In several places in the Bible (for example, Lev. 19:2) God says that He is holy. As everyone knows, 1 John 4:8 says also that God is love. So God is both "love" and "holy." His holiness must therefore be a kind of love.
But what is love?
The understanding of love has undergone a profound alteration in the past thirty years. Most Christians used to assume that love involved self-sacrifice. To show our love to God and to people, we used to say that we ought to serve God and people even at some cost to ourselves. Young men heading for a date shaved and put on their best clothes. Young women responded with pretty dresses.
But a change came with the hippie movement. Suddenly love meant that you were supposed to love me "the way I am." If you love me, you won't ask me to cut my hair or take a bath. Today, young men and women heading for a date in their faded jeans and tired tee-shirts look almost as if they were heading for the barn to milk cows!
Over the past ten years the shift in our culture from loving others to demanding that others love us has produced a curious new term, "God's unconditional love." To many people, God's unconditional love appears to be a heightened form of hippie love; God is expected to accept me just as I am, without asking me to cut my hair or take a bath or to give up my selfishness, my fornication, my plans for a divorce, my neglect of His Word, or my self-destructive diet.
Holiness on the human level is another word for "sanctification." But sanctification is another word that has undergone a change, this time, within the ranks of Seventh-day Adventists.
Before the 1960s almost all of us assumed that, in view of Christ's death for us on the cross, we should diligently seek sanctification (or holiness). We also believed that God was in the business of helping us to become holy. Since the 1960s, and coincidentally with the hippie phenomenon, a strong movement has developed even in our own ranks teaching that we are saved entirely by what Jesus did for us on the cross. Forget about Christ's sanctuary ministry and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. In view of "original sin," no one can quit sinning this side of glorification. Justification saves us without sanctification. God loves us unconditionally.
This is sad, for we must ask ourselves, "Is God in the business of populating heaven with unconverted (but 'forgiven' and 'loved') cutthroats, liars, and fornicators—is this really what people mean? Or is He in the business of repopulating the earth with men and women, boys and girls, who have been transformed by His grace until they each reflect the beauty of the holy character of Jesus?"
The answer, of course, is the latter. Now you know the reason for this issue of ADVENTISTS AFFIRM. This issue is dedicated to holiness (or sanctification). All the articles have one theme, namely, that God wants us to be holy and is in the business of helping us to become holy; that is, He wants to help us reflect to other people His pure self-sacrificing love. What wonderful good news!
Three of our writers this time are old friends. Dr. Raymond Holmes is remodeling his retirement home in Michigan's snowy Upper Peninsula and welcoming people to his being-remodeled church. Dr. Gerard Damsteegt is busy developing an interactive CD-ROM in church history and planning another Great Controversy tour of Europe. Samuel Koranteng-Pipim preaches everywhere, writes articles, and works on his doctoral dissertation.
Besides these three, we are favored to have no fewer than four newcomers. Dr. Erwin Gane edited the Adult Sabbath School Quarterly for the General Conference for 9 years. I frequently marveled at how he handled controversial questions dealing with our salvation.
Kevin Paulson, a Californian, has served the Greater New York Conference in various capacities. His ability to marshal pertinent Bible texts and Spirit of Prophecy paragraphs is impressive. His ability to do so by memory under pressure, is very impressive.
Dr. Phil Mills, who heads up a physical-medicine clinic in Wichita, is also a remarkable authority on the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy—and on living healthfully as an aid to holiness.
Our fourth new writer is Charles Fitch, a beloved Millerite leader. As a Presbyterian minister, Fitch believed for years that sin cannot be overcome in this life, much as many Seventh-day Adventists have come to believe since the 1960s. Longing, however, for a truly victorious walk with Jesus, Fitch studied and prayed earnestly until new light came from God's promises. When He was convinced that by abiding in Jesus he could enjoy victory, his Presbyterian brethren took away his ministerial credentials. Today, Fitch's response is a challenge to read, for his sentences are often long. But if you make the effort, you are sure to renew your love for Jesus.
May this issue help ADVENTISTS everywhere re-AFFIRM our commitment to Christ-like holiness.