Hope for Holiness

If you've followed my blog at all, you know that I am a firm believer in the possibility of 100% holiness in this life through the power of God. I must admit that the more I talk about this issue, the more discouraged I get due to the lack of belief I find in Christians. However, I recently came across an article by Keith Drury titled, "The Holiness Movement: Dead or Alive?" Although the article contained some minor issues that I may disagree with, I definitely agree with his main points and especially want to share an excerpt from the end of his article:

2. We should be encouraged because biblical truth always resurfaces.

I believe that the holiness movement—as a movement—is dead. However, the holiness message is not dead, it is suppressed. And I believe it is about to resurface. Why? Because holiness is a biblical truth. Biblical truth always resurfaces sooner or later.

Holiness is pervasive in the Bible. God called unto Himself a holy nation, set aside a holy priesthood, established a holy Sabbath, prescribed only holy sacrifices, to be done on a holy mount, in a holy Temple with a holy place—even a Holy of Holies. God himself is a holy God. And we are "called unto holiness." Without holiness no one shall see the Lord. God says, "I am holy; be ye holy." The Bible constantly and repeatedly calls for our total surrender to God in absolute consecration, for our complete submission to His will, for absolute obedience to His Word, and for separation from the defilement of sin of this world. Holiness is not only the essential characteristic of God’s nature, it is the central emphasis of His Word. God is holy—we are to be holy too.

Holiness is a Bible truth, not some denominational distinctive or pet doctrine of the Wesleyans, Nazarenes, or Free Methodists. It was not invented to provide differentiation in the church marketplace. Holiness is biblical. And as a biblical truth it is sure to resurface. The Holy Spirit leads his people into all truth. The Holy Spirit will lead the church back to this biblical truth. It may be a while yet. It might come in different formats, with a changed language, and under a different heading, but it will resurface we know. Suppressing a Bible truth is like hiding a cork under water. Sooner or later it pops to the surface.

Perhaps we are at the tail end of the "doctrinal-excesses cycle." It is always darkest before dawn. Doctrines have a way of almost disappearing before being rediscovered again. The pattern seems so obvious when we look backwards.

First, a timeless truth is "discovered" and propagated. The truth soon spreads wildly as the solution to a present dilemma—in the case of holiness, sin-bent half-saved Christians. The doctrine and experience moves rapidly across denominational lines as the effective solution to the problem of carnal, immature, powerless Christians. But, sooner or later in the wildfire, excesses are introduced—if a little is good, more is better. In our case the excesses of emotionalism, non-biblical folk theology, and cold-hearted legalism emerged eventually. Finally, when the excesses are full grown, they ignite a reaction, especially in the next generation. In the reaction stage the new generation assents to the written doctrine, but internally rejects its premise. All they can see are the excesses. Their preaching and teaching on holiness is primarily about correcting the past excesses, not propagating the basic truth. Ironically, eventually the corrective becomes the doctrine! The doctrine itself is now shoved underwater. It is hidden, and we go on to other things.

But repressing a biblical doctrine will not last. It cannot last. All doctrines have consequences in daily living. Repressing any biblical truth has consequences for the church. In our case, ignoring the doctrine of holiness has, over time, produced an inadequate God concept, confusion about the judgment side of the gospel, an insufficient doctrine of conversion, and a strain of Christians who are worldly, half-committed, half-hearted . . . half-saved. Today’s problems in the church are the result of excesses again. But this time it is the excesses of the correction we tried to make to the original doctrine. Now we need the original doctrine to correct the excesses of our correction! Is this not where we are today? Are we not poised for another renewal of the message of holiness? I think we are ready for a rediscovery of the holiness message—as a solution to the most pressing problem faced by our churches. We are at the end of the cycle. It is time for a rediscovery! We should be encouraged . . .