Jesus had to say to his disciples on one occasion, “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of,” — that is, the manner of spirit appertaining to the family to which they belonged. It is to be feared the same remark is true of many who embrace the truth in our day — though under a different heading. They would not in words deny that holiness becomes — belongs to — characterizes the house of God. They would admit that it is true that they are called to be holy: but they nullify their admission by the restricted interpretation they put upon it. It would be hard to put into words their idea of holiness; but it is practically limited to our abstract relation in Christ — i.e., the light in which God regards us in Christ. It is not in their treatment of the subject allowed to include personal habit or condition.
It requires but a small degree of familiarity with the Scriptures to see the narrowness — the dangerous deficiency — of such a conception of the subject. It is true that holiness in its Scriptural definition begins and has its foundation in what has been accomplished in Christ; and that we are holy and without blame in the justification we have by faith in him; but that it goes much further is the lesson ofevery epistle of Paul, and of every indication contained in that “form of the knowledge and of the truth” which God has given us in the law. We are to be holy in ourselves, as well as in Christ; holy in “all manner of conversation” (behavior) (1 Peter 1:15; Eph. 1:7; 5:24; 2 Peter 3:11): “holy both in body and spirit” (1 Cor. 7:34) “clean from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit” (2 Cor. 7:1). It is the express command of Christ. The command is reiterated by the apostles, as above, and in many other places.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One