In fact,
the Holiness Movement emerged during the early 19th century as many
church leaders taught believers to intentionally separate their lifestyles away
from any appearance of being part of the world, be it abstaining from alcohol,
dancing, gambling, dressing in certain attire as well as separating from people
who are engaged in such activities. Additionally,
some pastors and churches even take separation to the next level by teaching separation to the second degree, or
separating from believers or religious affiliations which refuse to separate
from other believers or religious affiliations who will not withdraw from
believers or religious affiliations who engage in worldliness and/or apostasy.
Obviously,
there are many more passages about believers separating themselves from the
world, such as.
“Do
not love the world or anything in the world.
If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world – the cravings of
sinful man, the lust of his eyes and boasting of what he has and does – comes
not from the Father but from the world.
The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God
lives forever.” (I John 2:15-17 NIV)
“Religion
that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after
orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by
the world.” (James 1:27 NIV)
Another
interesting part of the Holiness Movement that often gets overlooked is the
concept of being able to lose one’s salvation, since it provides a motive for
avoiding any appearance of worldliness.
Take for example the following verse, “It is good neither to eat flesh,
nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended,
or is made weak.” (Romans 14:21 KJV) Based
of this verse alone, one could easily understand why so many believers are
passionate about dressing and conducting themselves in a manner that conveys
their personal convictions regarding holiness, especially since they want to
avoid being held accountable for inadvertently causing anyone stumble in their
faith.
However,
believers need to remember their salvation no longer depends on their adherence
to the Old Testament law, but rather their faith in Christ. That is why the Apostle Paul later explains
the believer’s freedom to do things, while at the same time he clarifies the
responsibilities that come with freedom.
“All
things are lawful…but all things are not expedient….” (I
Corinthians 6:12 KJV)
“’Everything
is permissible’ – but not everything is beneficial. ‘Everything is permissible’ – but not
everything is constructive. Nobody
should seek his own good, but the good of others.” (I Corinthians 10:23-24 NIV)
In the
Apostle Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he summarizes several of the sinful natures that we are to remove from our lives,
as we submit our will over to the Holy Spirit.
[Other lists are located throughout the Bible, to include Romans 1:28-32,
I Corinthians 6:9-10 and Colossians 3:5-9.]
“You,
my brothers, were called to be free. But
do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather serve one another
in love….So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of
the sinful nature. For the sinful nature
desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the
sinful nature. They are in conflict with
each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not
under the law. The acts of the sinful
nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery; idolatry and
witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition,
dissensions, factions and envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who
live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:13, 16 – 21
NIV)
The Word
of God teaches that we are to remove the sinful natures from our lives, not
necessarily remove the sinful people. Rather,
we are to be a positive influence on others, according to the precepts found in
the Word of God, since we are a living testimony of the Holy Spirit working through our lives. We are still instructed to use wisdom when
choosing our closest friends, our spouses, our children’s friends and so on, as
well as the leadership within our churches.
However, we do not want to end up like the Essenes, an ascetic sect of
Jews, who chose to live in isolation until they became nonexistent.
Obviously,
there are many different viewpoints on what steps believers should take to
avoid any misperceptions about worldliness.
For example, does the Bible actually teach totally abstaining from
alcoholic beverages or avoiding drunkenness?
Or does a believer’s particular “sphere of influence” make a difference
in the matter, since a believer’s freedom permits
people to participate in various activities as long as they are not offending others
or causing them to stumble? Say a family
of believers has dinner every night at home with a glass of wine for each
person, since none of them have any issues with drinking alcohol. In this scenario, the believers are neither
offending anyone nor causing them to stumble in their faith. However, should this family of believers still
have wine with their dinner, if they have a dinner guest who is a recovering
alcoholic?
The same
principles could be applied to other similar scenarios. Does the Bible teach we are to dress in suits
and dresses or in modesty? The obvious
answer is modesty, actually translated “good behavior.” In other words, dressing in suits and dresses
or like manner is subjective, or
subject to a believer’s interpretation.
While dressing in “good behavior” is objective,
as to the standard taught in the Word of God.
In general, there are many objective
standards for our conduct. On the
contrary, believers and religious leaders need to take caution that their subjective interpretations of these
standards do not trump the Word of God…especially when they mandate subjective standards on behalf of an
entire congregation, denomination and/or religious affiliation.
As
believers submit their will over to God and turn away from their sinful natures,
the Holy Spirit guides them to serve one another in love. Jesus Christ taught us the second greatest
commandment – “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mark 12:31 NIV) As a result, believers sometime wonder how
they should handle situations that may seem beyond their control. The Apostle Paul leaves the following
reassuring words. “And God is faithful;
he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also
provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” (I Corinthians 10:13 NIV)
