holiness

The True Meaning of Holiness

November 3, 2022 // 16 Comments

When I was a teenager, I was involved in a band with some church friends. There were four of us in the band and I played the keyboard. One day, I got in an argument with the guitarist. It was an argument that Christian musicians have been having for centuries. My friend: “We’re a Christian band. We should [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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. (Ephesians 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 [...]

If We’re Holy, Why Does God Call Us to be Holy?

August 22, 2014 // 38 Comments

Here’s a question grace preachers hear a lot: “If we are already holy, then why does God call us to be holy?” Answer: He’s calling us to be who we truly are. He is saying, “You are my sanctified children. Act like it. Be who I made you to be.” As D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones once said: Holiness is not [...]

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 [...]

Why Was the Seventh Day Holy?

June 1, 2012 // 87 Comments

When God made the heavens and the earth, everything he did was good. And yet none of the six days of creation was considered holy. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy. (Genesis 2:3) Have you ever wondered about that? God made the stars and planets and it was good – but not holy. God made the [...]

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 [...]