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Holiness: Law OR Grace Pt 1
No comments · Posted by Peter Wilson in Holiness: Law OR Grace., The Power of God's Word
Ps 29:2 Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. (KJV)
The subject of holiness has caused considerable debate and division in Church history. We hear many voices today saying such things as, “God needs to call His Church to return to holy living”, or “We need the presence of the fear of the Lord”, or “We need to repent from our sin and turn back to God”.
Are these statements true, is this the kind of holiness that God is looking for today. Over the coming Blogs I want to unpack holiness and show you what I believe is true holiness.
Let’s begin with Old Testament holiness. When man fell into sin He was banished from the presence of the Lord, he was expelled from the garden of Eden. First, because God didn’t want him to eat from the tree of life and live forever and second, if sin is allowed to remain in God’s presence, His righteousness demands that sin is judged and punished. We see this demonstrated when Aaron’s 2 sons came into the Tab of Moses and offered unauthorised fire before God; immediately, the fire of God broke out and consumed them. ( Lev 10:1,2.)
Even before God created man He foresaw that man would fall into sin and would need to be rescued from that sin. He would need to be restored to God’s righteousness and holiness. So God initiated a 2 stage plan. The first stage was called Old Testament holiness and the second stage was called New Testament Holiness. In my view, it’s the misunderstanding between these 2 types of holiness that has caused the debates, confusion and division.
Before The Mayflower left the shores of Britain for the new world of America, a member of that Pilgrim band called John Robinson said, “I am verily persuaded the Lord hath more truth yet to break forth out of His holy word” ; and today God is restoring the revelation of true biblical holiness to his church.
Meditation Point: How can I worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Is holiness a set of rules and regulations or does it spring forth from within the believer.
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