God’s holiness lies at the very heart of the need for discernment. Our passion for God’s holiness, our desire to keep ourselves pure from sin, will motivate our practice of discernment. The greater our understanding of God’s holiness, the greater will be our understanding of the importance of discerning truth from error. We will desire to cast off all that is wrong so that we can be unsullied, unspoiled by sin.
The Challenge of Discernment by Tim Challies taken from The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment by Tim Challies, copyright 2007, Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton Illinois 60187, www.crosswaybooks.org, page 50.
Here are just some of the ways in which the Bible motivates us to pursue holiness: Duty (Ecc. 12:13), God knows all and see all (Ecc. 12:14), It’s right (Eph. 6:1), It’s for our good (Deut. 12:28), God’s example (Eph. 4:32), Christ’s example (Eph. 5:2), Assurance (2 Pet. 1:10).
The Impetus for Imperatives by Kevin DeYoung taken from The Hole in Our Holiness by Kevin DeYoung, copyright 2012, Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton Illinois 60187, www.crosswaybooks.org, p. 57.
God wants you to be holy. Through faith He already counts you holy in Christ. Now He intends to make you holy with Christ. This is no optional plan, no small potatoes. God saved you to sanctify you. God is in the beautification business, washing away spots and smoothing out wrinkles. He will have a blameless bride. He promised to work in you; He also calls you to work out. “The beauty of holiness” is first of all the Lord’s (Ps. 29:2, KJV). But by His grace it can also be yours.
That All May See Progress by Kevin DeYoung taken from The Hole in Our Holiness by Kevin DeYoung, copyright 2012, Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton Illinois 60187, www.crosswaybooks.org, p. 146.
Holiness is not freedom from temptation, but power to overcome temptation.
True holiness does not make a Christian evade difficulties, but face and overcome them. Christ would have His people show that His grace is not a mere hothouse plant, which can only thrive under shelter, but a strong, hardy thing which can flourish in every relation of life.
Taken from Holiness by J.C. Ryle, Moody Publishers, copyright 2010, p. 63.
Growth in holiness will lead a man to see more and more of his own sinfulness.
Christian: Take Heart! By Permission of the Banner of Truth Trust, Carlisle, PA. 1987, p. 88.
Those with a proper perception of God’s holiness will tremble at His Word.
Ezra-Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Zondervan, 1988, p. 664.
