Works holiness?

Of course I believe in high standards for Christians, including decent dress codes, holy living and separation from the world. But God help us if we even hint to people that any such observance can ever make us acceptable in His eyes.

Many believers remain under constant bondage to some doctrine of works because they think it makes them holy. They simply do not want to believe that all their sacrifices through the years are for naught. And so, when they hear the message of the cross—that no human striving or works can save us, and that only the grace of Christ assures our salvation—they become offended. They cry out, as the first-century Jewish converts did, “You’re teaching permissiveness. You don’t believe holiness anymore.”

Nothing could be further from the truth. Only one person is holy—Jesus Christ—and all our holiness must come through faith in Him. It Is Finished, page 49

<idle musing>
Amen! Good preaching! </idle musing>