Previously, I posted a piece called, “The Fundamentals of Sanctification.” The basic proposition of that article is that the Bible gives us a fundamental understanding of sanctification: sanctification means putting off the old man and putting on the new man, it means separating from the world and clinging to God, it means rejecting the old ways and adopting new ones.
I put it this way in the previous article:
You can’t really have sanctification if you won’t put off the world.
Paul said it this way:
Rm 12.1-2 ¶ Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed…”
We are all familiar with this. The concept is essential to Christian growth.
What I didn’t do in the previous article was make any specific application. When fundamentalists start talking about applications of this, the cool kids seem to react with verbal put downs. “Legalist!” “Pharisee!” “That’s just cultural fundamentalism!” (This last one seems to be the latest favorite.)
Let’s try to think this through in an area where we can probably find some agreement. As far back as Tertullian, you can find believers reacting in horror to any connection with the theater. In his day, he objected to the live performances on stages. From what I’ve read about the Roman empire, some of these performances (if not most) were shockingly immoral. It is little wonder that Tertullian was exercised about it.
In our day, we get our theater in many different forms. We can buy it on little discs, get it streaming into various boxes in our homes, attend movie theaters, or even (in some places) go to live performances as in Tertullian’s day. And some people probably even get it through over-the-air television antennas. So primitive!
Christians make various applications when it comes to theater. If you are a Bible believer, I think you would agree that some theater ought to be banned outright. (Pornography as theater) That would be at the far end of the spectrum. I’ve met believers who turn their TVs off “when it swears at me.” These days, you might as well just not have one if that is your standard. (There’s an idea!)
So, the spectrum of choices ranges from cutting theater out completely to allowing certain amounts of it in your life but cutting it off somewhere on the right side of porn. Is that fair?
Think back over our sanctification lists as mentioned in the last post (go back and read through them again to refresh your memory).
Should you allow yourself to watch explicit sex acts in theater offerings that aren’t “porn”? Movies and increasingly television seem to make this part of many shows, as if there is a rule that we can’t have a drama without it. What if the show doesn’t depict it, but strongly leads up to it and “fades to black” just in time? What then? Most conservative Christians will be increasingly uneasy with any inclusion of these depictions in the theater they consume. The more explicit it gets, the more uneasy they become.
What are we describing here? The Christian conscience, born again and renewed after the new man, is oriented towards the way of the Spirit, the wisdom from above, and wants to produce the fruit of the Spirit. In the flesh, there may be an attraction, but when we are walking in the Spirit, we will put down the impulses of the flesh and obey the Spirit. We will choose not to watch some shows. We might even choose to cut them out altogether since the performing arts are so powerful, our flesh might overrule the Spirit and we find ourselves like Paul in Romans 7, “For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.” (Rm 7.19)
Fundamentally, there is a choice that must be made with respect to the things of the world. Christians will choose against the most gross depictions and tend towards the more conservative applications in the choice spectrum. Individual believers may draw the line at varying points on the spectrum, but the orientation is towards purity and loveliness. The shoes are pointed in the direction of holiness.
This cannot be called legalism. It is a fundamental aspect of Christian life. On one hand are the works of the flesh, on the other the fruit of the Spirit. Peter tells us that “applying all diligence” we are to add into our faith the virtues he lists in 2 Pt 1. We are to make a serious and determined effort at living this way.
On an individual basis, choices may vary somewhat as I mentioned. Suppose, however, you are thinking as a group in your church. You may be confronted with some issue where the world is strong in your community or even among your members. As a group, you can covenant to your own standard. Bible-believing churches have done this historically. We sometimes laugh at old church covenants because culture moved on and it is quaint to think that such amusements as shocked the “old-timers” should be an issue today.
Nevertheless, is it legalism for a group of Christians to decide together that they will hold a standard that promotes holiness? They aren’t saying, “hold this standard and you will be a Christian.” They are saying, “we want to hold this as the standard in our church to help one another towards holiness.”
What if a preacher, instead of creating a church covenant, decides to lead his people by preaching against various expressions of worldliness? Can he be dismissed as a mere “cultural fundamentalist” or a “legalist”? Should he not warn his flock about the dangers and lack of wisdom in following the world? Should he not promote pointing the congregation in the direction of holiness?
If we are going to follow the Bible, we will tend towards holiness.
That is the theme of these essays on the Fundamentals of Sanctification. We should promote in ourselves and others a walk of holiness, a walk towards God and away from the world. Yes, it is true there are many ways of applying these matters and individual choices may differ, but Christians ought to delight in the Lord, not in the world. That’s what the Bible teaches about sanctification.
Don Johnson is the pastor of Grace Baptist Church of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada.
Photo by Hamish Kale on Unsplash
Discover more from Proclaim & Defend
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
