I believe in Holiness and living a holy life, and I teach on "standards of separation".
There are some churches who teach "standards of holiness" which is in
error because one cannot become holy by (standards we uphold) things we
do. But there are many different things or areas of our lives that are
sanctified or set aside for Him after we are saved.
Standards
should never be viewed as "standards of holiness"; I now view
them as "standards of separation". I do not view them as a cause
of salvation but rather as an effect of salvation. There are areas of my
life that I have "separated unto God" that are for me and me alone and,
quite honestly, are none of anyone else's business. This has occurred
because of the leading and guiding of the Spirit of our Saviour that
works in me and knows me intimately, down to the number of hair on my
head on any given day!
I teach as the Bible states, that we only become holy by
the righteousness of God through Christ Jesus. My teaching on
"standards of separation" does not place too much emphasis on the
outward appearance through rules and regulations. But instead, my
teaching places more emphasis on RELIANCE on the Holy Spirit to be
CONSULTANT and GUIDE in these areas of our life through these three
principles that are very much principles taught in the WORD: MODESTY,
MOTIVE & MODERATION. (I Tim 2:9, Heb 4:12, I Sam 16:7, Phil 4:5, John 7:24)
MODEST (modesty) - void of pride, without the intent of drawing attention to itself.
-decent - pure, moral, virtuous
-propriety - being appropriate and respectful of its setting
MOTIVE (motivation) - some inner drive, impulse, intention, reasoning behind why a person does something or acts in a certain way.
Why
am I wearing this? To attract attention to myself? To attract the
attention of men to parts of the body that are not to be exposed?
MODERATE (moderation) - within reasonable limits;
avoiding excesses or extremes; temperate or restrained. Mild, calm,
gentle; not violent. Average or medium quality, amount, scope or range.
All of these take us right to the heart. God
knows the intents of the heart. This is why we should continually ask
the Holy Spirit to be our consultant in this area of our lives. Our
enemy wants to strip us, make sport of us, and merchandise our bodies,
but our heavenly Father wants to clothe us with beauty, strength,
dignity and honor that will endure.
Now as you well
know...holiness is about the inside. Because we have been made holy ONLY
through the righteousness of God through Christ Jesus, the Spirit then
works in our lives through the process we call "sanctification". Many
areas of our life are sanctified or "set apart" for GOD. SO these
principles that I teach, are not only about dress. It is about any area
of your life that the Spirit deals
with you about.
Do you spend too much time watching TV that
it keeps you from doing things you are responsible for? How does that
particular TV program effect you? Too much time on the computer? Are
those games you play appropriate? Why do you do some of the things you
do? For attention? To "fit in"?
There can be areas of your
life right now, for example, soccer, that you need to give up, because
you allow it to come between you and God. But maybe down the road, as
you mature in the Lord, you will be able to take up that sport again,
when you can control it, and not let it take over your life.
Maybe
you have a group of friends that you love hanging out with but right
now, being young in the Lord, it's hard not to let their wrong behaviors
influence you. So, you should decide to keep your distance for awhile
until you grow stronger in the Lord, and know then that YOUR LIFE can
influence them for the better. Then you can hang out again
Please, stay sensitive to the voice of God. Let the Holy
Ghost guide you in all areas of your life, with keeping the three
principles (3-M's) in mind.
==
Standard of separation
I
can see some good standards used in a bad way, too, though. If the
standards are done in efforts to save oneself, not preached nor taught
as being the RESULT Of already being saved, then they are legalistic.
Two
people can keep the same "standard", and one be a legalist and the
other not. The difference is why the person does it, and what place they
feel the standard holds in their lives. If a person has the real LIFE
inside that causes them to simply not be able to stand living otherwise,
and they know such things do not save them, then they are not a
legalist. But if a person is only doing it because it is a rule in the
bible in their minds, and the Spirit of God has not changed their hearts
to cause them to want
to do it, and they think such actions will save them, then they are a
legalist.
So I believe that whether a standard is scriptural, or unscriptural, one can still be a legalist in using it. See what I mean?
ANYTHING
done as a result of resorting to the bible as a rule book is
legalistic. The Old Testament was a set of rules. Not the new testament.
The new testament teaches that we will do certain things if the Spirit
is truly changing our hearts. But many mistaken that as rules to do
those things.
No comments:
Post a Comment