What Is Holiness?

 

Holiness: what is it

And how can it be claimed?

Is it the garments we wear

Or how hard we strain?

 

Is it something merited

Or lost by demerits?

Is it something Pharisaical:

Just out of habit?

 

Is it an outlook

Or an opinion we share

And that we talk about occasionally

For believers to hear?

 

No to all the above;

It’s not even a pastime

But it’s actually and biblically

A renewing of the mind.

 

A transformation,

Not a reformation;

A working from within to without

Yes, sanctification!

 

 

It’s a walk in the light

And not just pious talk,

And while some effort is manifest,

It is really a default.

 

A default of the Spirit

That indwells the saved

And whose guidance determines

How the saved behaves.

 

Not by might, says God,

But by His Holy Spirit

For that which is sown on the inside

Becomes the habit.

 

 

The fruit of the Spirit

Is that which is on show

And from God’s eternal spring

Its pure waters flow.

 

Be not overwhelmed

With the don’ts and dos

But trust the faithful Holy Spirit

Who’s working in you.

 

Give him your reins

And to him submit

Daily and prayerfully yielding to God

Our renewed remit.

 

Holiness is a lifestyle

That is given and received

And it is conveyed to the born-again

The instant he believes.

 

It is the life of Jesus

Lived within and without

And the evidence that one lives out

Should not be in doubt.

 

 

It is abiding in the vine

As Christ is the vine

And having necessary nourishment

For each and every time.

 

It is a spiritual garment

Not of long sleeves and necktie

Though modesty in one’s attire

We should not decry.

 

It is expressed in worship

And in praise to God

While in service to our fellowman

Meaning neighbour and all.

 

A conforming of the will

To the image of Jesus Christ

Who is our object and example,

Our sacrifice.

 

Stewart Russell © June 22, 2024