Refiner’s Fire

Purify my heart, let me be as gold and precious silver,
Purify my heart, let me be as gold, pure gold,
Refiner’s fire, my heart’s one desire is to be holy, set apart for You, Lord
I choose to be holy, set apart for You, my Master. Ready to do Your will.
Purify my heart, cleanse me from within and make me holy.
Purify my heart, cleanse me from my sin deep within. [Brian Doerksen]

You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own. [Leviticus 20: 26]

hat is holiness….Following the law? A saintly countenance? A quietude people can see? Churchly achievement? Excellent performance? Good deeds? Good PR? Being super nice to everyone?

The concept of holiness is woven throughout the Bible. The thread of holiness continues more than two dozen times in the New Testament.  This “cloth” of holiness is a central tenet of the Christian faith, however a survey conducted by The Barna Group indicates that most adults are confused, actually daunted by the concept of holiness.  They attend church, read the Bible, participate in Bible studies but do not understand the concept or significance of holiness.   In light of this confusion they do not personally desire to be holy or do little if anything to pursue holiness.

Our challenge is to foster a genuine hunger for holiness in ourselves.  We love God but may be ignorant about the biblical teachings regarding holiness.  We need to understand the importance of holiness and replace the theology of “cheap grace” (it’s no big deal – I’m forgiven) and self-absorption with a focus on God, His ways and His Heart.

God is not impressed by our good works, He calls us out, calls us to be different, to be “separate” from the world.  This principle of separation unto God was almost a continuous experience for the Israelites: in their working, dressing, eating, and fellowship, they were not to mix with the nations in Canaan or to indulge in their customs. Ray Stedman writes….”the quality of a holy person is that they are not at peace with sin. They hate it, mourn over it, and long to be free from its company.”

Occasionally Christians emphasize biblical standards of holiness and get caught up in legalism. Better that we should look inward and understand that personal holiness begins when we recognize that we are broken people, through and through. We start growing in Christ by coming to understand that we are strangers to God's ways and the only way to begin the journey to holiness is to immerse ourselves in His Word and strive for continual fellowship with Him so He can refine us, purify our hearts.  It’s our choice to be holy and set apart for Him.

-c anderson

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