Holiness Preaching: What Is It?
What precisely do we mean by “holiness preaching”? We mean the proclamation of the Biblical truth that God has made provision that the believer’s heart, cleansed from all sin, may be filled with the Spirit and the Christian thus enabled to grow in grace and holy obedience.
This brief definition must, of course, be safeguarded with equally important considerations. Holiness preaching is but a part of our wider preaching ministry, in which we must proclaim clearly and convincingly, e.g. the fact of sin, the nature of repentance and faith, what happens in the “New Birth,” and the spiritual growth that will take place in the life of the justified.
Further, Scripturally-based holiness preaching will demonstrate the New Testament distinction between being born of the Spirit and being filled with the Spirit; between the radical results of true regeneration and the yet-continuing need for heart cleansing; between the grace of sanctification begun in the new birth and the need of entirely-sanctifying grace effected by the fullness of the Spirit.
There is a clear and very important Scriptural distinction between purity maintained and maturity attained. Further still, holiness preaching will delineate how every area of life is pervaded by the indwelling Spirit, and the experiential difference between sin that must be confessed and cleansed—and natural dispositions, temperaments and emotional responses that are to be rectified, dedicated, and disciplined in the day-by-day walk of obedience and love.
What we believe (and Scripture teaches!) about Christian righteousness and the possibilities of holy living in this life can be summed up in seven propositions:
(1) Holiness is the intention of God for all His people. (2) Holiness is begun in the new birth. (3) Holiness is the product of both God’s grace and our obedience and faith. (4) Holiness is intensified in the crisis grace of entire sanctification and effected by the fullness of the Spirit. (5) Holiness is compatible with the weakness and finiteness of our humanity, so that the affirmation of the entirely-sanctified believer is always, in the words of Charles Wesley: “Every moment, Lord I need the merit of Thy death.” (6). Holiness is capable of endless growth in the obedient life. (7) Holiness is Christlikeness being reproduced in us.
This Biblical understanding of sin, grace, and humanity puts important demands on our holiness preaching—if it is to be Biblical, relevant, and helpful. Holiness preaching should have the six following characteristics:
HOLINESS PREACHING WILL BE CLEARLY BIBLICAL
The Bible is our text-book and all preaching, and holiness preaching in particular, must have its anchor in inspired Scripture. And what a variety of presentations of the Scriptures give us, the call to holiness, the promises of holiness, the dynamic for holiness, the exemplification of holiness, etc. One area of Scripture that needs much more emphasis in our holiness preaching is Christ’s teaching in the Gospels, e.g. the proper place to begin our understanding of the person and ministry of the Spirit is not I Corinthians but John’s Gospel. What Jesus says about the Spirit, especially in chapters 14-16, is determinative for all that is said in Acts and the epistles. Thus anchored in Scripture, our holiness preaching will have the authority that belongs to God’s Word—and the appeal that the Spirit makes through the Word.
HOLINESS PREACHING WILL BE EXEGETICALLY DEFENSIBLE
By this we mean that instead of going searching for “holiness proof texts” we will find all the material we need in the systematic and progressive exegesis of the text. The holiness themes will come naturally and convincingly as we read and expound the Biblical books, and our congregations will be saved from the false impression that this doctrine rests only on a few unrelated and scattered texts here and there.
This careful exegesis will also encourage our people to read and study the Scripture more for themselves, and it will prevent, on our part, the kind of desperate interpretation indulged in by the holiness preacher, who wanting to declare the Pauline doctrine of the crucifixion of the old man, found his text in Genesis 43:27 “The old man, is he yet alive?”
HOLINESS PREACHING WILL BE WARMLY EVANGELISTIC
The purpose of our preaching is to bring believers to the place of hungering and thirsting after righteousness. Declaring truth for its own sake is not preaching; there must be invitation and encouragement to walk in the highway of holiness, which alone offers the highest possible in love, joy, and peace this side of Heaven.
HOLINESS PREACHING WILL PORTRAY THE BEAUTY OF THE SPIRIT-FILLED LIFE
The New Testament has a rich abundance to offer us in preaching the length and depth and breadth and height of this glorious truth. We need go no further than Romans 8 by way of illustration; the freedom of the Spirit, v. 2; walking in the Spirit, v. 4; living in the Spirit, v. 5; the indwelling of the Spirit, v. 9; led by the Spirit, v. 14, etc. The Spirit-filled life is Eden restored—and it admits of life-long growth, development, and progression. For, as Paul says, we “are being transformed into His likeness from glory to glory, by the Spirit of the Lord.” (II Corinthians 3:18)
HOLINESS PREACHING WILL BE RELATED TO CONTEMPORARY LIVING
There are obviously many sides to this emphasis. Living for Christ in 2023 presents conflicts and crises that, for example, were not known to Wesley’s followers in 1782 or even 1882—or even a generation ago.
Our preaching must take account of this, for true expository preaching is a bridge linking Biblical truth to the world where people now live. If holiness preaching is the proclamation of God’s timeless Word, then it is relevant and applicable to the needs, and pressures, and worries, and uncertainties—to the whole trauma of life in fact—in this decade.
HOLINESS PREACHING WILL BE BOTH CHALLENGING AND CONFIRMING
The glorious message of love perfected in holy obedience must be preached so as to excite every believer to seek after his own personal Pentecost and confirm those already enjoying the experience. In any average congregation, there are many levels of Christian commitment and experience, and thus this great Biblical truth, preached warmly, enthusiastically, and with clear Biblical support, will always find a serious response. —The Fountain