Holiness

I’ve been reading The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges. Growing up Baptist, Holiness was never really stressed in church. I think this is because, in Baptist theology, the law is seen as part of the old dispensation and not as relevant to today’s Christian as  grace.  Now that I am attending a Wesleyan church, I am beginning to see the importance of Holiness in the life of the believer.  Not in the sense of perfection. . . I don’t believe that will be possible until I am fully glorified in heaven. I am in no way attempting to earn my salvation. That would be heresy. However, the closer I get to Christ, the more I thirst for the things of God and the more I desire to live in holiness. The modern church has created a false dichotomy between holiness and grace. I have been dwelling a lot on Romans 6 & 7 this past week. In it, Paul lays out a theology of holiness and grace. We are dead to sin and sin no longer has dominion over us (Romans 6) but we still struggle with sin as if we are under it's rule (Romans 7). This does not need to be the case! We should reckon ourselves dead to sin. The rule of sin in our lives has been defeated as we have been crucified with Christ! Hebrews 12 .14 (?) says that no one will see God without holiness. I do not believe that this is referring to sinless perfection… but rather, without Christ’s imputed righteousness, we would not be able to see God. My salvation does not depend on my ability to keep the law… but my relationship with Christ and my fellowship with the Spirit of God does.