The scriptures and natural law testify that ‘without holiness, no one shall see the Lord’. Owing to the fallen human nature, however, theology is bound to be perverted by the human heart to suit oneself. Like all theological doctrines, especially those that convict people of their sins and reveal the evil in their own hearts, the doctrine and concept of holiness is no different.
One’s theological doctrines determines one’s actions and thinking about all other things, which leads to one’s destiny. Since holiness is the key to heaven, it is therefore important to know what is true holiness, as well as discern between true holiness and false holiness.
There is much hypocrisy among religious people. This is ultimately owing to a false view about holiness that manifests in the religious hypocrisy of such people. They think they are holy, but fail to understand what holiness truly is and is not, which leads to not only a self-righteous attitude, but rebellion against God. This attitude is evident to others from their actions, deeds, and words. They preach holiness and impose all kinds of rules on others, but do another, indulging in all manner of lusts and are puffed up with pride.
They themselves are deceived and do not realise they are under a false view of holiness. They regard that which is evil to be good, and that which is good to be evil, using the scriptures to justify their perversions, deceptions, wickedness, and false holiness. Such people are often those who accuse others of wickedness, while being full of all manner of wickedness themselves.
Importantly, these people are not all of one theological leaning. Religious hypocrites come in all stripes and are divided among themselves, often at war with each other within the professing church. They are divided over all kinds of matters, across denominations and sub-denominations. They are obstinate, prideful, ignorant and unteachable, holding themselves to be the authority on the correct interpretation of scripture and church teaching. They are constantly debating over trivial, contrived matters and non-issues to justify their own sentimental and disordered feelings about how things should be. These are the types who constantly stir up worthless, foolish arguments that are of no benefit to anyone whatsoever. This is not the fruit of true holiness, but of deception which inevitably reaps false holiness under a false appearance of piety.
True Holiness is True Piety Before God
The essence of holiness is piety before God and charity towards one’s neighbours. Some have the tendency to think that holiness only requires piety before God and that charity towards one’s neighbours is secondary, but this is a serious error. They presume that only piety before God is the essence of holiness and neglect charity towards one’s neighbour.
Piety before God dictates the exercise of charity towards one’s neighbour. Without the exercise of such charity, there is no piety before God at all. One cannot claim to be pious before God without exercising charity towards one’s neighbour. That is a complete oxymoron, for as Saint John taught, ‘If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen’ (1 John 4:20). Piety before God that is devoid of charity towards one’s neighbour is false piety, thereby amounting to nothing but a false holiness.
At the heart of false holiness is false piety, a false religion devoid of charity towards one’s neighbours. Saint James taught that “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world” (James 1:27). Doing good to the needy as symbolised by orphans and widows is what true piety is. It is in exercising charity, in doing good towards those who cannot recompense one that is the essence of true piety and true holiness. Without doing good to the needy, there can be no holiness, and one cannot enter Heaven.
True Holiness is Pure
True holiness is pure. The purity of true holiness begins in the heart, and manifests in purity in thought, word, action, and deed. The question then is, what is purity?
Purity is often spoken about as simply avoiding sins, especially certain sins of the flesh. That, however, is not the essence of purity. The essence of purity is wholehearted love for God and one’s neighbour, which leads to a wholehearted pursuit of virtue before God. This manifests in a wholehearted, genuine zeal to do good to others, regardless of what one can receive in return, even if it is to one’s own detriment.
Only a pure heart can truly practise charity in all earnestness towards one’s neighbours, even one’s enemies, a charity that does not seek its own gain and does not even think to calculate what one can gain in return. Only charity that is motivated by earnestness in good will towards others counts as true, for charity by its nature requires purity of the will.
The opposite of purity is a divided heart which produces doublemindedness that leads to an unstable wavering of the will to practise virtue. As the scriptures testify, ‘But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways’ (James 1:6-8).
Impurity of the will in doing good works is not charity, but only a façade, a hypocritical show, for a will that wills its own good, not only does not produce good works that can be counted as such, but cannot produce good works at all, for there is no charity at all. For charity does not seek its own; it does not seek to satisfy the lusts of the eyes, lusts of the flesh, and pride of life (1 John 2:16).
A heart filled with impurity is one that is calculated in seeking its own will, always motivated by self-interest, deceitful towards others and oneself, full of dishonesty in speech, and selective in the way it practises any virtue and towards whom good will is practised. As Jesus taught:
If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.
(Luke 6:32-33)
A heart that lacks charity towards one’s neighbours, including one’s enemies, is a heart full of iniquity and unable to please God, despite any outward adherence to morality. Though such a person may keep all the Ten Commandments outwardly in action, if his heart is filled with impurity that only practises virtue in the manner of doublemindedness, only doing so to benefit himself or only outwardly before others, his heart is wicked before God. He does not please God, and none of his outward adherence to the law is meritorious unto him. For even the sinner is capable of perfect exterior adherence to the moral law, and yet he cannot enter Heaven.
Such a heart is constantly seeking to justify its sins, while accusing others of sins and desiring vengeance against others for their offences towards oneself which leads to legalism that religious people are guilty of. Legalism is a mindset that is inevitably the result of an impure heart that is always seeking to be deemed righteous before God without having a genuine love for God and others. It loves its own sins, yet despises the sins of others, especially those which harm one, such as theft of one’s property, adultery with one’s spouse, and murder of one or one’s loved ones.
This explains why legalists are always attempting to pervert moral injunctions either in favour of the sins that they are prone to commit, or adding or expanding on moral injunctions to claim as sinful that which is not sinful. At the heart of such legalism is a self-serving false righteousness which deceives itself into thinking oneself righteous, as well as deceiving others.
Evil people love the law. Whether they be secular people who love to use earthly law or religious people who love to use moral law, both have an evil, wicked legalistic mindset, focused on the faults of others, and harshly treating them based on such faults, instead of forgiving them and having compassion and mercy for them.
The legalistic mindset is one that has no room for forgiveness. Not only does it find hard to forgive, it is not willing to forgive. The idea of mercy and forgiveness is an affront to the legalist. It does not even consider forgiving others for their offences. Instead, it holds onto the sins of others and keeps a permanent record and is focused on what others owe one. It is full of furious vengeance towards others’ sins directed against one, but justifies its own even more serious and graver sins directed against others.
What evil people love about law is not its principles of righteousness and justice, but the power that comes with it to accuse and exact revenge against others to satisfy their lust for vengeance and the pride of being vindicated. What evil people love is the use of the law, not the law itself, to accuse their enemies, people who they dislike to satisfy their desire to exact revenge against them, not because they have done anything wrong, but to exercise control over them. Any talk about the unrighteousness of their opponents or enemies is an excuse to justify their desire for revenge.
Evil people are legalists as legalism is a self-centred use of the moral and natural law of God, in adding laws that are not instituted by God Himself, or subtracting or minimising the laws or application of laws laid down by God. The ambiguity legalism finds where there is none and the unambiguous laying down of arbitrary rules is the outworking of a doubleminded heart that wants to bend the law to suit its own wickedness. It is born out of an impure heart that wavers in its will to practise virtue, owing to its self-serving, self-seeking will.
By contrast, a pure heart is one that humbly submits to God and is simple in its adherence to the moral and natural law, which is to simply pursue the virtues as dictated by these laws. It is a heart that is undivided in its will to do good.
True Holiness is Undefiled
True holiness is also undefiled, in being free of all stains of sin, without a single blemish. Being undefiled is perfection in action, deed, speech, and thought. Not only does holiness require the undivided will to do good; it also requires the practice of the good. What use is there if there is the will to do good without practising good? No use at all!
Being undefiled pertains to the virtue of goodness which is the essence of holiness. Without practising goodness, there can be no holiness. Kindness is the will to do good, whereas goodness is the practice of that which is right and good. Kindness necessarily precedes goodness. Without kindness of heart, there can be no goodness in either action, deed, speech, and thought.
Kindness requires a pure heart. Only can be pure heart exhibit kindness. A heart that is impure, divided in its will to do good is not a kind heart. Any appearance of kindness one practises is not true kindness at all, but only deception, for ‘the one who conceals hatred has lying lips’ (Proverbs 10:18). A person who has hatred in their heart lies when he tries to conceal it by kind words. Such a person is a liar who lies in speaking kind words. Hatred cannot coexist with kindness in the heart. A person who harbours in his heart cannot be kind. Any outward kindness he practises is nothing but a façade that masks his darkness of heart.
Such hatred leads a person to ‘utter slander’, who the Proverbs describes as a ‘fool’ (Proverbs 10:18). He is a fool because he is wicked, yet thinks he is wise by speaking lies about others to destroy their spirit or reputation. For a ‘lying tongue hates its victims, and a flattering mouth works ruin’ (Proverbs 26:28). A wicked, evil tongue speaks lies to destroy its victims and flatters to seek its own way. Such a tongue is stirred up by a wicked heart filled with hatred. Its hatred is manifest in its slanderous lies to destroy its victims, and its flattering mouth ruins those it flatters.
Jesus taught that what defiles a person is the wickedness in the heart, which is expressed by what a person says:
But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person.[1]
(Matthew 15:18-20)
Jesus was addressing the Pharisees’ objection to people eating with unwashed hands. He responded that ‘to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone’ (Mathew 15:20). This is because such works do not pertain to the heart, but merely the physical. Acts of kindness or good works that are not truly motivated by a pure goodness of will count for nothing, because just as all wickedness comes from the heart, all goodness comes from the heart. A person’s words are indicative of whether their heart is good or evil. For as Jesus rebuked the Pharisees:
‘You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.
(Luke 6:43-45)
A good person speaks that which is true, righteous, and just. His words are pure and exhibit no doublemindedness. He simply wills and does good. His speech is not deceptive, manipulative, nor cunning, but plain and truthful. His words are charitable and gentle. Even his sharp, stern rebukes are for the good of the person he rebukes, not to destroy him. He may even be harsh and brutal in his speech at times where warranted, and cause much offense to others, but his heart is inclined towards that which good and his words intend to speak that which is true, righteous, and just. Nor does he fear offending people in speaking that which is true, right, and just.
An evil person, by contrast, speaks that which is false, unrighteous, and wicked. His seemingly kind, sweet words are deceptive and motivated by ill-will. Any truth he speaks is mixed with lies, ultimately intended to deceive, and in deceiving others, deceive himself. His words are uncharitable, cruel, and malicious. Even his kind words are cruel and bitter, seeking only to destroy others by his words. He may be polite and civil in his words, but his heart is cruel. In speaking with such politeness and civility, he lies to cover his hatred and wickedness of heart.
Indeed, what a person speaks comes from his very soul and is indicative of his true self. Of all parts of the human faculties, the tongue is the hardest to tame, not simply because this faculty is the easiest to exercise, but because the soul is caught in a midst of a constant battle between good and evil as reflected by the words and speech of the tongue. It is not just the content of what is said, but also the deep inward emotions of the soul not manifest to the eye that are manifested by a person’s tongue.
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.
How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
(James 3:1-12)
The tongue is the hardest to tame because it is the expression of the soul itself and all that it encapsulates, being the will, intellect, desires, and emotions. It is at stake in the spiritual battle waged by principalities and powers, between the angels and the demons. Each of our very souls are at war. God, through the angels seeks to save our soul, while the devil, through his demons seeks to steal, kill, and destroy. Hence why ‘the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell’ (James 3:6).
The tongue is described as a ‘fire’ because it is responsible for instigating evil we perpetuate against others and the evil that others perpetuate against us. The evil is born in our hearts, and we express it using the tongue, whether it be in the hatred expressed as slander, gossip, or cruel remarks, gluttony expressed as complaints about not having enough, or lust expressed as declarations of unbridled ambition, adoration of power, or coarse joking. Such evils are capable of destroying both others and oneself.
The tongue is described as a ‘world of unrighteousness’ because it speaks many unrighteous words that reflect the state of the person’s soul and such words instigate much evil, whether it be through deception, hatred, or blasphemy.
The tongue is ‘set among our members’ as it guides the whole self. It guides a person’s actions and deeds. Such actions and deeds determine the course of one’s life. As Margaret Thatcher once rightly said, “Watch your thoughts for they become words. Watch your words for they become actions. Watch your actions for they become habits. Watch your habits for they become your character. And watch your character for it becomes your destiny. What we think, we become.” Words indeed originate in the thoughts and guide our actions which become habits, and such habits form our character. Our character determines whether we are righteous or unrighteous before God, which determines our destiny.
Evil words of the tongue are set on fire by hell itself, while good words are from heaven itself. A person’s destiny is made plain by the words of his tongue. Such evil words which are from the depths of the soul itself defile a person.
True Holiness is Pure and Undefiled in its Charity towards One’s Neighbours
True holiness is true religion that is pure and undefiled. In its piety towards God, it is wholehearted in its charity toward one’s neighbours and undefiled in its practice of that which is good.
True holiness dictates that one not only will the good of others, but also practise good towards others, for willing the good of others without putting it into practice indicates one has no such good will at all.
Purity is wholeheartedness in goodness of will and does not seek its own good, but only the good of others. It is simple and sincere in doing good towards others.
To be undefiled is to be free from evil in one’s heart, and free from all evil words which come from the depths of one’s heart. It is to shun all evil and to control the tongue.
Only those who are pure and undefiled can enter the Kingdom of Heaven. For ‘blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God’ (Matthew 5:8).
[1] The parallel verse is also found in Mark 7:21-23.
Lord, teach us to walk in piety before You and charity towards our neighbour.