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The Wholeness of Holiness |
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By Dr. Arlo Newell Former Editor-in-Chief, Vital Christianity |
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The reality of our faith reveals to us the holiness of God. More than a descriptive adjective telling us what He is like, holiness reveals the very nature of His being. It speaks of His transcendency over all creation, of His awesome glory, and His impeccable character. Angelic beings praised Him, saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts! The whole earth is full of his glory” (Isa. 6:3). And through inspired writers God revealed His desire that we, too, share in this holiness. The Old Testament writer of Leviticus declared: “For I am the Lord your God: Ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy” (11:44).
This same truth was proclaimed to the early church in the Epistle of First Peter: “As he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all conversation: Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy” (1:15-16).
Rather than being an impossible dream for the child of God, the experience of holiness needs to be viewed as God’s plan for His people and made possible through the Person of the Holy Spirit.
Basic to our understanding of holiness is the concept of wholeness and completeness. God does not do things by halves! He does not leave His revelation or His redemption unfinished. And nothing is more contradictory to Christian theology than disunity, disharmony, and discord among those
professing to know Christ. While knowing this theologically we have experienced great difficulty in expressing it practically. The community of faith is plagued with broken relationships, fragmented families and spiritual schisms.
Everett L. Cattell, in his book The Spirit of Holiness, has written: “One of the most serious criticisms made against ‘holiness sects’ is their predisposition to strife and division.” Whether in “holiness sects” or in major religious denominations, it is a contradiction to Biblical theology to see the people of God divided. Division is a sin! It is like a demonic disease, crippling the effectiveness of the church’s witness. Disease has been simply defined as “disease.” When there is no unity, no peace, no wholeness of integrated Christian faith, then there is need for holiness. The blood of Christ brings peace for the guilt-ridden soul. The mind of Christ brings peace to the troubled intellect. The virtue of Christ brings healing to the afflicted body. Holiness is the way to wholeness in every area of your being as a person.
If you are struggling with inner turmoil, the inability to accept yourself and to relate properly to others, this chapter is for you. God is not merely a spiritual “guru,” ministering through meditation and mental gymnastics. He is the God of reality, ministering to your total personality. Forgiveness of sins is foundational, but God has also planned for the total redemption of your life. He desires, not merely to prepare you for heaven, but to help you live victoriously over sin in this present life.
The perfect plan of salvation from sin was formulated, Peter states, “before the foundation of the world . . .” (1 Pet. 1:20). Perfection implies “wholeness”! Nothing is missing! When God viewed His creation He measured it for its unity, harmony, symmetry, and beauty, and said, “It is good” (see Gen. 1:31). Salvation history reveals that God fulfilled all of His promises in this same manner. He kept His covenant with Abraham. He did raise up a people for His Name, and He did send the promised Messiah. Paul wrote, “When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law” (Gal. 4:4-5). All of this was foretold by the prophets, and made possible the complete redemption of humanity. The account of Christ on Calvary speaks of the holiness of God. His cry of fulfillment, “It is finished!” denotes the fact that the “whole” plan of redemption had been completed. The Greek word used in this account is teleos, meaning a completed act. Christ did not stop short of the fulfillment of God’s perfect will. Holiness centers in completeness. Christ was and is the perfect sacrifice; none other need ever be made. Every believer in Christ has entered into the “everlasting covenant,” and the extent of the work of redemption is limitless.
The Hebrew writer states: “He is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him” (7:25).
Understanding the word uttermost applies not to how long He saves, but to the depth or degree to which He is able to save. The extent of saving grace goes beyond the initial forgiveness of sin to the sanctifying of our very nature by the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Many persons have been “born again,” find themselves struggling with divided desires, undisciplined appetites, and strained interpersonal relationships. While having found the forgiveness of sin, they have not been able to find the peace of God that is available through the Holy Spirit. Questions arise, like, “Must I continue this war within?” “Is there no peace in Christ other than this knowledge of forgiveness?” “Does He only save me ‘in my sin’?” or “Can I be set ‘free from my sin’?” While not a panacea for spiritual ills, holiness provides an answer to these questions, for all of them deal with the “wholeness” that can be ours.
Sanctification of the Whole Person Paul, having experienced this struggle in his own soul, wrote to the Christians in Thessalonica. Without question, he affirmed that this unifying experience of holiness was God’s will for every believer (1 Thess. 4:3). God has called us not only to conversion but to the wholeness of holiness (4:7). Being so concerned for these Christians whom he loves, Paul prays: “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (5:23). The use of the word wholly is indicative of the completeness of this work of grace. Having experienced new life in Christ through being “born again” by the Holy Spirit, the believer finds within a hunger for holiness. Redemption has restored in the creature the image of the Creator. Now the desire is to do His will, becoming more and more like Him in true holiness. This quest for more of God’s likeness brings each person to a deeper experience of divine grace.
Dr. Paul S. Rees, beloved world Christian, has said that “Too often we have become connoiseurs of terms, rather than consumers of truth.” He is correct in that too often we place the emphasis on terminology rather than theology. Truth is truth, whether we call it “sanctification,” “second-blessing holiness,” or in the words of John Wesley, “perfect love.” Of this we may be sure, there is a crisis experience in the Holy Spirit beyond initial conversion which makes possible the wholeness of the child of God. This experience deals with the “whole man including his intellect, emotion, will, and his body as far as it is under the control of his will in voluntary actions. The holy man is the whole man, integrated, harmonized within by his supreme, inclusive purpose to realize in himself and others the moral image of God revealed in Christ, God incarnate.”
Please Be Patient God Is Not Finished with Me Yet
The first-century church experienced this complete filling of the Holy Spirit. While being made possible by the blood of Christ (Heb. 13:12), this “sanctification” (setting apart) was the result of divine-human interaction, involving the human will to consent and God’s power to sanctify. Dr. Ralph Earl says, “The common usage of the two terms to affirm that a human consecration is the prerequisite for a divine sanctification.” Consecration is more than an emotional response to religious ecstasy. It is the instantaneous, willful, decisive act of surrender on the part of God’s child—forevermore yielding every avenue of one’s being to the control of the Holy Spirit. Such a commitment does not end with one glorious moment, but is a continuing, growing experience of obedience to God’s will. While claimed instantaneously by faith, it is to be lived out progressively. While beginning with a crisis, it is also a process in spiritual development. In the act of sanctification nothing essentially human is removed. Rather, it is the cleansing of the inner self as we consecrate all to God. Mildred Bangs Wynkoop, in her excellent book, Foundations of Wesleyan-Arminian Theology, speaks of the evidence of this infilling as follows:
“A heart wholly loving God—a unified personality—is the badge. No part of the human psyche can be left out. The regenerating and cleansing effects of the grace of God go at least as deep now as the ‘heart,’ out of which ‘come the issues of life.’
“The New Testament teaches that it is the self itself that is cleansed from double-mindedness (James 1:8) and sin (1 John 1:9).” All of our human emotions are left fully intact, but cleansed and sensitized by the Holy Spirit. Too long we have failed to openly acknowledge that a “saint” becomes angry, loves deeply, and may have a real sense of spiritual pride. But this human nature once stained by sin has been forgiven by His grace, consecrated to His will, and cleansed by His Spirit. Holiness is the way to wholeness!
Love Divine, All Loves Excelling Charles Wesley Love Divine, all loves excelling, Come, Almighty to deliver, Joy of heaven, to earth come down, Let us all thy life receive; Fix in us thy humble dwelling, Suddenly return, and never All thy faithful mercies crown; Nevermore thy temples leave. Jesus, thou art all compassion, Thee we would be always blessing, Pure, unbounded love thou art; Serve thee as thy hosts above, Visit us with thy salvation, Pray, and praise thee without ceasing, Enter every trembling heart. Glory in thy perfect love.
Breathe, O breathe thy loving Spirit Finish, then, thy new creation; Into every troubled breast; Pure and spotless let us be; Let us all in thee inherit, Let us see thy great salvation Let us find thy promised rest; Perfectly restored in thee; Take away our bent to sinning; Changed from glory into glory, Alpha and Omega be; Till with thee we take our place, End of faith, as its beginning, Till we cast our crowns before thee, Set our hearts at liberty. Lost in wonder, love and praise.
This is chapter 3 of Receive the Holy Spirit (©1978 Warner Press, Anderson, IN. Used by permission.) Cattell, E.L., The Spirit of Holiness (Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press, 1977) 70 Dayton, Wilbur T., “Holiness Truth in Romans,” Further Insights into Holiness (Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press, 1963) 89 Earl, Ralph, “Consecration and Crucifixion,” Insights into Holiness (Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press, 1966) 79 Wynkoop, Mildred Bangs, Foundations of Wesleyan-Arminian Theology (Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press, 1967) 113-114
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