What Does God Expect of Us?

God makes His standards and expectations quite clear In His Word. So clear, in fact, that many theologians have attempted to cloud these passages to prevent the intensity of God's revelation from bothering the average parishioner.

But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. —1 Peter 1:15-16

Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, 'I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and be blameless.' —Genesis 17:1 (NASB)

Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. —2 Corinthians 7:1

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. —Matthew 5:48

There you have it. God's standard is holiness and perfection. Do you resent it? Do you feel the urge to argue the point? Many do. But to tone down God's expectations constitutes tampering with the words of the Almighty, an incredibly foolish and dangerous activity for anyone to be involved in.

There are many today whose lives do not correspond to the biblical standard of holiness. When one finds himself in this situation he has two options available:

1. Lower the biblical standard to correspond to his present conduct.
2. Elevate his conduct to correspond to the biblical standard.

Unfortunately, the first option often becomes the designated solution. In the process of denying personal holiness as an attainable state, the very essence of what God desires in relationship with man is shunned. The fact that so many are denying the possibility of leading a truly holy life reveals either a mass-desire to justify their love of pleasure more than God, or a profound ignorance as to the nature and definition of biblical holiness.

What is Holiness?

When we ask ourselves this question, we need to look at the very nature of God Himself, for it was He who said, "Be ye holy; for I am holy" (I Peter 1:16). God is referred to as being light (1 John 1:5) and love (1 John 4:8). A brief description of these elements of God's character will enable us to grasp more fully the implications of holiness.

Holiness can therefore be defined as living for the highest good of God and our fellow man according to our knowledge of what that entails at any given time. Or, to put it another way, it is simply living up to the light you have from a right intention of heart.

Why live for God's highest good?

There are some people who consider it downright selfish of God to require the creatures He made to choose Him supremely and to focus their attention on who He is and what He is doing. This, however, is far from being the case. The Bible says that "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5). What this means is that God's moral character is absolutely perfect, that He is presently living up to all that His intelligence tells Him He should be doing. This is why He can be called a holy Being. God is not holy because He is holy. He is holy because He chooses to use all His attributes in a loving (agape) way. Holiness involves choice and enlightenment.

We choose the things we do in life on the basis of their value. We would not, for example, find many housewives shopping for cooking utensils in the children's toy department, even if the price tags on little girls' cooking sets matched those in the housewares section. Again, if a wealthy friend took you to the nearest sewing machine retailer with an insistent offer to foot the bill on whatever machine you liked, the chances are that you would no browse around the $50 used models. Now, in these cases, it is the value factor that obligates a choice of merchandise in keeping with the light or understanding you have on that matter.

As God lovingly and wisely surveys His created universe, He is acutely aware that in order to will our, highest good He must will His own highest good. The happiness of all creation hangs dependent upon His well-being. God recognizes the intrinsic value of His own being as the ultimate value in the entire universe. As a result, He unselfishly requires us to choose Him supremely for our own well-being. If, as God surveyed the universe, He was able to discover something more valuable than Himself, He would, acting in wisdom, require us to choose that end instead.

When an object is perceived or understood by the mind to be intrinsically valuable (valuable in and of itself), w cannot help but choose or refuse it. In other words, if we choose any object other than that which we have come to understand as possessing intrinsic value, we are making a deficient choice. A knowingly deficient choice the Bible calls sin.

Our Ultimate Intention is What Counts

I don't suppose anyone knows, even with the aid of modern computers, the number of choices made during the course of an average lifetime. The answer, if it were ever published, would probably stagger our imagination.

All of the choices we make in our lives can be classified into three categories according to their relative importance. Once they are categorized, we begin to notice that in spite of the astronomical number of choices we make, life is actually pretty simple!

SUPREME CHOICE

May only be made for the highest good of God and your fellow man or for the gratification of self.

SUBORDINATE CHOICE

The means and choices to secure our ultimate choice.

SIMPLE CHOICE

The actual carrying out of our subordinate choices, which are essentially a furthering of our supreme choice.

Question: Which level of choice do you think God looks at to determine what is virtuous and what is sinful?

Before we answer our own question, let's examine a brief scriptural commentary on the subject.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so you too outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. —Matthew 23:25-28 (NASB)

Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts and then each man's praise will come to him from God. —1 Corinthians 4:5 (NASB)

And He said to them, "Are you too so uncomprehending? Do you not see that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him; because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated? ...And He was saying, 'That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts and fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries.... All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man." —Mark 7:18-21,23 (NASB)

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. —Proverbs 4:23

These are just a few of the many scriptures in the Bible which make it abundantly clear that it is our ultimate intention or supreme choice in life that is the source of all our choices—major and minor, good or evil.

Robert Ringer in his smash best seller Looking out for #1 (over one year on the N. Y. Times best seller list) describe this process in the pursuit of self-gratification.

When you boil it all down... everyone's main objective in life is to feel good... we sometimes lose sight of the fact that our primary objective is really to be as happy as possible and that all our other objectives, great and small, are only a means to that end. [1]

To further emphasize the point, let's look at the lives of two young men going into the ministry.

God tells us that man has a tendency to look on the outward appearance (1 Sam. 16:7). That being the case, what would most people determine about the life of the second man in our diagram? No doubt that he was a dedicated Christian with a genuine desire to serve God. However, if the truth of the matter were known, God considered this young man's training to be an abomination in His sight.
The reason? This young man loved to please himself more than anything else in the world. He craved attention and felt it could be secured through an evangelistic platform ministry. He spent time imagining all those faces looking at him and waiting for him to stretch forth his hand of power in their direction. This was intensely gratifying to his ego. Yet some preparation for this great task was needed, so he attended seminary. No matter though, all that knowledge he would obtain in seminary would just be all the more prestigious.

So although the actions and choices of these two young men were nearly identical, one of them produced evil, corrupt fruit while the other, whose ultimate intention of heart was to live for God supremely, produced good fruit.

The Bible teaches us that unless our ultimate or supreme choice is right, no deed or decision at a lower level is worthy of anything on Judgment Day.

A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. —Matthew 7:18-19

When we use the terms supreme choice or ultimate intention we use them as synonyms for "heart," or purpose in life. When we ask Jesus into our hearts, it is important that we make no mistake about the fact that we are asking him to take over our purpose in life.

Holiness and moral character can only be determined by observing the intention. Actions will rarely give us a true picture.

What is most confusing and distressing to many Christians is that, while they discern their intentions and motives to be right, they often make errors in conduct. The notion that holiness is a state which can never literally be realized proceeds from the erroneous linkage of holiness with conduct rather than motive. This is why most Christians will cling to the idea that holiness is something only obtained in heaven. Others adhere to an abstract idea of living in Christ's holiness, even though their lifestyle does not reflect it.

Holiness isn't something you can borrow—you either have it or you don't. The theological doctrine of "imputed righteousness" has been grossly distorted in our day. We are told that God looks at us through the blood of Christ and sees us as righteous, regardless of our actual state.

Let's stop kidding ourselves. God sees us exactly the way we are. If we are living in obedience, He sees it. If we are living selfish, unholy lives, we can be sure He sees that too.

The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me. For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not Wickedly departed from my God.... I was also blameless with Him, and I kept myself from my iniquity. Therefore, the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes. —Psalm 18:20-21,23-24 (NASB)

Now, whose righteousness is David talking about here—Christ's? NO! David has "kept the ways of the Lord," and God is obviously pleased with him. Please don't misunderstand what I'm saying. The Bible does indeed teach that Christ's righteousness is imputed to us. This righteousness, however, cannot be imputed as a technicality. It can only come to us through relationship. In other words, as I spend time with God, watching Him, listening to Him and emulating Him, I will begin to take on His characteristics and likeness. Do you know how David came to the place where he was able to speak about his righteousness as he did? Here's a little secret from his memoirs:

My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. —Psalm 84:2

O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee.... my soul followeth hard after thee... —Psalm 63:1,8

As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, 0 God. —Psalm 42:1

The righteousness of Christ is imputed to us as a reality—something that is literally manifest in our lives. It only comes, however, through the interaction of a relationship. There is no "technical" righteousness. There is no righteousness apart from relationship. The righteousness of Christ is never imputed unless it is imparted.

A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher. —Luke 6:40 (NASS)

Motive and Conduct

While we are discussing the matter of conduct, it is important that we consider the fact that right action can only follow right understanding. If our ultimate intention is set to love God supremely (keeping in mind the full implications of the word love), then this is essentially all that we need to think about. We do not need to be under constant pressure to monitor our conduct each moment of the day. If you are making certain subordinate choices or everyday simple choices which to the best of your knowledge are the right means to fulfill your ultimate choice in life, and you are mistaken, this is by no means sin. The Bible states, "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin" (James 4:17). God is saying that we are responsible for what we know-nothing more and nothing less.

The secret things belong unto the Lord our God; but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. —Deuteronomy 29:29

Our judicial system takes this principle into consideration when defendants are charged with a crime. If an individual has ignorantly or mistakenly conducted himself in the wrong manner, he oftimes will be exonerated in a court of law. This procedure, however, cannot be repeated, so coupled to the forgiveness is an increase in knowledge as to the proper course of action in the future. Jesus, although He forgave the adulterous woman, commanded her to go her way and "sin no more."

Little children also assume that their motives are the important consideration when they are accused of some type of wrongdoing. Many times a desperate little cry of "I didn't mean to" is a most effective deterrent to punishment.

For those accused of premeditated crime, however, there must be no recourse. For while it is safe to pardon one who erred unintentionally, it is a menace to society when one guilty of intentional harm is released. The motives and intentions are the determining factor.

How often our own hearts have been touched by the sophisticated, flimsy gifts of children on special occasions. When a guest chuckles at the gift, we reply with a touch of indignation, "It's the thought (intention) that counts!" We don't feel slighted by the fact that gift wasn't expensive. There was no obligation for the child to give more because it was beyond his means. It is conversely true that when someone does have the means of elegant expression and a lackluster gift is given it is the thought that counts, this time in a negative sense.

To further illustrate the relationship of motive and conduct, I'll let you in on one of the less clever moments in my life:

On the far end of the counter in our kitchen there was a glass container normally filled with small, plastic packets of vitamins. Often after an evening meal or snack I transferred a pack of vitamins from the jar to my body where I assumed they did more good.

Later one evening after completing this healthy ritual, I began to experience a burning sensation in my arms and legs that slowly crept over my entire body. Although at first I didn't give it much thought, the sensation increased so markedly that I went into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. After looking at my face, which had become blood red, I became perceptibly alarmed.

Moving downstairs I revealed the condition to my mother who asked if I had taken any medication recently. After commenting that I didn't remember taking anything other than vitamins from the kitchen jar, she began to laugh. I didn't know whether to feel insulted or encouraged! Finally she was able to explain what was so humorous. As it turned out I had taken my sister's weight-reduction pills designed to flush out the capillaries. Some people react quite strongly and, as I had no need or intention to lose weight, I turned out to be one of those people.

Gordon Olson, a man who many consider to be one the great theologians of our day, often gives the account of his young grandson, who, in a spontaneous act of affection, crawled up into his lap and accidentally knocked the glasses off his face. Unfortunately, they wound up on the floor in pieces.

Now, the common denominator in both of these cases is that the intention or motive was right, while the conduct deficient due to a lack of knowledge or understanding.

We Cannot Serve Two Masters

One more point about this matter of our supreme choice. You may have noticed that while subordinate choices and simple choices are plural, the supreme choice is singular. This is due to the fact that on this level of intention only one choice exists. You can choose to live for yourself supremely or God supremely, but you cannot live for both simultaneously.

No man can serve two masters... —Matthew 6:24

He that is not with me is against me... —Matthew 12:30

Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh. —James 3:11-12

Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty: he shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images. —Hosea 10:2

When a man tries to live for God and for himself at the same time, he soon discovers it is impossible, and unless he repents, his life will end up a torn wreck. This is what the Bible warns against when it says "a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways" (James 1:8).

Will One Sin Send Me to Hell?

There is ample scripture to assure anyone attempting to live a life apart from God that one violation of God's moral law is all that is necessary to make them a rebel in God's moral government and deserving of death. The question on most people's mind is "But what about the Christian who sins?"

When individuals commit their entire lives to Jesus Christ in salvation, a fundamental change occurs in their relationship to God. Where before we were only subjects in God's moral government now we have become children in His household. God becomes our heavenly Father and "whom (a father) loveth he chasteneth" (Prov. 3:12,16 and Heb. 12:6). No, one sin will not get us booted out of God's household, but it will get us a spanking. If we persist, however, in doing those things that are displeasing to God, then the basic love relationship is put in a precarious position.

Most children fortunate enough to have been brought up in a home where the parents were in love have, nonetheless, likely seen their parents in an occasional spat. Even though these times were unpleasant, it would be ridiculous to look upon an isolated incident and conclude that the parents were no longer in love. If, on the other hand, their conduct was such that they were consistently and knowingly hurting each other, the child would begin to question whether or not there was indeed a motive of love.

To sum up what we have said on the subject of holiness, let's keep in mind that:

1. God expects us to be holy or perfect.
2. This holiness is a perfection of motive or heart intention.
3. We cannot simultaneously lead a holy life and a selfish life.
4. Holiness is living up to all the light we have at any given time.
5. The seriousness of sin is weighed according to our understanding of what the will of God is.

When the Bible talks about sin as a manner of life., it always refers to it in the past tense. We must necessarily, and in an act of repentance, turn away from all known sin and humbly reach out to Jesus to cleanse us from our sin and forgive our unrighteousness. If we have not done this, then we have never experienced salvation.

You do not need to know a great deal in order to be a Christian or to be holy, but you must be willing to respond by living up to what you do know. It is just as possible for a two-week-old Christian to live a holy life as it is for a seasoned, mature Christian. We quoted Duncan Campbell at the start of the chapter, "Purity of heart is not (necessarily) maturity of Christian experience." The mature Christian has a great deal more understanding to be sure, but he is therefore responsible to live up to a great deal more than the babe in Christ. Moral character is what we are doing with our capability of moral response and the amount of light we possess.