Outward Holiness

Introduction: One of the most misunderstood aspects of Apostolic churches is our practice of outward holiness.

Misunderstanding #1: Many people assume that as apostolics we view outward holiness as a means of earning salvation.

The Truth: The truth is that external holiness is not a means of earning salvation, but the result of having salvation in our lives. God changes us from the inside out. The boiling water you pour into a cup will eventually change the temperature on the outside of the cup. The passion that we have for Jesus Christ will eventually work its way to the exterior areas of our life. The outward evidence in our life is a testimony of an inward reality.

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Misunderstanding #2: People assume that as apostolics we force our standards upon everyone who wants to be a part of our church.

The Truth: The truth is, we understand that a life of holiness and separation is a process. We also understand that demanding compliance is not a journey to holiness. In fact, demanding compliance is the perfect way to ensure someone never achieves true holiness. We prefer people to make decisions regarding holiness based on a personal desire to obey God’s Word and the Holy Spirit’s prompting. This is a saying from a friend of mine: “What I can talk you into, someone else can talk you out of. But what God gives you, that is yours to keep.”

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Misunderstanding #3: People assume that as apostolics we judge others who do not live a life of external holiness.

The Truth: We wholeheartedly love people wherever they happen to be in their journey to holiness.

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Holiness Inside/Outside

Key Verse:

Matthew 23:25-26 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.”

In a previous lesson, we learned that Jesus uses the analogy of a cup and a dish to show us that it is important to be spiritually clean on the inside and outside. The religious leaders in Jesus’ day were guilty of being outwardly holy, but they did not have inward holiness.

Jesus made it clear that holiness begins on the inside, not the outside. “…first cleanse the inside of the cup… “ (Matthew 23:26)

Jesus’ point was that true holiness begins inwardly and progresses outwardly. “…first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish that the outside of them may be clean also.” (Matthew 23:26)

Jesus was not being dismissive of outward holiness; He was condemning the religious leaders for having outward holiness with no corresponding inward holiness.

Three truths must be understood regarding Jesus’ words:

1. External holiness is worthless to God unless there is also an internal reality of holiness.

2. Internal holiness will work its way out to your external lifestyle.

3. The importance of internal holiness does not minimize our need for external aspects of holiness.

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External Holiness

BIG QUESTION: Does it even matter what a person looks like on the outside? Doesn’t God only look at the heart?

The verse that is commonly quoted regarding this question is 1 Samuel 16:7.

The context of the Scripture is when the prophet Samuel inquires of the Lord if Eliab, David’s older brother, is the man God has chosen to become king over Israel. But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

• The verse is not saying that God doesn’t care about the outward appearance; it simply says that God does not look exclusively at the outward as man does; He looks at the heart.

• If God did not care about how we dress or adorn ourselves, He would have ignored the subject in His Word. However, the Word of God gives directives and observations from cover to cover regarding how we dress and adorn ourselves.

• Clearly God is concerned about what is on the outside.

Key Verse:

2 Corinthians 7:1 Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

God calls upon us to display external, observable evidence of our inner holiness.

Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Psalm 29:2 Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name; Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

• Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness and in holy array. (Amplified Bible)

• Bow down to Yahweh in the adornment of holiness. (Emphasized Bible)

• Worship the Lord in holy attire. (New American Bible)

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External Holiness: A Process

Key Verse:

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals,[a] nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

Three Steps in our Redemptive Journey

1. Step 1: We are justified: When we obey the gospel and are born again both of the water and Spirit, we are justified. (Think: Just-If-I’d-never-done-it.) We are immediately placed in right standing with God. Justification is instant work of God’s grace.

2. Step 2: We are sanctified: After we are justified in Christ, God begins a lifelong process of refining us. He gradually separates sin in our life and transforms us into His image (Christlikeness). Sanctification is not complete until we graduate to Heaven.

3. Step 3: We are glorified: When we get to Heaven, we are permanently transformed. God’s redemptive work in our lives will be complete. Sin will never again have a place in our lives, for there is no sin in Heaven.

God calls us to spiritual maturity; we are not supposed to simply remain at the justification stage.

1 Corinthians 13:11 “11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.”

Hebrews 5:13–14 “13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.”

A new Christian can be holy on the inside and a mess on the outside, but a mature believer must graduate to the meat and “work out” their salvation to the exterior of their life.

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BIG QUESTION: Are holiness standards a heaven or hell issue?

Key Verse:

James 4:17 NASB95

17 Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.

1. It is possible for a new convert who has been justified by God’s grace and placed in immediate favor with God to eventually lose their salvation altogether, because they refused to obey what the Spirit had prompted them to do. They terminated the process of sanctification in their life.

2. If a person willfully disobeys God and “quenches the Spirit”, they are in sin.

3. A Word of Caution: We should be careful about saying whether or not a practice or a standard is a “Heaven or hell issue.”

a. Something that may not immediately be a “Heaven or hell issue” in a believer’s life could become such an issue later in their spiritual journey.

b. Sanctification can ultimately make a certain practice in our life a Heaven or hell issue.

c. God may place particular convictions in our heart to protect us from specific weaknesses in our lives. A man who has been addicted to gambling in the past may have a God-given prohibition from playing card games. This man must live that standard to remain in right standing with God. It would be dangerous for you to tell that man that playing card games is not a “Heaven or hell issue”.

4. No matter how long we’ve lived for God, we’ve never “arrived”; we must continue our sanctification journey.

• Listen to the Apostle Paul’s own confession in 1 Corinthians 9:27 “27 but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”

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BIG QUESTION: Are we saved by our good works?

Key Verse:

Ephesians 2:8–10 NASB95

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;

9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

1. We are not saved by works; we are saved unto good works.

Titus 3:5–8 NASB95

5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,

6 whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

7 so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

8 This is a trustworthy statement; and concerning these things I want you to speak confidently, so that those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and profitable for men.

James 2:14 NASB95

14 What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?

2. For personal study, read James 2:14-26.

Outward HOLINESS IS NOT A MEANS OF EARNING SALVATION BUT A RESULT OF HAVING SALVATION IN YOUR LIFE!

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Standards of Holiness

BIG QUESTION: What are holiness standards?

Illustration #1: In the Old Testament, a standard was a banner on a pole that was lifted up or displayed before the people as a rallying point or signal. The most common banner in our modern era is the flag. It is a rallying point for Americans; it is a sign of allegiance and protection. There is no such thing as national flag that uses a camouflage design. Standards were designed to stand out. When we wear the standards of our homeland, we will stand out.

Illustration #2: It ancient times, it was customary for the king to give a standard as a token of protection to those who went about undertaking tasks for the king. The standard was regarded as the surest pledge of loyalty. When soldiers came to town holding the king’s standard, the people understood this was official business. The soldiers came representing the king’s authority and power. God is asking us to become living, breathing standards. Our outward appearance and behavior can be a sign of God’s protection in our lives, a sign of our allegiance to our King, and our submission to His rule.

Key Verse:

Isaiah 59:19 When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.

The Definition of a Standard

1. Something established by authority

2. A means of determining what a thing should be

3. A test of quality

4. A simple test for determining the authenticity of something

Three Types of Holiness Standards:

1. Bible Standards: This is explicitly commanded in Scripture.

2. Church Standards: This standard has been established by spiritual leadership to deal with the practical application of scriptural principles in modern situations.

3. Personal Standards: Prompted by The Holy Spirit may prompt an individual due to his or her unique background; their conviction may have no relevance to any other believer.

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BIG QUESTION: Are external standards a type of legalism?

1. Legalism is the act of basing one’s salvation on his or her own good works, or imposing non-biblical rules as a means of earning salvation.

a. This is strongly condemned in the Bible (Romans 3-4, Galatians 3).

b. The proper alternative to legalism is not lawlessness, which is the absence of God’s laws, but having a proper relationship with God’s laws.

2. Jesus’ primary problem with the Pharisees was not that they appeared holy, but that their outer holiness was only a façade to camouflage their inner sin.

3. Paul consistently taught external holiness, but he warned us about those who merely had “a form of godliness, but denied its power” and admonished us “from such turn away.” (2 Timothy 3:5)

4. Jesus used the word “hypocrite” to describe the Pharisees seven times in Matthew 23. He was saying they were nothing more then “godless actors”. And yet, He made a distinction between the righteous principles they taught and the unrighteous actions they committed. “Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. (Matthew 23:3)

• The only case in which external standards could be Pharisaical, hypocritical or legalistic is when there is no corresponding relationship with God on the inside.

5. The external standards that we celebrate and that give us distinction as apostolic believers are best understood in the full context of holiness, and cannot be separated from inward holiness.

 

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