Looking Unto the Cross..... A devotional for day 13 of LENT March 22

Holiness. Holiness or entire sanctification is the central doctrine of the Church of the Nazarene. This doctrine is based upon the fact that we are to be holy because God is holy. Hebrews 12:14 states, "without holiness no one will see the Lord." Because we want to live holy lives, we are admonished to follow rules which discourage such behavior as drinking, dancing and watching or participating in entertainment which does not promote holy living. About fifteen years ago I was first introduced to the Church of the Nazarene. I was a Christian at that time but to be honest some of the Nazarene rules seemed strange to me. In fact, I got the impression from some Nazarenes that their doctrine of "holiness" caused them to have an attitude of superiority. Perhaps I had this impression because I had heard Nazarenes quote the scripture which said "...therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing and I will receive you." (2 Corinthians 6:17, as cited from Isaiah 52:11, NIV) However, as I got to know more about the Church of the Nazarene, I understood that the doctrine of holiness does NOT mean we are to avoid people who do things with which we do not agree. In today's Lenten readings, Paul writes about this. In 1 Corinthians 5:9-10 he says, "I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people--not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world." NIV Here Paul, the same person who told the Corinthians in a subsequent letter to be separate, is telling the Corinthians that they WILL be associating with the sinners of the world. And for people who believe in holiness, that might be uncomfortable. However, the mission of the church is to bring the Good News of Jesus to a lost and dying world. During Lent, we should focus our attention on the Cross. And what an example Jesus gave us! Talk about being separate -- the Son of God lived in Heaven totally separated from the sin of this world. But in order to seek and to save those who were lost, He left His perfect and holy heavenly home to associate with miserable sinners! Shouldn't we take our lead from Jesus? Paul said it so eloquently in Philippians 2:5-8: "Our attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross!" (NIV) These acts of Jesus enabled Him to reach out to those who needed Him most. In the same way, we, as the followers of Jesus, need to be willing to reach out to such sinners as the sexually immoral, the homosexual offender, the alcoholic, the drug addict and all of the other sinners in our world. After all, if Jesus came to seek and save these people, shouldn't we as Christians be willing to do the same? Pete Vecchi New Lebanon, OH, U.S.A. Prayer: Father, help us to remember that just as Jesus humbled Himself in order to bring the lost to salvation, so should we be willing to reach out to the lost with the message of salvation through Christ. Help us to be holy, but help us to not use holiness as an excuse for not reaching out to sinners who need You. In Jesus' Name, Amen. Suggested Daily Scripture Reading [Psalm 72] [Gen. 42:18-28] [I Cor.5:6- 6:8] [Mark 4:1-20] Visit: 1999 Advent/Christmas Series Epiphany Series You may send e-mail comments or suggestions toYvonne Edwards. Edited: Mar. 21, 10:00 p.m. Page designed by:Cecil Wallace Prayer by: Pete Vecchi The background set is provided by For His Glory Copyright © 2000 NazNet All rights reserved. International copyright secured.