Avoiding The Trap Of Holiness Theology
A Rock Of Offence Commentary
The Bible is the most incredible book in existence. It provides insight and information that extends from before the creation of the universe -- all the way to the Second Coming and the millennial reign of Christ. Yet, with all its miraculous detail -- theologians, pastors, preachers, committed Bible students and average Christian believers commonly misinterpret and misapply the revelation found within its pages. This failure results in what we call “toxic”, or spiritually poisonous forms of counterfeit Christian theology, which can be substituted for authentic “faith in Christ”. In extreme cases, these popular doctrines can cause us to miss out on heaven entirely, while tricking us into believing we have God’s truth.
It's commonly known that the Bible is recorded in two parts: The Old and the New Testament. Yet, few understand the important reasons God divided it. The Old Testament not only contains a historical account of creation and the early days of the human race, but also the principles and laws that govern Judaism, which is the ancient religion of the nation of Israel. In our Bible, the religious system of Judaism extends from the early pages of the Old Testament book of Genesis, all the way through the New Testament book of Acts. To put this in perspective, Judaism covers more than three quarters of the Bible. Many Christians are taught to ignore this important fact involving the crucial topic of context. In the Bible, respecting the "context" of Scripture determines whether we are teaching truth or a convincing form of religious error. In Acts chapter 9, God begins the process of releasing what the book of Hebrews calls, “a new and living way” established on what Jesus Christ referred to as, “the new covenant in His blood”. This “new and living way” that our Lord established is not the same as the old religious system of Judaism because it is based on radically different principles and rules that did not (and could not) exist before Christ’s crucifixion. Could this be why both Jesus and the book of Hebrews use the word “NEW” to describe it? Even the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah used the same word when he looked ahead into the future and described a “new covenant” that God would make with His people.
The commentaries in this section attempt to warn about a popular practice in the worldwide Christian Church that seeks to break down and “blur” the differences between Judaism and “the new covenant of Christ”. This “mainstream” practice attempts to combine these two vastly different systems of faith into “one unified message”, which is then preached as “The Word of God”. We generally refer to this influence as “Holiness Theology”. However, this doctrine is actually taught under countless different names and denominational titles, which may not use the same wording. For example, many forms of “Christian Fundamentalism” and “Reformed Theology” are just different variations of Holiness Theology. The reader should not think that our commentaries on this topic represent a “new teaching”. Our warnings are taken directly from the writings of the apostle Paul, who fought a similar form of “unified theology” in the first century. Paul referred to it as “a perverted gospel” in Galatians 1:6-9. Also, remember that Paul just happened to write nearly half of the New Testament Scriptures!
Today, what we call “the Christian faith” as defined by the New Testament is not Judaism. Some church leaders commonly use the term “Judeo-Christian” to describe it. However, this phrase is very deceptive and misleading because, like oil and water, the principles of God’s Grace that govern salvation under the Christian faith (the new covenant of Christ) can never be merged with the principles based on the Mosaic Law that govern salvation under Judaism. The salvation that the new covenant of Christ provides is established exclusively on the “cross of Christ” and the blood He shed. New Testament Christian faith shares the exact same historical roots as Judaism, which is why so many wrongly think they are the same. Yet, New Testament salvation is based on the uniquely different laws and principles of God’s Grace that could not operate in the earth before Christ’s crucifixion. This is why the apostle Paul told his disciple Timothy…
"Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD OF TRUTH" (2 Timothy 2:15)
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