I am committed to seeing proper personal holiness re-established in The lives of ordinary Salvationists and I accept Railton’s definition of holiness:
“I conclude that to be holy is simply to be given up to God, and that man cannot become holy in any other way than by giving himself up, and not only wishing to become, but becoming wholly the Lord’s.” (GSR Christian Mission Magazine May 1873)Carol raises an important point about the heart’s ability to deceive, and says…
"I am delving into "heart matters" at the moment which you can read about on my blog. The Bible tells us that the heart is deceitful above all things. With that in mind I am sure that we can kid ourselves quite easily about the level of our devotion and even really mean it when we say that we give our all. We just don't expect God to take us that seriously or realise how precious something is to us until we are at the point of letting it go. We can then wriggle out of turning our words into action quite easily by comparing ourselves with others."It is certainly difficult to place the ‘consecration’ bit of ‘entire consecration’ into a contemporary setting. What does it mean to surrender all in the 21st century? These are old questions and the debate has rattled on for years. However, there are some pointers we should heed, for example take ‘worldliness’ - in 2000 years of Christianity worldliness was always seen as something that should be avoided but in the last 50 years it has dropped off the radar completely! Was the church wrong? Is morality determined by the attitude of society rather than by the bible?
I recently read the following in Isaiah 1:16-17
“wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.”This verse (for me) settles the crisis/process debate once and for all. I can’t stop doing something by degrees – fulfilment of the command ‘stop’ must include actual cessation! Neither can I ‘learn’ instantly. Stopping should be instant (crisis) and learning should be gradual (process). There is so much biblical support for this view one could write a book on it!
The ‘sin’ that Israel was guilty of was largely two-fold, idolatry and a lack of concern for the marginalized – the prophets are full of this stuff.
The problem we have is that our definition (or maybe I should say appreciation) of holiness has been largely shaped around our moral history rather than God’s power . Herbert B. puts it very well – “All the memories of deed gone by, rise within me and thy power deny”. As a result of our inability to be good and because we see no one else being good we think that goodness (this side of the Jordan) is something we should strive for rather than expect to achieve.
Carol is right to mention the unreliable nature of the heart and that is why holiness depends upon God fulfilling his promise in Ezekiel (11:19-20)
“I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.”
However, as with most biblical promises there are conditions attached and in the preceding verses we read…
“And you will know that I am the LORD, for you have not followed my decrees or kept my laws but have conformed to the standards of the nations around you." (verse 12)
“They will return to it and remove all its vile images and detestable idols.” (verse 18)
We are in a catch 22 situation! In order to obey we need a new heart, in order to get a new heart we have to repent, repentance means a practical commitment to obedience… but we will always struggle to obey from out of an old heart. Where do we go from here – I would suggest Romans 8!
- God’s not going to condemn us for trying (verse 1)
- If we fail along the way Jesus has carried the can for us (verses 3-4) ).
- We must yield to the Spirit (verses 9-17).
- We must faithfully obey (the whole chapter!)
With the comfort of knowing that we are allowed to ‘learn to do good’ and with the awareness that we must immediately stop ‘doing wrong’ let’s (in faith) dump everything we know is wrong and consecrate everything that is left as and when we are prompted – once we ask God to define ‘all’ it’s amazing how quickly he starts to demand - in fact in some cases the whole ‘process’ can take place in a moment.
This is an important debate and coming to the proper conclusions will determine how quickly we are allowed to enjoy the revival which we are all so eagerly waiting for!
Yours, set apart by Christ, for the lost, in the Army. A
4 comments:
Thanks for the paragraph where you say you can't stop something by degrees and you can't learn instantly. This is personally helpful at the moment.
I thought a bit of personal testimony of how this works out in experience might be helpful. Whilst seeking the Lord the other day God clearly told me that I must stop playing computer games, not because they were bad but because they were wasting too much of my time. I don't need to learn to stop. I need to stop instantly.
On the other hand I am learning daily to handle my frustrations with people, with my own limitations and sometimes with the state of the world.
I am learning to let God be the judge of what is successful or not. I am learning to balance activity with stillness. I know that there is a time to speak and a time to be silent but I am learning when those times are. I am learning that I make assumptions about myself and about others by using the wrong measures.
I am learning that about somethings I am too naive and about others I am too cynical.
I hope that makes sense.
God bless
Carol
I struggle with hard-heartedness and this whole issue of repentance. Without it I cannot grow, but it has to be from the Holy Spirit and properly focussed so that I have the impetus to change. Morbid introspection is not helpful, being practical is!
I have found it helpful to pray FOR a repentant heart, and to wait patiently on God for weeks and months if necessary, really arguing my case with him over it. I tell him I know there are areas of my life I need to deal with and I want him to grant me this grace - and it is a grace. I love him for dealing gently with me, but I also want to grow, so I feel like a child tugging at Dad's hand and pestering him with questions.
One thing that is completely needed (I've learned the hard way!) is giving it time and being patient. It is resisting the temptation to self-analysis which leads me into beating myself up over nothing. What I am fighting is my self-centredness and selfishness, even my seeking of experiences of him to address my own spiritual insecurities. For him to take me deeper into selfless love of him and those around me, he needs me to be ready, and I need him to be willing. Being Jewish, I argue with God freely!
It is also very helpful if several people pray for one another to be able to move from their insensitivity to sin and selfishness. I have been known to ask friends in one particular monastic order to pray for my hard heart and by heck it works. I do this with caution now! Bless them!
Shalom
Eleanor n/TSSF
Thanks to all for your comments - I believe that 'obedience' is something that we will increasingly move up the agenda over the next few years.
A
Obedience as St Francis practiced it meant accepting that the church he was part of was hopelessly corrupt in a whole multitude of ways. But his response was to undertake and vow - as Franciscans do today - a radical obedience to God worked out WITHIN his denomination rather than creating schism within it or going off on a tangent to create something different. This is something I've had to engage with during my novitiate. I find it a struggle sometimes to accept the limitations of the church I am in. Thank God we are not dealing with the sort of things Francis saw around him in the catholic church of his time - and the SA is not corrupt. It is simply facing a lot of difficult issues all at the same time, and has lost momentum in some areas, as is inevitable in a complex organisation. In other areas it is full of life and growing beautifully, praise God. But Francis' obedience spoke of trust, that God would allow his life to speak the words, without words, that were needed in that situation. He trusted that God would work not only in his little life, but in the bigger picture of his church, which was evolving through a longer timespan than his lifetime. He didn't write a thesis. He lived a 'little' life. And it rocked...! He remains my inspiration along with all the army saints!!!
Every blessing
Eleanor n/TSSF
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