Everyone has their own understandings of holiness, but The church of the Nazarene likes to say, “we are holiness people.” I do believe this is true, and I like to see myself as a holy person. “God, who is holy, calls us to a life of holiness. Church of the Nazarene “believes that the Holy Spirit seeks to do a second work of grace, called by various terms including "entire sanctification" and "baptism with the Holy Spirit"-cleansing us from all sin, renewing us in the image of God, empowering us to love God with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength, and our neighbors as ourselves, and producing in us the character of Christ. Holiness in the life of believers is most clearly understood as Christlikeness.” Since I was raised in this denomination, I believe the exact same when it comes to holiness in the Lord. Without faith, there is no holiness.
There isn’t much more to holiness then to just be holy. “To believe in God the Father, the Creator, who calls into being what does not exist. We once were not, but God called us into being, made us for himself, and fashioned us in His own image. We have been commissioned to bear the image of God: "I am the LORD . . . your God; therefore, be holy, because I am holy" (Leviticus 11:44).” I see scripture as evidence. If its in the word of God, then that is enough evidence to believe it is true. I would like to believe that God will restore this world, because right now this world isn’t so holy and it’s more than broken. Church of the
In this paper, I will review Robert Gromacki’s book The Holy Spirit: Who He is, What He Does I will detail what I feel the book is about. I will emphasize various points given by the author that stood out to me. Finally, I will give my personal evaluation of the book.
Though Jesus was sinless and undeserving of death, he offered himself as a sacrifice in atonement for all sin (Invitation to World Religions, pg.418). Paul was always emphatic in maintaining that salvation cannot be earned by “works”, whether humans’ effort to obey the commandments in the Torah or excellent work in general. Instead, he taught that the salvation made possible by Christ’s sacrifice is a gift, the ultimate expression of God’s love and grace. Salvation is given to those who respond to God’s grace in faith, the conviction that God has acted through Jesus Christ to amend for human sin. Although Paul was very clear in teaching that salvation depends on God’s grace and the individual’s turning to God in faith, he did not dismiss the importance of works (Invitation to World Religions, pg.419). For Paul, faith does more than bringing salvation; it unites the believers with Christ in a “newness of life”. He believed that the spirit lives in believers and brings them into union with God. As a divine presence within, the spirit encourages the growth of spiritual virtues, the greatest which is love and makes all Christians one in the church often called “the body of Christ”.
As a church we have misappropriated the level of judgement dispensed. We understand that all have sinned and that true discipleship requires accountability and discipline, however, the indubitable level must be delivered in a humble and nonjudgemental manner. We must realize the greatest impact for change is empathy, compassion and action. The only way to ensure the action is effective, one must first hear what the people feel as though their issues are. Next we must remove ourselves from a hypocritical place of judgement so that we can full understand and
When Wesley talked about development in holiness, and the fundamental goal of being entire sanctification, he was fixed that sanctification and justification is by faith. In his preaching, “The Scripture Way of Salvation”, Wesley expounded the faith by which Christians are perfected is because God is able, he promised in Scripture, he is willing, and he really does it 1) God has foretold this in Scripture. 2) What God promises, God is able to do. 3) God is capable and willing to manage it right away. 4) God actually answers this. Wesley concluded the sermon by exhorting his audience “expect it by faith, expect it as you are, and expect it now!”
When an individual comes to faith in Christ he or she is not left alone to battle the struggles of sin, lead people to Jesus, experience heartache and sorrow, find God’s will, or live a life that is pleasing and honoring to the Lord. No, Christians are given an awesome gift that cannot be purchased or earned. Believers are blessed with the gift of a relationship with the Holy Spirit. Jesus said in John 14:16, “ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever.”(ESV) Sadly, many believers do not have a correct understanding of who the Holy Spirit is, or what He does. The purpose of this paper is define the person and work of the Holy Spirit.
In order for us to maintain our redeemed status, we are to live a holy life and this can be done by discipline ourselves, restricting our bodies, our speech, our moods, and in doing all the things of this life (Grider, p 9). We can also engage ourselves in prayer, meditation, Bible reading, the Lord's Supper, worship, hearing the Word of God through preaching, attending Christian conference, and fasting (Grider, p 1).
The Holy Spirit of God is the active force or power in one’s life, which most certainly includes spiritual formation (Pettit, 2008, p. 46). When Jesus was speaking with his disciples he made it clear – by using the analogy of a vine and branches – that apart from him they could do nothing (John 15:5). Only if one is connected to Christ will they have the ability to bear fruit and the way Jesus empowers those connected to him is through the Holy Spirt that that father will send in his name (John 14:26). The fact is that the triune God dwells in the Christian in and through the Holy Spirit. One sees this when they place multiple passages together to gain a full understanding of this concept. For example, Jesus made it clear that he and the father would come and make their home with the disciple (John 14:23). In 1 Corinthians 6:19 Paul reminds the Corinthians that their bodies are the very temple of God because the Holy Spirit dwells in them which is similar to what Jesus said would happen when he sent the Holy Spirit after his resurrection and ascension (John 14:17, 16:7).
Paul’s letter to the Romans reminds believers that they are holy, not on their own accord, but because of God’s mercy (12:1, NIV) “by virtue of our union with Christ” (Chappell, 2011, p. 48). As well, Hebrews 10:9-10 speaks to our state of holiness: “and by the will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all” and verse 14, “For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” If one is already holy as Scripture points out, is it necessary to delve into spiritual disciplines? Is sanctification complete the moment our sins were washed away by Christ’s blood at the cross? This journal entry will examine the connection between the gospel message, specifically sanctification
In my view, holiness refers to the state of being good to all. It involves practicing the universal ideas of good, such as, kindness and respect. Socrates would respond by questioning what the universal ideas of good are. In that respect, he would probably argue that different societies have different perceptions of good. For example,
Christianity believes that the Holy Spirit is the third person of God and is the same as the Son of God. He is the Lord and the Lord of Christ. Catholics and Protestants believe that the Holy Spirit by the Holy Father by the Communists, the Orthodox Church by the Father, the ages of faith, love, worship and worship. For by the grace of God, the Holy Spirit is the only one who is able to give birth to salvation; this salvation is completed by the bloodshed of Jesus Christ on the cross. The Holy Spirit lives in the heart of the believer and becomes our Counselor and sanctifies us. The Spirit comes to reveal and glorify the Lord Jesus Christ, to lead us into all truths, and to manifest the sins of the world with righteousness and judgment. Through
The Bible talks about several roles that the Holy Spirit plays in the lives of people today. The first thing that the Holy Spirit does is he provides conviction of sin to all people. John 16:8 said, “And when he comes, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment”. Also, the Holy Spirit works in several ways for many believers that follow Christ. One of the roles that He works is to serve as a comforter and a helper in our daily life. In John 14:16-17 this means that there is someone that is helping us and guiding us and encouraging us during difficult time of
The baptism of the Holy Spirit. What is it and how do I get it? A teaching from Pat Robertson. The first of two parts.
The various gifts of the Holy Spirit as listed in Scripture are conveyed according to the will of the Holy Spirit to every man for the eventual purpose of the edification and building up the church body.
The next characteristic in which he had created us in is holiness. Holy means “to separate or to cut off.” or (Towns 68-69) God is holy which means that he is separated from sin and cannot be sinful. Like himself, God has made us to have the ability to separate ourselves from sin and separation onto God. In the church as Christians we can use this attribute to help lead those to Christ. Holiness encompasses all of what is needed for some to receive salvation in the first place. As humans we will never be born holy, however with those we meet in the secular world, we can teach them that the ultimate goal is to reach salvation with God but also to become holy in God’s vision. The secular world is not concerned about being holy but instead more material things, however being made in God’s image, we as Christians see the importance of holiness and can be able to preach its importance for generations to come.
The Holy Spirit plays a very vital role in the lives of each and every believer; He can strengthen us with a strength that we cannot even begin to muster up in ourselves. He can bring us joy that we cannot even begin to find in the things of this world. He can bring peace to our lives more than anything that we can ever find on this earth. “The Holy Spirit which is primarily an energizing process, is also a revealing, refining, consuming, illuminating process, and one by which we are made to glow with love to God, and love to man, and love to souls.”