Adopted into Holiness.

Holiness. It’s a heavy word; it is the word that started a lot of my searching …

What really is holiness? What does it mean to be holy? How can I be holy? What do I have to do in order to be holy? As someone who grew up in the UPCI church and was preached “holiness” and “holiness standards” for her entire life when I hear of holiness I instantly think of a list of rules (or in Pentecostal language – standards)

The actual definition of “holy” means that we are, “set apart for honorable use” or via google “Dedicated or consecrated to God or a religious purpose; sacred.”

The best analogy I can think of for becoming holy is adoption.

Every human is born into sin. We are formed in sin and shapen in iniquity (Psalms 51:5)

Every single one of us a “bad egg” capable of sin and. Thanks to our flesh and fleshly desires, sin comes to us easily and feels natural.

We become holy when we are adopted by God. Holiness is given to us like a new last name. The only thing that is required of us to “become holy” or join into God’s family is a willingness. We must want it to get it. Once we are adopted our old name is gone, we are a new person with a new name (Our old fleshly self is gone, and we have a new heart and new desires). Titus 3:3–5 says it best, (ESV): 3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.

Once we are adopted, we can choose to go by our new name and the new life that is given to us, or if we choose, we can continue in our old life and “keep our old name.”

If you were adopted and continued to live at an orphanage, keep your old name, and never see your new parents would anyone believe you were adopted? No. Holiness works similarly.

When Jesus saves us, He applies His righteousness to our lives, He adopts us into His family and gives us new hearts. With our new hearts we pursue God, and we strive after His ways and work to be like Him; we continue in the way of righteousness and maintain holiness. 2 Timothy 2:21 (ESV): 21 "Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work."

God wants to cleanse us, to adopt us into His family and apply His holy, righteousness to our messy lives. God wants to lead us and make us His. The Bible teaches us that God’s righteousness is applied to our lives when upon salvation we receive His holy Spirit. We become “set apart” and “holy” without any works or actions on our part, it is given to us. We, ourselves will never be holy. 1 Samuel 2:2 (ESV): 2 “There is none holy like the LORD: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God.” God’s holiness is perfection. It is God’s perfection that is applied to our lives and makes it possible for us to one day be saved, sanctified, and go to heaven. Like adoption, we are no longer known by our past, who are birth parents are, or our history; we have a new Father now, a new name, and a new reputation attached to us.

We will never, ever be able to be sinless or even “good enough” to go to heaven on our own. If Christ had not come, lived a life without sin and sacrificed Himself on the cross none of us would stand a chance. That is the beauty of the gospel, that Jesus Christ died for us because no matter how hard we try- we will never be good enough. The perfect life that God lived get applied to our life if we allow it to be. We are adopted by Jesus and receive His name, reputation, and the perfect, sinless life that He lived. That is how we become holy.

Now, just like any gift we can choose to keep or to give away what has been given to us...

Ephesians 4:22–24 (ESV): 22 "to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. "

When we decide that yes, we want to be a part of the family, we want to be adopted by Jesus and have that new heart and new name that He is offering to us then we choose to no longer be the sinner we were born as. When we accept God’s gift of salvation, we cast off the old person we once were and choose to go by a new name, a new identity, and become a new person. But, you do not magically change everything about yourself overnight... changing the person you were born as takes time. Your old life is not going to magically go away or change just because you were “adopted”.

It takes time to grow and to change. It takes effort and work to grow in Christ and to maintain the holiness that Jesus gives us. Life still happens, and even though we become better people because of Jesus, we will never be perfect. It is God’s design for us to maintain the gifts of holiness and righteousness that He freely gives us by growing our relationship with Him. Romans 12:1 (ESV): 12 "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. "And in 1 Peter 1:13–16 (ESV): 13 "Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

To continue practicing holiness, maintain holiness, or trying to live a “holy lifestyle” is simply trying to be like our heavenly Father, Jesus. We are trying daily to cast off fleshly desires and live a life that reflects God’s love, goodness, and the teaching that He instructed us in. We will never be perfect (and perfection is not the goal) we are simply trying our best to reflect Him and His name in our life.

Holiness is maintained by striving every single day of our lives to be less like the sinner we were born as and more like the righteous, good, and holy God that gave His life for us... and the great news is that the Bible instructs in exactly how to be like Him and maintain His righteousness. After the verse above in Ephesians (4:24) the rest of that book of the Bible gives us exact instructions on what God wants us to be like, behave as, and strive for..... and the things He does not want us to be like or do.

The important thing to remember about holiness is that it is not achieved by following a list of rules. Much like the fruits of the Spirit, holiness will grow within us our relationship with Jesus grows. Galatians 5:16–18 (ESV): 16 "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. "

You are made holy and set apart from the world by Jesus when you choose to accept His gift of salvation. Holiness is not obtained by anything we as human can physically do. Holiness can be maintained and kept as a part of our lives by pursuing a relationship with our Savior and growing in relationship with Him. As our relationship with Jesus grows and strengthens His grace, power, and influence over our lives becomes stronger and we become more like Him.

I have future posts planned that address common arguments within holiness doctrines and organizations on how we obtain or maintain holiness through works. Today, however, I simply wanted to address my new understanding of what holiness is and how a person may obtain it.