True holiness
 

When I joined this Forum, I thought I might get criticized because I no longer belong to any Organization. But I was surprised to find a large majority of you on here have also left the Pentecostal and Apostolic Denominations. And many of you are searching for more truth.
There is nothing satisfying or anything to criticize or mock. It just proves one thing, the Church as well as the rest of the world has entered into the APOSTASY.

And one reason is, they no longer know what true holiness is!

I started an article, in the Debate Room, titled, “The Missing Ingredient” but it seems that most have left the Debate Room, so will finish the article here in the Fellowship Hall.

And now back to the missing ingredient----which is THE FEAR OF THE LORD.

From the book that I am writing, “The Strait And Narrow For The Open Minded”

Chapter 4 The Fear Of The Lord

WISDOM IS THE PRINCIPAL THING

“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

All Wisdom is not the same kind of wisdom, so what kind of wisdom are we talking about?
The beginning of Truth! I want to make it very clear that we are talking about Spiritual wisdom. You can learn natural wisdom, at school, in book's, in college's.
However, only God gives Spiritual wisdom, to those that fear Him.
After a person is 'born again' it is imperative that they seek the wisdom of God. And it only comes through “the fear of the Lord.” Let me explain, the answer is in the 10th verse.

.

So many Christians turn this around, rationalizing, God is love, therefore, “the fear of the Lord,” can only mean to reverence the Lord. Reverence is just one facet of this truth, one tiny little bit of it. Reverence is not the main concept. If it goes no deeper than that, it is mostly, lip service, and without true meaning.” Without the fear of the Lord, people may act like they reverence God, or say they do. That kind of thinking turns into just idle words, and Religious talk. We're not talking Religion here, but true holiness.

The Bible is it’s own best interpreter, if you let it. God uses that phrase “the fear of the Lord” “the fear of God,” all through the Old as well as the New Testament. Understanding the true meaning of “the fear of the Lord,” unlocks much of what God is teaching us in His Word. It is not, fearing that God is going to bop you on the head for every sin you commit.

What Exactly Is The Fear Of The Lord?

.

.

There it is, . . .
The Fear Of The Lord Is To Hate Evil, Pride And Arrogancy, And the Froward Mouth.

Do you see it? The “fear of the Lord” is learning to hate evil. And it is something that you do have to learn because we are not born hating evil. And even when you are 'born again' you are like a new born baby, learning to hate evil. No one is a new 'born again perfect saint.” We will be learning for the rest of our lives.

Even in hating evil, it is only wisdom, and understanding, if you depart from the evil.
Ah, we all say that we hate evil. Especially in other people. We don’t want someone stealing our stuff. Or lying about us. Or be the end of gossip. We don’t want to live in fear of murderers, or war.
What is evil? All sin is evil. But the most subtle sins are, pride, greed, lust, hate, lying little white lies, (so-called) etc,

It is the fear of the Lord that teaches people what true holiness is. Have we become “whited sepulchres of righteousness”

.

To set down dress codes and standards of what people can do or not do, stunts peoples growth in wisdom, in learning what the fear of the Lord is, and holds back the wisdom of God.
If a woman is told it is holiness to dress a certain way, why would she seek any farther to find true holiness? They learn to depend on the Denomination or what man says is holy, instead of learning the 'fear of the Lord,” which is to hate evil, and will lead to true holiness.

TO BE CONTINUED
.

Re: True holiness
 

this is the understanding of holiness that I have come to:

We are to be holy (separated unto God) because God is holy.
When we have the Holy Ghost, we have the spirit of the living God, living inside our human spirit.

The Spirit of God is beautiful, powerful, life changing, world changing. We are an earthern vessel, our flesh is of this world, with no good thing dwelling in it.

We admonished to kill our flesh, to die daily, to be led of the Spirit. We are to walk in the Spirit, bear the fruit of the Spirit, be in this world as Christ was in this world.

We pray and fast and seek God's face for His presence and anointing, for His redeeming power to transform our lives, our loved ones, our world.

I don't want to mar the temple of the living God, or obstruct the flow of His anointing in my life by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, or the pride of life. So, I'm careful of what I see, hear, where I go. Not becuase of the rules of man. But because I want to guard the anointing.

The bible tells me to be shamefaced, extremely modest. I don't want to dress or act in a way that would be send a wrong message, a mixed message.

I desire to be a broken vessel before the Lord, broken enough that there is enough of a scent of the Holy Ghost, that people would be drawn to the Lord.

It's not about following mans rules, it's about guarding the anointing so that what comes across to people is not your flesh, but the Spirit of Jesus.

We have this treasure in earthern vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us.

Re: True holiness
 

Amanah, I am thrilled to read your response. That is exactly what I am talking about. A person with that kind of character doesn't need someone to set the rules for them, they have them within themselves, and if they slip, which we are all human and it may happen, the Holy Ghost will convict them until they repent. And after truly repenting, they won't want to make the same mistake again.

Re: True holiness
 

Glad was I when I read your post. Love you girl and been missing your sweet spirit.

Re: True holiness
 

Will a person, full of the Holy Ghost, and has learned to listen to the voice of the 'fear of the Lord' which is to learn to hate evil,

--Will they want to watch or read of murder, rape, adultery, nudity on TV or movies?
--Will they want to gossip about their neighbors, knowing that they may have used to do those things?
--Will they want to do things, just for rebellion? “I'll show them”
--Will they coveteously grasp for every penny that they can make?
--Will they do things that are dishonest?
--Will they work after, desire to grasp “the spirit of this world?”

Now then, when they get this settled in their spirit, they will find that “the love of God” which the Holy Ghost placed in their heart, will begin to shine through. And no man will need to tell them "come up and hug your Bro or Sister." No man will need to tell them how to act HOLY, or how to dress HOLY.

If the holiness is not on the inside, no use dressing up the outside to look holy.

The first thing that ministers should teach, and teach it often, is “the fear of the Lord”---which is learning to hate evil. But if the minister doesn't know what the 'fear of the Lord” Is, or he thinks holiness is in the dress codes, then he can not teach the 'fear of the Lord.”

People that have the fear of the Lord, don't need a dress code, nor someone to tell them where the can go or not go, or what they can do or not do.

The exception, is children and teens, but they need to be taught WHY, not just throw a bunch of rules at them.

Re: True holiness
 

Sounds good!

Re: True holiness
 

Love you also :)

Re: True holiness
 

Excellent post Sis. Renee, one which I agree totally with, and you have hit the nail on the head on why "rules" don't work, but true inner holiness, and a fear of the Lord will produce fruit of the Spirit.

Amanah... amen to your post too!!!

Re: True holiness
 

Good stuff.

To me "holiness" is the aim of "sanctification". Sanctification is the journey to "Christlikeness", meaning our being conformed into the likeness of Christ's own person and character. I believe that we who have the Holy Ghost are "one spirit" with the Lord. Oneness is therefore more than a Christology... it's an experience. In our spiritual "oneness" with God we become increasingly aware of and consumed with the indwelling presence of Jesus. And as a result he begins living His own life out through us. We become living extensions of Him... branches of the True Vine. Thus holiness is the increasing manifestation of Jesus Himself... in us. We are quite literally... His body.

As for specific "rules"... I abide by two cardinal commandments.

-Love God with all your being.
-Demonstrate your love for God by loving others as yourself, doing unto them as you would desire them to do unto you.

In our walk and practice we obey the teachings of Jesus. They are key in growing in our sanctification. Thus "holiness" isn't so much as a static state of being (performance based) but it is an eternal journey into allowing Jesus (God) to be expressed through you in ever increasing degrees.

My take on the Law is that it is designed to express God's perfect expectation of righteousness and to condemn all of mankind. In doing so it corners man, condemning mankind to eternal separation from God... unless they submit to the Gospel. It is a schoolmaster designed to teach us that we need a Savior and that Jesus is indeed our only hope and to lead us to the Law of Love.

So, that's my take on it in a nutshell.

God bless.

Re: True holiness
 

and amen!!!!!!!!

Re: True holiness
 

This has nothing to do with the thread: Does anyone here have Joy?

Re: True holiness
 

I have joy in the Lord.

Re: True holiness
 

The fruit or human joy?

Re: True holiness
 

I have great joy IN THE LORD. That is our strength.

3rd John 3-4

3 For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

Re: True holiness
 

I have Almond Joy.

Re: True holiness
 

When serving the Lord, does the Joy stay or is it there for awhile then leaves?

Re: True holiness
 

My joy in the Lord and his truth has never left me. Now to the world they would probably think I am dull and boring. They don't understand the difference between the joy of the Lord and the joy of the world.

Re: True holiness
 

Because I know that I'm born again, according to the apostles Doctrine and not man's or some Denomination's ideas. I am careful to walk in the fear of the Lord. Hating the evil of the lust of the flesh, lust of the eye's and pride of life, I have the fruit of the Spirit, which includes joy.

Re: True holiness
 

:highfive

Re: True holiness
 

What a great thread! To have a genuine hunger and thirst for the righteousness of God. Lord, make me hungry for thee!

Re: True holiness
 

Can more people answer? please?

Re: True holiness
 

My niece once said to me, when we were discussing holiness, "God doesn't see what you wear, but He sees the reason you wear it."

This really stuck with me.

It also would go with, the reason you go someplace, or what you do, and the reason behind it.

If you dress to show as much skin as possible, or as you can get by with, because you know that skin turns men on---then it is sin.
If you dress, (men or women) in a way that is rebelling against your parents, or church or just to rebel---it is sin.

And on and on, but God has to show you----if you want to be shown.

A few days ago,
My son has a hot tub on his back porch. I didn't intend to get into it, with so many of my grandchildren, some are adults and their husbands, about 4 adult men there. But I had worked in the garden and my back was hurting pretty bad, so I let them talk me into it. It helped my back,

I felt condemned. Even though I am 81 yrs old and had on a fairly decent bathing suit with a skirt, these were young men, and I still felt condemned.

So for the next time, I have a silk T shirt and some tight black jersey women's pants, that I will be putting on first and then the bathing suit over that.

I showed my daughter, she said, "Mom, they will think you are crazy." I told her better to be thought crazy, than to displease God. I will not go against my conscience.

But if you want to live holy, you have to learn to develop a tender conscience, in order for God to show you, what is right and what is wrong.

Re: True holiness
 

This, Renee, is what the preachers who teach standards or any holiness, should be stating. From reading the posts here, for the people who are for them and those that are against, I get the sense that this is rarely, if ever, taught. It's all "do or don't do" and if it is or isn't against God, a sin. And if you don't want to do the standards, then they'll say you're in rebellion against holiness or your pastors.

When people condemn or justify standards, no one seems to argue the heart of the matter, as to the reason why the individual would want to do such in the first place.

And I think I'm getting a bit tired of the whole women and modesty issue with the number one reason people use for why the women should dress modest is so they won't tempt men.

Re: True holiness
 

Renee, for 81, you look fantastic no matter what you are wearing!!!

Re: True holiness
 

Thank you Sasha,

That picture is about 12 yrs old, but they tell me that I haven't changed much.

Re: True holiness
 

I want to know what is in the red solo cup. :heeheehee

Re: True holiness
 

Would you believe----Sprite?

This picture was taken when me and my 4 sisters all got together in Florida.

Re: True holiness
 

This is true. When I turn 81 I'll probably look a lot like Ed Asner does today.

The great thing about a red cup is that you can put anything in it. ;)

You like Sprite (which I do too) but I also like, along with PO, a good swig of Tequila!

Re: True holiness
 

Thank you Randy.

Yeah, a red cup would be good for that, I do like about 3 or 4 ozs of wine once in a while, especially with a heavy meal.
I tasted my daughter-in-laws Tequilla once, but I won't drink it, I think I might like it too much. But a little wine is good for you.

Re: True holiness
 

I have a bottle of wine in the frig also. Paul said a little wine is good for the stomachs sake.

Re: True holiness
 

One thing that MOST of these people who live to 110-115 say is that they have a shot of something strong every day and have most of their lives.

Re: True holiness
 

Clean vessels within and without...