Actually as far as the question of preaching
Acts 2:38 with Standards to be saved is concerned...those that hold that standards are essential or you are lost believe this way....
Acts 2:38 gets you in the door and standards keep you saved. I think that is a lot of baloney though...the only thing that has kept me saved all this time was Jesus.
Here is a tip though...yes I believe that our outward man must be clean, however God looks at the heart. The outward man is an extension of what is happening inward. Jesus said make the INSIDE of the cup clean first and then the outside will be clean also.....but as for our righteousness deeds
Isa 64:6 We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
Jesus was asked "Good master, what GOOD thing must I do to inherit the kingdom of God?" and Jesus answered "Why call me Good? There is NONE GOOD BUT GOD"
You want to know what law we must obey though? The Law of Love. It's been interesting this week. During a discussion with some brothers and talking about stuff like why we go to church, I asked what is the greatest law? He said "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,mind and strength" and I said "and?" and he answered "and your neighbor as yourself"....
The greatest law is LOVE. See....here is the thing If you are doing works to be saved, you are not fulfilling the law. If you are doing works out of love, God is certainly in you and there is an inward change of heart.
It is sad to me to hear women say it's the man's problem with her dressing immodest, but love does not put a stumbling block in front of others. Sure there are times it goes too far....like the preacher that came to our church and demanded women not wear zippers....that the zipper belonged to him (the man). We should go to church out of love. We should pray out of love. We should watch what we say out of love. We should walk holy and righteous out of love. Any time we see that we fail in these things....the answer to the problem is INWARD....but what we try to do is fix the outward and put a band aid on it. WE have a lot of saints that inwardly they are wanting...but outwardly they please the eyes of many Holiness preachers because they can't see the heart. All they can see is dress codes.
I taught a bible study (IHML) and ended it with a discussion of repentance. I pointed out to her that according to God's standards no one on this planet is good.
Another fellow that I knew was not a believer declared.."you love God right? I love God...I think we ALL love God"...these were the same ones that went to the Catholic church to look for women...
I said "Jesus said, if you love me keep my commandments....do you keep his commandments?" He did not need to answer. It was a look of a knowing guilt. That was evidence that in his heart he was not right...that he was trying to assure himself that he is ok without truly yielding his live to God.
Im not against outward things such as long uncut hair (though I don't promote the idea that to cut is a sin)....I am not against the don't wear pants rule on women (though if the issue is being feminine there are pants for women men would never wear unless they were queens)...I am not against the no makeup rule and in fact I believe the use of makeup for many women is a symptom of a very low self esteem re-enforced by our worlds emphasis on fleshly things and we should resit getting caught up in what the world tells us is beautiful.
Many girls cut themselves, self induce vomiting, eat and purge because of what the world is telling them.
At the same time I would never say a woman is sinning for wearing a little base or something. The bigger issue is really about what is in the heart...motive...purpose...attitude. For example...in arguing no facial hair many have argued "it can be a pride issue for him"...well if that is the case and that is the reason for that person to not wear facial hair then he should not. But using that logic then that does not necessarily mean every woman's reason for wearing makeup is to be hoochie momma :-)
Jewelry...I've already argued that into the ground with bro Epley. I believe in moderation. I don't believe we Christians should wear a lot of jewelry. Again it is about attitude. I remember we had an elderly black lady in our church that came from another church. She wore cheap earings like the kind you find at walmart on a rack....she wore it for looks. It seems natural for ladies to like to be pretty and accessorize...they buy shoes to match an outfit. They like to put things in their hair.
But Paul said "Let it be the hidden woman of the heart"....this sort of proves my point though. That what really matters is what is in the heart. While one might try to use this to say we should de-emphasize the outwardly like wearing makeup and other stuff at the same time those same people ARE in fact emphasizing the outwardly with their outward appearance rules and using those as factors to judge a persons true holiness.
I don't believe we should just be allowed to do whatever we want as far as all that is concerned, which I guess is part of what makes me a moderate. I would prefer no makeup and very little jewelry except maybe a wedding ring. I also would prefer women in dresses and skirts because of how they look but also there are some cases where it is better to wear pants, like in the work place etc etc....