The Church and holiness

Holiness

John Stott said in his book “The Living Church”, “worship without holiness was hateful to [God]” (Isaiah 1:10-19). So for the church to be a true community of worship to the God and Savior of it, it must be a church that has holiness as a main and important attribute. Holiness means to be set apart from, which in the case of the church, means the church is set apart from the world. Simply put, the church must look more and more like the Savior Jesus and less and less like the sinful, broken, and fallen world. A big part of the holiness of the church is its growth and sanctification. The church must realize it is a faith community that sin still exists in and frequently happens. The church in its pursuit of holiness must announce like the tax-collector, “God, have mercy on me the sinner” (Luke 18:13). This means that a church that is pursuing holiness must have discipline, so that the sinning member can be drawn back to God through repentance and forgiveness. A church in pursuit of holiness must be a humble church full of God’s children that are not self-righteous but self serving and full of humility. A church in pursuit of holiness must also be a faith community that relies on the grace of God and mercy of God to transform it more and more each day into the likeness of Him and remove the worldly sin and contamination that would destroy it. A church in pursuit of holiness will be a church of love, compassion, generosity, and kindness for God, each other, and the world. A church in pursuit of holiness will be a unified church that is mutually pursuing the will of God and doing battle for the souls of the members of the faith community along with the souls of those in the world around it. And finally a church in pursuit of holiness will be also in pursuit of Godliness and realize that it is only after Jesus return that true holiness and Godliness will be achieved.