In The Pursuit of Holiness the author, Jerry Bridges, shows the Christian what it looks like to be truly holy. Holiness is to live a life of conformity to God’s will. Holiness is a joint effort between God and his people, it is not something God just gives us when we accept him into our lives. Many times Christians neglect the responsibility we have of moving towards God and pursuing holiness. Holiness is not something that is fully attainable, it is a constant pursuit to be like God. Holiness is expected by God. Not only is it expected, it is a part of our birthright as Christians. God specifically calls us to holiness, “I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy” (Leviticus 11:44a). God is perfectly holy. Therefore, to be holy is to conform to the character of God, and not to this world. Since God is perfectly holy we can have confidence that when dealing with us he is just and perfect. Bridges explains that holiness is God’s greatest attribute. Since he is holy, that makes all his other attributes good, holy, and just. God, being all of these things, cannot hold us to a standard of any less than holiness. Salvation is not something we can attain through holiness on our own. By Christ doing God’s will and dying for us on the cross, we are made holy. The author put it like this, “Holiness, then, is not necessary as a condition of salvation – that would be salvation by works – but as a part of salvation that is received by faith in Christ” (p. 34). While Jesus was here on earth he lived a life that was perfectly holy. His holiness was not just attributed to that fact that he had no sin, but that he
God does not force holiness on us. He loves us, so he has given us a choice. God has given us the privilege of pursuing his heart in order that we may experience the love he has for us. He wants to give us the gift of eternal life he has in store for us, if we would in faith, pursue
If God did not mean for us to be Holy individuals He would not have instructed us to be so.
...cording to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment,” New American Standard Bible, John 7:24. If we are not judging someone righteously, then we should not be judging. To judge someone righteously simply means that we judge them against the word of God, not against our own opinions or feelings. If we do not Judge righteously, then judging is not justified.
While the Holy Spirit enables us to be holy, this is also our action as well (p.77). Bridges offers personal experience from a time when he thought that God viewed him striving to be holy as “of the flesh” (p. 79). He then learns that this is not that case and while holiness is not obtainable by a human alone, it does require us to work for it. Holiness is not reached when we receive the Holy Spirit. Bridges describes holiness as an attitude towards life. We must have self-discipline as Christians. The book urges readers to read and memorize scripture as a way to be a self-disciplined Christian. When we memorize the word of God, it is stored in our hearts and minds and the Spirit may use that in times of need so that we may apply that scripture to the matter at hand. The Holy Spirit has been given to all of us. It is working in and through us and in empowering believer to be more like Christ. However, we are still called to be obedient, and to answer this call. We can choose to suppress it. Or we can choose to listen to the calling of the Spirit and live for
In Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, Beatrice and Benedict rant about marriage for most of the beginning of the play, while Claudio raves about how wonderful it will be being married to Hero. Yet in the end, Claudio exchanges his marriage to Hero for an opportunity to bash her in public, while Beatrice and Benedick marry despite that they were mortal enemies for most of the first three acts. How did the situation swing around to this degree? Beatrice and Benedick had been using the most extreme metaphors to demonstrate their scorn of each other and of marriage, and Claudio had been doing the same to demonstrate his love of Hero. Not only did none of these three characters mean what they were saying, but meant the reverse, and the people that plotted to bring them together or pull them apart plotted because they understood on some level what each really wanted.
At the end of Jesus’ sermon he stated, “Be perfect therefore just as your heavenly father is perfect.”(Matthew 5 verse 48). When Jesus stated to be perfect, Jesus did not mean to be some type of big time over achiever or to have a perfect patty attitude. The point Jesus was trying to make was to stop comparing yourself to others. When people decide to put themselves in competition with others or compare themselves to others that will lead them to a path of false sense of righteousness. Jesus wants us to learn a lesson from his “to be perfect” statement. Jesus understands that no one is 100% perfect out here. There is also a chance where there can be an individual that is morally challenged than what you might be. In the end in God’s vision there is room for improvement in God’s perfection.
What does it mean to be your own person? In every aspect of life, people have their own morals and values, but what if the rest of society does not have mutual feelings? Does that mean staying on your own path or choosing the path that society has chosen? When conforming to society, there are always consequences, but when following morals of your own, there are also prices to be paid. The play, A Few Good Men, perfectly demonstrates how following the rest of the society can ruin a person, but it also displays how when one has their own morals, the consequences are foul. The play is about two military men who are being accused of murdering a fellow marine, after being told not to touch him. These two marines go to court, and their lawyers, Kaffee, Jo, and Sam, must hash it out with the military jurors and judge to find out what really happened. It turns out that they were fooled by the head honcho Colonel Jessep. These two marines, Dawson and Downey, were only following their orders, but what if they had not? Would their lives be any better? Probably not, but at least they would have been doing what was moral. In the military, it is especially important to follow orders like a robot, if necessary, but this leads to the demolition of the careers of two stepford marines. In a Few Good Men, conforming to society can ruin your career and honor; having different morals can result in great burdens. However, when a character knows what they believe in, honor will never be lost.
lead a good life. He wants us to know that we can sin, its completely
When pondering about what an individual thinks of you, people have varying views. Some people are not concerned; to others it is the most critical matter on their mind. The feeling of being judged is a very potent emotion. Likewise, conformity is one of the largest controversies in today’s society; the behavior of someone in accordance with socially accepted conventions or standards. So if someone personally made his or her expectations on what you should be like evident, would you change? In Matthew Quick’s The Silver Linings Playbook, he illustrates that judgment and expectations conform a person into someone they are not due to their personal identity. This can be seen through a character’s loyalty to another, dominance and the vulnerability it includes, and a character’s love and devotion. Conformity and the reasons for its appearance will be analyzed through samples from Matthew Quick’s bestselling novel.
1 Peter 1:13-16 says " Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: 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". Just like in the Old Testament, objects, places, and people can be made holy by the works of Jesus Christ (New Testament). The only way a believer can be holy in the New Testament is by accepting his gift of eternal life! No man on this planet (past, present, or future) can achieve holiness on their own. This is the result of sin, man continuance disobedience to a holy and righteous God. The only thing that can fix this rebellion is accepting the justification works of Christ, and than allow His sanctification produce holiness in the believers
Good Deeds then gets called upon. They say that even though they want to go on the journey, they are unable to at the moment. They advise Everyman to speak to Knowledge. Knowledge is the one that brings Everyman on the journey to cleanse himself. They first go to Confession, which gives him a penance.
Ephesians 1:4 says, “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love” It is God’s plan and will that we be sanctified. One that can enter heaven follows the will of the father and pleases god by keeping his word. It is required as evidence of the children of God. It means to let go of the unrighteous acts to do gods will by keeping commandments. If you truly know Jesus, you will walk the way he
Conformity is defined as the occurrence of people yielding to social pressures as a result of pressure from a group of their peers; when faced by the pressure to conform, people will alter their behaviour and actions to fit the norm demonstrated by their peers (Lilienfield et al., 2012). Conformity is studied so that is can be understood and used in society to facilitate positive outcomes, and help avoid situations where peoples’ predisposition to conform leads to negative consequences (Lilienfield et al., 2012). By understanding conformity and other social processes society as a whole is able to understand themselves better and motivates them to work on improving as a whole (Lilienfield et al., 2012).
Conformity and Obedience in Society The desire to be accepted and belong to a group is an undeniable human need. But how does this need affect an individual? Social psychologists have conducted numerous experiments and concluded that, through various forms of social influence, groups can change their members’ thoughts, feelings, and behavior. In her essay “Group Minds,” Doris Lessing discusses our paradoxical ability to call ourselves individuals and our inability to realize that groups define and influence us.
Starting with narrator’s disapproval of Panos’ imminent infidelity, Ben Greenman’s “Ambivalence” presents readers with a protagonist bathed in conflicting emotions. Throughout his story, Greenman shows the futility of trying to bring emotion down to single understanding and origin of conformity because of that. Societal expectation of rigid standard of love creates tension. Panos possibly loves his future wife, otherwise he wouldn’t have wanted to get married but that love is insufficient; insufficient to get married at least. He is trying conform to the standards set by society but he fails to do so and thus cheats on his future wife. In the neighbor’s eyes Panos might have fit into the societal norms but this conformity is only external,
One can not grow into holiness, but he can only grow in it. Holiness consists of taking out the old and adding the new. “It will take a second work of grace, preceded by a whole-hearted consecration and as definite an act of faith as that which preceded [ones] conversion.”1