Holiness or Consequences

Christians are generally reluctant to think of themselves as holy, feeling they are not worthy of such a designation. However, the Bible teaches that Christians are holy and must be holy if they are to see God. “Pursue peace with all men, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.” (Heb. 12:14 NKJV) So, we see, it is holiness or consequences.

When we think of holy men and women of the Bible, we often think of Peter, Paul, John, and the prophets of the Old Testament, and women like Sarah and Deborah. We feel totally inadequate to be placed in their company. However, we do not make ourselves holy, God does; thus, it is not a matter of how we feel about it. This does not mean we are passive in becoming holy, that we have no role to play in it, but God alone can cleanse us of our sins.

When we obey the gospel, we become a new creation, a holy one. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, behold all things have become new.” (2 Cor. 5:17 NKJV) One enters into Christ the end result of faith, repentance, and baptism—put another way, the result of obeying the gospel. We are “baptized into Christ Jesus” (Rom. 6:3 NKJV) or, as found in Galatians, “baptized into Christ” (Gal. 3:27 NKJV), the last step of gospel obedience.

In baptism, the old man, the old woman, the old creature died. “We were buried with Him (Christ-DS) by baptism into death” (Rom. 6:4 NKJV). When we arise from baptism (immersion), “we also should walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4 NKJV). That would be impossible to do if you did not actually have a new life, a new spiritual life. You are a new person in God’s eyes. This is essential “for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.” (Gal. 6:15 NKJV)

This new creation that we become is holy and is God’s doing. He cleanses us of all our sins and makes us holy. We “put on the new man which was created according to God, in righteousness and true holiness.” (Eph. 4:24 NKJV) We are thereafter to be active “perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” (2 Cor. 7:1 NKJV) The exhortation is to be holy in all our conduct (1 Peter 1:15). Why? Because God is (1 Peter 1:16) and we are his children.

To be holy is to be like God in all aspects of our lives. That would be in the way we think, our attitudes, our hearts, our daily conduct, in everything we do and say. That can only come about as we read and reread and imbibe the scriptures to see and learn God’s will. We learn of earthly things from our earthly fathers; we are to learn of spiritual things from our spiritual father.

Holiness, of course, implies we keep ourselves from sin and that we be consecrated to Christ. It does not mean sinless perfection, an impossibility. It does mean we want to please God and thus strive to do so by keeping his commandments, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.” (1 John 5:3 NKJV)

We need to discuss “sanctification” alongside the word “holiness.” Both words come from the exact same Greek word, the word “hagiasmos.” Thus, in some translations, you will read the word sanctification in a passage, and in another version, the same passage, you may read the word holiness; the two terms are interchangeable. I note in comparing the earlier versions of the New American Standard translation in Heb. 12:14 that both the 1977 version and the 1995 update used the word sanctification, whereas the most recent update, the 2020 version, has changed it now to the word holiness. Here they are for your comparison: (1) “the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14 NAS 1977), (2) “the holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (NASB 2020).

Without me going through all such passages comparing translations that use the one word, while others use the other one, I give you one more example, Rom. 6:22, where the original KJV uses the word holiness as does the NKJV, NIV, and the NLT, but most all of the other major translations use the word sanctification (the ESV, CSB, NAS, NET, and the NRSV).

Both words refer to a state of being, in God’s eyes, as he views us, because of the remission of sins he has granted to us in Christ, and to a state of consecration to God in living the Christian life. If we are holy or sanctified, we are set apart to God and are saints. We are saints, the way scripture defines saints, not the way the Roman Catholic Church defines them. We are holy; we are dedicated, consecrated, set apart to God.

This state of holiness is attributed to different things in scripture. In John 17:17, we are sanctified, made holy in the New Living Translation, by God’s truth. We are sanctified by the Holy Spirit in Rom. 15:16 and 2 Thess. 2:13. Ephesians 5:26 says it is “with the washing of water by the word” (NKJV)--the CSB, the NIV, the NLT, and the NRSV use the word holy in Eph. 5:26 rather than the word sanctify. (I digress for a moment to say if Jesus makes holy or sanctifies the church by the washing of water, that makes baptism essential for cleansing of sin.) And then we are sanctified by Jesus’ blood in Heb. 13:12.

Ultimately, it all goes back to the same source—God. Only God can cleanse us of sin and make us holy. It can be compared to making a living. We might attribute our ability to make a living to our own labor, to our good health enabling us to work, to our training or education that opened the door of opportunity, to the help of others along the way, as there are many contributing factors that made it possible. Yet, in the final analysis, God made it doable. It was his goodness toward us that made whatever success we have had possible. It is he who gave us our health, our ability to do the work, and our job. No doubt many others could have had our place, but God, by his grace, gave it to us.

So, one can attribute holiness to different things, even our own efforts to be holy, and we are commanded to make that effort (1 Peter 1:15-16), but finally, its source is God.

We probably need to mention this to try to cover all the bases. You probably recall Moses at the burning bush episode in the Old Testament, how he was told to remove his sandals for the ground where he stood was holy (Exodus 3:5). I mention that to say some things are holy besides God and his people. Anything closely related to God or God’s presence is holy. Thus in Matt. 23:17 we read, “Which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?” (NKJV), and in Matt. 23:19, “Which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?” (NKJV)

The gold and the gift in the passages cited are made holy, for that is what sanctifies means. The Good News Bible translates both passages using the word holy for “it is the Temple which makes the gold holy” in Matt. 23:17 and “the altar which makes the gift holy” in Matt. 23:19. The English Standard Version uses the word “sacred” rather than holy in both passages, but you get the idea. Holiness is an attribute of God; thus, anything closely associated with him is holy, is sacred, and is to be treated as such.

I know we have a natural reluctance to view ourselves as holy men and women, for it sounds to our ears like arrogance. It is not. We must be holy, for without it we shall not see God, and that means our eternal destiny would be hell. What a change in the life of the church if all of us would start thinking of ourselves as “holy.” It could then be said of each of us that there is “a man of God” or “a woman of God.” It would not only change the church, but it would change each of us. It is a change we need to make.

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Inside Outside Christ

One cannot overemphasize the importance of being “in Christ.”  “In” is a reference to location.  Wherever I am, it automatically excludes me from being anywhere else.  I cannot be physically present in your house and in someone else’s house at the same time.  In Christianity, one is either “in Christ” or outside him.  There are no other possible alternatives.

To be in Christ means:

1)  Forgiveness.  The apostle Paul, speaking to the Ephesian Christians, says, “God in Christ has also forgiven you.” (Eph. 4:32 NKJV)  “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23 NKJV)  “There is none righteous, no, not one.” (Rom. 3:10 NKJV)  If you desire forgiveness of your sins you must be “in Christ.”  “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12 NKJV)

2)  Redemption.  Paul, in Romans 3:24, speaks of “the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” (NKJV)  We are redeemed from sin and its consequences.  “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.” (Eph. 1:7 NKJV)  Jesus purchased us with his blood, the price for the forgiveness of our sins.  “You were bought at a price.” (1 Cor. 6:20 NKJV)  Peter tells us the price, “You were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold … but with the precious blood of Christ.” (1 Peter 1:18-19 NKJV)  Things are redeemed at a cost.  Redemption is “in Christ,” not outside him.

3)  Salvation.  In 2 Tim. 2:10, Paul speaks of “the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.” (NKJV)  Isn’t that the thing we all long for?  It is found “in Christ,” not outside him.

4)  Promise of Life.  Paul speaks of “the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus.” (2 Tim. 1:1 NKJV)  Even if death were simply a state of unconsciousness, which it is not, do we not all desire life?  The promise of life is in Jesus, not outside him.

5)  Eternal Life.  “The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 6:23 NKJV)  In Christ, there need be no more fear of death, or of sickness, or illness, or of separation.  “And God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying; and there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” (Rev. 21:4 NKJV)  But this is “in Christ,” not outside him.

6)  No Condemnation.  “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” (Rom. 8:1 NKJV) It is a wonderful thing not to have to carry around the burden of sin, but this is only “in Christ,” not outside of him.  We are not condemned “in Christ.”

7)  Alive to God.  We are “alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 6:11 NKJV)  Man cannot come to God in any way other than through Christ.  Jesus’ own words were, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6 NKJV)  “In Christ” we are alive to God. Outside Christ, we are dead to God.  This verse means a life living for God.  You cannot live for God outside Christ.

8)  A New Creation  “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Cor. 5:17 NKJV)  “New creation” is “new creature” in the New American Standard translation.  Do you want a new start in life?  Do you need one?  It is only found “in Christ.”  A new life, a new beginning, is found “in Christ,” not outside him.

9)  The Love of God.  In Rom. 8:38-39, Paul tells Christians there is no outside power that “shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (NKJV) Yes, sin separates us from God (Isa. 59:2) but in Christ those sins are forgiven.  God loves us even as sinners (John 3:16, Rom. 5:8) but in Christ the floodgates of God’s love are wide open toward us.  You can rest assured of God’s love for you “in Christ.”

10)  God’s kindness.  “That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” (Eph. 2:7 NKJV)  “Through Christ Jesus” is the same as “in Christ Jesus” (see the ASV, ESV, NAS, NIV, NRSV, etc.).  God’s kindness comes to us “in Christ,” not outside of him.

11)  Sanctification.  Paul in writing to the church at Corinth begins his letter “to the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord … .” (1 Cor. 1:2 NKJV)  We are sanctified in Christ which means we are made holy.  We become consecrated to God in Christ.   One cannot be made holy outside Christ.  Holiness is found “in Christ,” not outside Christ.

12)  Grace.  Do you want to be saved by grace?  It is the only way any of us can be saved.  If so, grace is found “in Christ,” not outside him.  “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” (2 Tim. 2:1 NKJV)  If grace is found there, that is where you and I need to be, “in Christ.”  If you are told where riches are to be found for the taking the wise individual goes to that location.

13)  Every spiritual blessing.  “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” (Eph. 1:3 NKJV) Spiritual blessings are found “in Christ,” not outside him.  What are these blessings?  That is the very thing we are discussing in this article, incomplete as it is.

14)  The righteousness of God.  “For he has made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Cor. 5:21 NKJV)  “In him” is clearly a reference to Jesus.  In Jesus we find our righteousness, “in Christ,” not outside Christ.

Surely any open-minded person who believes the Bible to be the word of God can see the absolute necessity of being “in Christ” for salvation and to obtain the many blessings associated with being “in Christ.”  Thus, the only question remaining is how one enters into Christ?  The Bible plainly tells us.  “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” (Rom 6:3 NKJV)  “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” (Gal. 3:27 NKJV)

No, baptism will not bring you into Christ without faith and repentance, but baptism is the final step one takes to enter into Christ.  How do I know?  The Bible just told me so in the passages just quoted.

  

Few in Christendom believe baptism is essential.  They think they can get “in Christ” some other way, although the passage that teaches that way has never been provided.  We, as human beings, are heavily influenced by what the majority thinks.  If your own thinking contradicts the thought of the majority it seems natural to question yourself.  How can I be right and everyone else be wrong?  In addition to that, there are negative consequences for bucking the consensus of thought.  There is pressure to conform.  Who wants to be ostracized?  Who wants to alienate friends and family?  It is easy to tell yourself baptism does not matter because that seems to be what the majority of Christendom has concluded. 

However, I am reminded that Peter and the apostles said, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” (Acts 5:29 NKJV)  They were speaking for themselves but no doubt the same principle applies to us as well.  One is also reminded of Paul’s statement to the Galatians, “Do I seek to please men?  For if I still pleased men, I would not be a servant of Christ.” (Gal. 1:10 NKJV)

To be “in Christ” or to be out of Christ, that is the decision all persons of accountable age must make.  I will close this with words from an old hymn often sung, “trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”  If you have not obeyed Jesus in baptism it is past time.  Today is the day of salvation.  Today is the day to enter Christ.

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Christ and Baptism in Colossians

The fact that baptism is essential to becoming a Christian and being saved is written on page after page in the New Testament despite being rejected by most who call themselves Christians.  I have never understood how something so clearly taught can so readily be rejected by so many other than through the power that tradition and religious heritage exerts on people.

Error believed has the same faith effect upon a man or woman as truth believed and can thus provide peace and comfort until the time truth exerts itself with such force that it cannot be denied.  Saul, before he became Paul the apostle, believed error and acted in all good conscience (Acts 23:1) while persecuting Christ (Acts 26:14).  He believed error and was at perfect peace with himself while sinning continually -- that is until the force of truth was exerted with power on him on the road to Damascus. 

Sincerity will never change error into truth nor will it ever lead to a pardon for disobedience.  The fact that Eve was deceived by Satan in the garden did not free her of her sin.  “And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being quite deceived, fell into transgression.” (1 Tim. 2:14 NAS)  We need to read the Bible, even more, we need to study it, “a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of God.” (2 Tim. 2:15 NAS)  We need to read the book of Colossians and see what it teaches about Christ and baptism.  What Paul teaches there he teaches elsewhere in the New Testament as well.

“Christ in you, the hope of glory,” (Col. 1:27 NAS) is a central theme of the first two chapters of the book of Colossians.  Christ is all that is needed in a person’s life for in him “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Col. 2:3 NAS)  In him we are “made complete.” (Col. 2:10 NAS)  We are not therefore to be taken “captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men.” (Col. 2:8 NAS)  We are not to submit ourselves to decrees “in accordance with the commandments and teaching of men.” (Col. 2:22 NAS)

With Christ we have all we need and should thus stay far away from all impositions upon our faith not found in the word of Christ which is just another way of saying stay away from the commandments of men.  “Anyone who goes too far (‘Lit., goes on ahead’-side margin note in the NAS reference edition, 1963 and 1995 – DS) and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God.” (2 John 9 NAS)

In chapter 2 Paul lists some examples of things we should not concern ourselves with because of men--food, drink, respect to festivals, new moons, and Sabbath days. (Col. 2:16); he does likewise in verses 21 and 23.  In 1 Tim. 4:3 he speaks of “men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods” going so far as to refer to such teachings as “doctrines of demons.” (NAS)  Does this remind you of any famous religious bodies today?  I remember when going to a state university back in the 60’s when Friday’s (I believe it was a Friday--it has been a long time ago) were special days in the college cafeteria because of what one religious body could and could not eat on that day.  Their numbers were such that they had that influence on the menu.

The bottom line is Christ is all a Christian needs.  Christ is found in his word and not in things that cannot be found in his word.  If one cannot find a book, chapter, and verse for his teaching and practice in the New Testament then his doctrine ought to be ignored.  This eliminates all creed books, church councils making decisions, etc.  Christ is the head of the church, “He is also head of the body, the church.” (Col. 1:18 NAS)  “He is the head over all rule and authority.” (Col. 2:10 NAS)  He says directly, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.” (Matt. 28:18 NAS)  Paul teaches in the book of Colossians that all we need is Christ, him and him alone, him and nothing else.  Christ is found in his word and not outside it in someone else’s ideas, thoughts, or imaginations, or as Paul says in the NAS “in self-made religion.” (Col. 2:23) 

If Christ in me is “the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27 NAS) how does Paul tell us this is brought about?  One must remember Paul is writing to people who have already heard, believed, and obeyed the gospel and thus are already Christians.  He says they had already been “delivered…from the domain of darkness, and transferred…to the kingdom of his beloved son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Col. 1:13-14 NAS)  How had that happened?

The answer is found in Col. 2:11-13, “And in him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.  And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive together with him, having forgiven us all our transgressions.” (NAS)

The passage begins with the phrase “in him.”  In him, in Christ, is life, a new creation.  While Paul is speaking of a spiritual circumcision here in Colossians back in Galatians he speaks of a physical one when he says that the physical one does not matter one way or another but he says there is something that does matter -- a new creation.  “For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.” (Gal. 6:15 NAS)  The side margin note in the New American Standard Version (reference edition previously referred to) says “Or, creature.”  That is what matters.  “Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” (2 Cor. 5:17 NAS)

Only in Christ does this spiritual circumcision take place in which “the removal of the body of the flesh” occurs.  One is baptized into Christ.  We are, Paul’s exact words, “baptized into Christ Jesus.” (Rom. 6:3)  See also Gal. 3:27.  It is “in him” where we “were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands.” (Col. 2:11 NAS)

Paul in talking about this circumcision in Col. 2 connects it directly with “having been buried with him in baptism.” (Col. 2:12 NAS)  The body of flesh, or as Paul calls it in Romans the “old self” (Rom. 6:6 NAS), is put to death in baptism for we are baptized “into death” (Rom. 6:4 NAS) but the good news is “you were also raised up with him through faith in the working of God,” (Col. 2:12 NAS) “he made you alive together with him.” (Col. 2:13 NAS)  But, this one who is made alive is a new man.  He is not the man that went down into the water and died.  This one that comes up from the water “made… alive together with him” (Col. 2:13 NAS) was raised to “walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4 NAS) for he is a new creation in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17 NAS).

He forgave the Colossians all their transgressions.  When?  When upon their faith they repented and were “baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.” (Acts 2:38 NAS)  This is what was required on the Day of Pentecost when the first gospel sermon was preached by Peter; Paul teaches the same thing to the Colossians.  Does one want to say Peter and Paul were at odds?

There are a few other passages in Colossians teaching the same truth.  Paul in Col. 2:20 speaking to the Colossians says, “if you have died with Christ.” (NAS)  He is not expressing doubt but emphasizing a point.  He is saying, in so many words, if you are a Christian “why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees?” (Col. 2:20 NAS)  Question--how does one die with Christ?  He says, “if you have died with Christ.”  The answer is found in inspired words, “Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into his death?” (Rom. 6:3 NAS)  Thus Paul teaches baptism in a verse many overlook without a thought.  We died with Christ in baptism.

Another verse along the same line is found in Col. 3:1, “If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above.” (NAS)  You cannot be raised up with Christ unless you have first been buried with him, can you?  “We have been buried with Him through baptism into death.” (Rom. 6:4 NAS)  Paul goes on in that same verse, “as Christ was raised from the dead…so we too might walk in newness of life.” (NAS)  When do we do that?  When we arise from the waters of baptism.  Many think they have been raised up with Christ who have never been buried with him.  Only in baptism is one raised up from spiritual death to spiritual life.

Paul says to the Colossians in Col. 3:3, “you have died.” (NAS)  We know how and when they died from what we have already read and studied but the question for men today is have we died and risen again as they did?

I close this with one more passage, Col. 3:9-10, “Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the one who created him.” (NAS)  When does one lay aside the old self?  Paul speaks of having “died to sin” in Rom. 6:2.  When one dies to sin the old self has been laid aside.  We die to sin, and thus to the old self, in baptism.  “We have been buried with him through baptism into death.” (Rom. 6:4 NAS)  Death to what?  To ask is to answer -- death to sin.  When we were baptized (if we were) “our old self was crucified with him, that our body of sin might be done away with.” (Rom. 6:6 NAS)  “He who died is freed from sin.” (Rom. 6:7 NAS)

The book of Colossians teaches clearly that salvation is found in Christ and that Christ is all any man or woman needs for salvation.  However, there are many today who are in error concerning how one enters into salvation in Christ Jesus.  Remember it is, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Col. 1:27 NAS)  Why not clothe yourself with Christ which Paul says in Gal. 3:27 is done by being baptized into Christ?  “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ.” (Gal. 3:27 NAS)  If you are clothed with Christ then certainly, if you live faithfully, you have “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Col. 1:27 NAS)

Remember it was Jesus himself who said, “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved.” (Mark 16:16 NAS).  It is man who has said, “He who has believed and has not been baptized shall be saved.”  One gets to choose – choose Jesus’ way or man’s way.  The book of Colossians teaches you ought to choose Jesus’ way over man’s.

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