Search Results for holiness

The Whole Meaning of Holiness

January 23, 2020 // 34 Comments

One of the reasons why we don’t walk in the freedom that the gospel brings, is that we have changed the meaning of words. We have made beautiful words ugly and turned truth into lies. We tell ourselves that we are doing what the Bible says, but since we have redefined words in the Bible, we are fooling [...]

Beware “Practical Holiness”

July 27, 2012 // 67 Comments

Life under the old covenant was so much simpler than the free and confusing world of grace. Back then if you wanted to stay on the straight and narrow, you just had to keep all the rules. But in the kingdom of grace, there are no rules (1 Cor 6:12). A good marriage doesn’t need them. For those unacquainted with [...]

What is Holiness? (It’s Better Than You Think!)

May 23, 2012 // 86 Comments

“Holiness is avoiding sin. It’s being set apart from the world and staying undefiled.” Or so we’ve been told. The problem with defining holiness like this is that it doesn’t actually describe a God who is holy. God was holy long before there was any sin to avoid. He was unblemished before there were [...]

7 Useless Definitions of Holiness

May 21, 2012 // 28 Comments

An old tale is told about a group of blind men who encounter an elephant for the first time. The first blind man man touches the leg and concludes, “Elephants are like trees.” “Oh no,” says the blind man touching the ear. “Elephants are like fans.” “You’re both wrong,” says the man touching the [...]

What Does it Mean to Fall from Grace?

May 5, 2022 // 8 Comments

“Did you hear about that celebrity pastor and his secretary? What a fall from grace!” The fall-from-grace phrase is sometimes used to describe famous people who have fallen into sin, but that is not what fall from grace means in the Bible. When you sin you don’t fall from grace but into grace. It’s [...]

Are Women Saved through Childbearing?

February 22, 2022 // 7 Comments

One of the strangest verses in the Bible is found in Paul’s first letter to Timothy: But women will be saved through childbearing – if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety. (1 Timothy 2:15) If there was ever a verse that could be misused to promote patriarchy and dead works, it’s this [...]

What Burdens Does Jesus Place On Us?

April 14, 2021 // 11 Comments

Thyatira is considered one of the bad churches in the Bible. You may recall they had allowed a woman called Jezebel to preach and she led some of the believers astray. So Jesus sent them a letter where he basically says, “I’m going to deal with this.” He ends his letter with this: I place no other [...]

How to be Holy

June 9, 2020 // 27 Comments

Jesus is the only one of us who lived undamaged by sin. He walked among the wreckage of fallen humanity as a beacon of wholeness and health. Jesus knew no sin yet the writer of Hebrews tells us he “learned obedience” and was “made perfect” (Heb. 5:8–9). That sounds like a contradiction, as though Jesus [...]

How Do We Become Lukewarm?

March 28, 2019 // 59 Comments

Many Christians are lukewarm, but not for the reasons they think. “I don’t go to church enough, I don’t pray enough, I don’t witness enough.” Let me stop you right there. How much is enough? How many people do you need to lead to Jesus to stop him from vomiting you out of his mouth? The answer is zero, [...]

What Does it Mean to be One with the Lord?

January 4, 2018 // 51 Comments

Many Christians don’t know how good they’ve got it. In our union with Christ he has blessed us by giving us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly world. (Eph 1:3, GNB) One with the Lord, you are blessed indeed. In fact, 100 percent of your blessings come as the result of being in union with Christ. [...]

Are You Lukewarm? Take the Test

August 17, 2017 // 63 Comments

Lukewarm is what you get when you mix hot with cold. It’s mixing the white-hot love of God with the stone-cold commands of the Bible. It’s mixing the new and everlasting covenant of grace with the obsolete covenant of law. Are you lukewarm? You might be if… 1. You think Christians need the law The law is [...]

The “I Wills” of God

July 20, 2017 // 43 Comments

At the foot of Mt Sinai the Israelites boasted We will do everything the Lord commands. (Ex 19:8) Perhaps you have said something similar, but this is a fatal boast, and a recipe for disaster. Make an impossible promise and you will invariably break it. What the Lord demands you cannot provide. This is the lesson [...]