aggressively seek it until we understand that holiness is passive - that revival is the only way to grow in holiness. And that's the history of the church in a nutshell.

 

[Minister Monardo]

You seem to be deflecting and dancing around the precise question I asked concerning how many times does the Pauline doctrine of justification by faith recur within the lifetime of a Christian.

Justification includes the gracious means of reconciliation with the Father. We can never earn this by good deeds, but we can become estranged by wrongdoing.
Revelation 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.

When we are chastised by the Spirit, the goodness of God leads us to repentance, restoring a right relationship with the Father. This is justification from first to last, as Paul states "until Christ is fully formed in you".
1 John 1: 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
This cleansing of unrighteousness is the work of regeneration by the Holy Spirit.

 

[Minister Monardo]

And most of us are not likely to aggressively seek it until we understand that holiness is passive - that revival is the only way to grow in holiness. And that's the history of the church in a nutshell.

So just a difference in semantics. I do not consider fasting and praying, for example, as passive and yet I fully acknowledge that any holiness I attain is received by the gift of the Spirit of adoption, that is with us always. It is still by faith, as in Hebrews 11:6. As opposed to thinking that I am making myself more holy by volunteering more hours than you at the homeless shelter.

 

[Minister Monardo]

And most of us are not likely to aggressively seek it until we understand that holiness is passive - that revival is the only way to grow in holiness. And that's the history of the church in a nutshell.

And yet the "holier than thou" accusation is normally aimed at people who are all talk.
James 2:12 So speak and so do, as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.

1 Corinthians 11:
31 For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.
32 But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.

 

[Minister Monardo]

Deflection. What is Psalm 85:6 referring to exactly? What exactly is revival?

Asked and answered. It is receiving a fresh outpouring of the Spirit by those who hunger and thirst for it. Who diligently seek, by faith.

 

[Minister Monardo]

we have to seek it.

Jude
20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,
21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

I see this as actively seeking what Christ alone can give. It is not in the power of our own praying, but in the faith that God answers sincere prayer, in the name of His Son.
James 1:6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.

 

[JAL]

Are you sure of your reference? I just re-read Galatians 3 and find nothing to support this sprinkling of outpoured Spirit...

Ok call it an outpouring instead of a sprinkling. But holiness is passive, so a full outpouring would make me instantly as holy as Christ is now. That's why I prefer to call it a light sprinkling.

In any case, I likely won't tarry here much longer (I've got work to do), but I'd like to briefly show you what Andrew Murray saw in chapter 3 of Galatians. To summarize:

(1) I received the Holy Spirit for regeneration. That was an influx of holiness
(2) Therefore, growing in holiness MUST be a matter of receiving more of such outpourings.

Point #2 is one of the main points of Galatians 3. (There's a LOT of good stuff in that chapter but I can't cover it all here). Verses 1 and 2:

"O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?...Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by hearing with faith?"

Already Paul is hinting that sanctification isn't achieved by obeying the Bible but received as an outpouring. Same thing in the next verse - the only Bible the Galatians had was the Law, and Paul says sanctification is NOT advanced by observing the Law.

"3Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?...He therefore that supplies to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?"

How had they begun? By receiving an outpouring. The Galatians need to proceed in the same way begun - they need to receive more outpourings. Gordon Fee wrote:

“The clear implication is that even though [the Galatians] have already received the Spirit, there is another sense in which God ‘supplies’ the Spirit again and again” (Gordon Fee, God’s Empowering Presence (Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994), p. 388).

Paul refers to it as receiving the Spirit by the hearing of faith. The REASON for this is a metaphysics hinted at Isaiah 55:11 (which I cannot detail and defend here) - an outpouring of the Spirit is actually the SPOKEN divine Word of God's mouth. Thus to receive the Spirit is ALSO to hear the voice of the Lord. The two go hand in hand.

Verse 5 again:

"He therefore that supplies to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?"

Now here's the clincher. To the Galatians, Paul wants to PROVE his doctrine of sanctification by appealing to Abraham. In the VERY NEXT VERSE, he appeals to Abraham's justification by faith at Gen 15. Yet Abraham was already justified by faith prior to this point! This raises two questions:
(1) How could Abraham be justified twice?
(2) What has justification got to do with the discussion of the Galatians becoming mature/sanctified?

Again, the heart is volumetric. Faith proper (faith as the fruit of the Spirit as opposed to ordinary self-generated human faith) exists only in those parts of the heart privy to an outpouring. As yet, the rest of the heart is NOT justified by faith (to be technically precise). Thus we can describe sanctification as a series of justifications (outpourings). (Gordon Fee acknowledged that the Galatian epistle mostly has in mind sanctification when it uses the term justification).

Again, verse 6 adduced Abraham's example as proof that justification/sanctification/maturation is a matter of receiving the Holy Spirit again and again, by the hearing of faith. (Such an outpouring is the spoken divine Word per Isaiah 55:11). Let's turn back the pages, to Paul's reference:

"After this, the [divine] word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision [speaking promises] 6Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness." (Gen 15).

This proves Paul's point. Through the hearing of faith (see Rom 10:17), Abraham received an outpouring of the divine Word as a justification by faith. But he was already saved by faith, so this outpouring MUST have been a sanctification. Paul also mentioned miracles received by the hearing of faith. Did Abraham get any miracles? Yes: the promise of a child in his old age, for example.

 

[JAL]

Asked and answered. It is receiving a fresh outpouring of the Spirit by those who hunger and thirst for it. Who diligently seek, by faith.

Right. An outpouring. That does nothing? It's an injection of holiness - holiness that is not humanly ACCOMPLISHED but rather RECEIVED.

 

[Minister Monardo]

(2) Therefore, growing in holiness MUST be a matter of receiving more of such outpourings.

I have no problem with the correct terminology of receiving. I have posted threads on the topic, with the word study lambano [G2983] to receive
John 3:33 He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true.

The problem from the beginning, and you continue in this non Biblical terminology is to say it is passive.
We have been COMMANDED to ask, seek, knock.
What do you think that wonderful smell is just before rain showers? Water? No way, water is odorless. It is the fragrance of God's creation opening up to receive His goodness. I gave you Hebrews 11:6, diligently seeking. We cannot afford to be passive. We pursue holiness, we are God chasers, following hard after Him.
Hebrews 12:14 Pursue peace with all, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord

 

[JAL]

I have no problem with the correct terminology of receiving. I have posted threads on the topic, with the word study lambano [G2983] to receive
John 3:33 He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true.

The problem from the beginning, and you continue in this non Biblical terminology is to say it is passive.
We have been COMMANDED to ask, seek, knock.
What do you think that wonderful smell is just before rain showers? Water? No way, water is odorless. It is the fragrance of God's creation opening up to receive His goodness. I gave you Hebrews 11:6, diligently seeking. We cannot afford to be passive. We pursue holiness, we are God chasers, following hard after Him.
Hebrews 12:14 Pursue peace with all, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord

Ok you are again misconstruing my words. I was clear that we need to seek revival, not just ignore it.

I said that regeneration is a miracle of God. Tell me, when God does a miracle, does He generally ask for your assistance?

Yes we must actively SEEK miracles from God. But that's not to say we ACCOMPLISH those miracles. Rather we RECEIVE them. Such is sanctification - and until the church realizes this fact, it will remain steeped in the Galatian error. Paul called them "fools".

 

[JAL]

@Minister Monardo,

Paul's appeal to Abraham at verse 3:6 is apropos. Abraham was facing a situation - his wife was barren in her old age. What good works could he do to repair her fertility? Nothing. He was helpless.

He had to wait on the Lord to RECEIVE the miracle. He couldn't ACCOMPLISH it.

 

[Minister Monardo]

Again, the heart is volumetric. Faith proper (faith as the fruit of the Spirit as opposed to ordinary self-generated human faith) exists only in those parts of the heart privy to an outpouring. As yet, the rest of the heart is NOT justified by faith (to be technically precise). Thus we can describe sanctification as a series of justifications (outpourings).

Paul addresses this, as did the OP.
2 Corinthians 6:
11 O Corinthians! We have spoken openly to you, our heart is wide open.
12 You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections.
13 Now in return for the same (I speak as to children), you also must be open.
Pursue sanctification!
14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?

15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?

16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said:
“I will dwell in them
And walk among them.
I will be their God,
And they shall be My people.”
17 Therefore
“Come out from among them
And be separate, says the Lord.
Do not touch what is unclean,
And I will receive you.”
18 “I will be a Father to you,
And you shall be My sons and daughters,
Says the Lord Almighty.”

How's this for metaphysics?
John 1:51 And He said to him, Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.

 

[Clare73]

Correct. But practically speaking, as far as daily life is concerned,
rebirth has no known reification other than holiness.

Au contraire. . .

What is "reification," and where is it found in the NT?

I mean, it's not as though you were physically dead and raised to life. The transformation from being spiritually dead, to being spiritually alive, is a transformation from depravity to holiness.

Sounds like you're trying to excessively "spiritualize"

The new birth is nothing but spiritual.

and "mystify" something very practical and easily understood.

Nothing mystifying about my new birth. . .most practical. . .a mighty invasion of the Holy Spirit, filling every part of my being, parts that I didn't even know I had! . . .I could hardly breathe. . .Glory! Glory! Glory!

 

[Joy]

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