The directive to actively pursue purification is one of the most prevalent themes in the New Testament. We can think of pursuing holiness as wiping the mud out of our eyes so we can see God clearly. It is the restoration of our original Adamic image of God which includes freedom from the dirt and grime that robbed us of the vital and peaceful Spiritual life that God desires for us. Holiness becomes increasingly sweeter as we mature because we feel more of the peace and joy that comes with participating in the nature of God. As we grow in holiness we will feel ourselves becoming more at one with our bridegroom. We experience a foretaste of our future marital bliss. So we pursue holiness out of love.
We begin to understand that this purity produces beauty and beauty produces delight. When someone finds a gold nugget in the ground it doesn’t look like much. It is only when it is purified and shaped that we delight in its beauty. When I got married I went to the trouble of paying a store a bunch of money for a ring of purified gold; I would not have paid them for a small raw chunk of gold to symbolize my marriage.
Likewise, God purifies and shapes us and thus makes us beautiful. This beauty is actually a participation in his beauty. And this beauty gives us delight. God made us to experience the rapture of his beauty radiating from him through us. Beauty is what he is infusing into us and holiness is of the essence of beauty. God’s holiness displays his beauty. We see this in 1 Chronicles 16:29 and Psalm 29:2 which direct us to “Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness” (NIV). If we want to experience his beauty and let it shine through us then we need to pursue his holiness. Even more, holiness is a bright light in the world attracting those who desire good and repelling those who do not.
For some, the biblical commandments for holiness have a sour taste because they spent years trying to keep those commandments simply out of duty or in order to be viewed as a good Christian. But if we are motivated towards Christformation by love for God and our power comes from the Spirit and our new Adam self then we see the commandments as good. They may not be easy but we see them as opportunities to be close to the one we love.
It is like a mother who changes diapers and endures the crying with joy because she loves her baby so much. Without love for her baby, the tasks would become a burden. Either way, the tasks are the same; it is the motive and desire that makes the difference. Thus, it is important to ask ourselves what we feel and what we think as we obey Jesus’ commandments. Are we motivated by love and do we draw on the power of God, or are we motivated by duty and image? Therefore, we choose to overcome the sour tastes of the past with love-powered holiness and Christformation and not with avoidance of holiness.
