Part  IV – Transitional Aspects of the Lamp-Stand Model

Subpart F  –   Messiah Body; Day of Atonement unto Tabernacles

Article 4  –  The Way of Holiness

Section (b)  –    FAITH’S PROGRESSION IN HOLINESS

By Daniel Irving

i.    The Way of Holiness as Peter’s Prescription for Enduring Fruit

ii.   The End of Love; A Cross

iii.  Entering the Kingdom Through Diligence in the Way

iv.  The Way of Holiness Not For the Unclean

Section (b)

  FAITH’S PROGRESSION IN HOLINESS

i.  The Way of Holiness as Peter’s Prescription for Enduring Fruit 

As related in the previous section, Isaiah prophesies concerning the “Way of Holiness.”  According to the book of Acts, the apostolic teaching was first referred to as “The Way.”  Therefore the apostolic teaching concerning the believer ‘s course in the path toward sanctification becomes vitally relevant in understanding Isaiah’s “Way of Holiness.”  Peter’s teaching on the progression of our faith toward salvation is perhaps the most obvious apostolic teaching on this point.  Peter begins with the principle of:

1.  Virtue:

The NASV renders it “moral excellence.”  We find the Greek word[1] used in three other places.  Two of which are as follows:

Php 4:8   . . . if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

1Pe 2:9   . . . that you should show forth the praises of him who has called you . .

These two samples provide little help in gaining the meaning of the word.  The NASV’s use of the word “excellence” seems good, except the word does not necessarily imply “moral excellence.”  Rather the meaning seems to be “excellence” of any type. Peter has designated “excellence” as the initial step towards fruitfulness in the way of holiness.  Consider that this must be something that does not necessarily require a high degree of holiness.  Therefore this must be something very practical we can do to demonstrate “good faith” towards God’s covenant.  The key to understanding this might be found in Paul’s exhortation:

Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.   I Cor. 11:1

The Greek word translated “follower” and “followers”[2] is the same word from which we get “imitate” or “imitator.”  In fact, the NASV translates it; “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.”[3]  We get the sense therefore of the apostle encouraging the Corinthian believers in their initial baby-steps towards Christ that they simply imitate those that are sanctified and walking in the way of holiness, ie. “Watch us’, and “Do what we do.”  This is also the principle at work when Paul tells us:

Whether therefore you eat, or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God.                                                                                     I Cor. 10:3

Consider that this itself is a matter of faith.  There is something noble about a man or woman, be he/she limited in his/her understanding; “rough around the edges” in terms of his/her ability to walk righteously, simply trying to walk righteously.  There is something manifesting of grace in simply putting one’s best foot forward in an effort to please God.  When a man puts on a tie and polishes his shoes, where his motivation is not to impress men, but to do his best for the Lord, this is a sanctified act.  When we listen to worshipful music instead of the world’s music, to fix our mind on something higher and holier than the flesh, this is a sanctifying act.  When we answer an insult gently out of a consciousness of Christ, this is a sanctifying act.  When we lift our head up despite lowliness of heart and mind due to struggles within for the kingdom of God, we are obeying Christ, who commanded us during these times:

But you, when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face;                                                                                    Matt. 6:17

Is this a lesson on how to fast?  Is that the Lord’s point?  The Lord is confiding to us the principles relating to His sanctifying us.  He is confiding His means of performing the work of God to “hallow us” in Himself, ie. to make us partakers of His own holy nature.  In so doing, we build a bond of trust between ourselves and Himself.  He knows our inward pain and it is not necessary that men know about it.  A bond is built through which the Lord one day says of us; “I know you” and we are not locked without in the day of wrath.  But many shall exist in a state of presumption regarding whether they know the Lord in a saving way.  The Lord shall say to these:

. . .  I tell you, I know you not whence ye are;  Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity.                     Luke 13:27

To this David prophesies:

Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; for the LORD has heard the voice of my weeping.                    Ps. 6:8

Therefore this is a good and practical way to begin on our way of holiness.  Peter begins our lesson on the “way of holiness” by giving us what are the initial efforts; our first “baby-steps” if you will.  Notice also what is the first benefit, according to the apostle Paul, that comes to us from Christ in the course of redemption:

But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.                                                                          I Cor. 1:30

We strive to walk in perfection, believing that God will give us to drink of His own Spirit.  And there is a proverb that seems to capture this principle:

 He that has knowledge spares his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit.                                                          Prov. 17:27 

After we become imitators of the sanctified, as halting and awkward in so doing as we may be, we begin to gain certain insights which will grow into understanding of God’s ways, if we hold fast to God’s word and meditate upon it.  This is because we begin to be privy to things, and to apprehend principles not easily understood by mere professors.  The rudiment of knowledge lies in the ability and from the heat of necessity of asking the right  question.  Therefore it is our soul’s need which is the precursor of Divine knowledge.

2. Knowledge:

To virtue, we are to add, knowledge.  What is this knowledge?  Is it knowledge of the arts or the sciences?  No, it is certainly not a knowledge of the world.  We would not require faith in Christ for so mean of thing.  Is it knowledge of Scripture?  Yes and No.  Most anyone can gain a mental grasp of Scripture.  But what Peter refers to is true revelatory insight into the plan of redemption and God’s purposes in Christ.  While this is certainly facilitated via the Scripture, if the Scripture is all that is teaching us, it constitutes a dead letter, doing, if anything, disservice to our progress in sanctification.  The “knowledge” of which Peter is speaking is the knowledge which comes through attending upon God’s covenant with Himself, as described in Micah 6:8:

He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; & what does the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?                                                 Mic. 6:8

Jesus said:

If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine,whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.                      John 7:17

When Jesus referred to “knowing the doctrine,” he did not mean a mere mental grasp of theology.  The Greek word did-akh-ay’, [4] means instruction, as something that is taught.  The verb form would be did-ak-tos’,[5] which is used where the Lord says:

It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. . . .                                                                                    John 6:45

We find it used where the reference is to spiritually-procured knowledge, e.g. where Paul tells the Thessalonians:

But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you:  for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.       I Thess. 4:9

Through obedience to God, we learn the doctrine that is taught by God.  God communicates concerning His Person and His work. This, is spiritual knowledge.  And to such knowledge, we are advised to add temperance.

3.  Temperance:

The NASV and IV render the word self-control.  We find this Greek word[6] appearing in only two other places.  Unfortunately, the occurrences are always a listing of virtues and are therefore not helpful in ascertaining the meaning of the word, e.g.

Acts 24:25   And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come,

Gal 5:23   Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

The lexicon indicates the best English equivalent to be “continence,”  which means “self-restraint” or “moderation.”    What is “moderation?”

There are some things, the doing thereof, constitutes sin per se.  This includes such things as adultery, theft, dishonesty, cheating, abusive conduct, idolatry, etc.  However, there are other habits of word, thought, or deed that are not sinful in themselves, but which can lead to unrighteousness in spirit, thought, and deed, when taken to excess.  We know that “all unrighteousness is sin.”[8]  We can ask ourselves; “what types of conduct does this cover?”  If we think about it, it covers every sort of conduct, words, or thoughts one can imagine.  Any lawful activity can be taken to excess or abused in some way:

– “eating” can become “gluttony”

– “drinking” can become “drunkenness”

– “industriousness” can become “avarice”

– “recreation” can become “dissipation”

There is a good verse to remember that would serve help us grow in our striving for “moderation” or “temperance”, and that is Paul’s words to the Corinthians:

Whether therefore  you eat, or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God.                       I Cor. 10:31

If this statement by the apostle Paul remains in our conscious mind, we will make great strides in the area of “temperance”!  And to temperance we may add patience.

4.  Perseverance:

The Interlinear better translates the word as patience, as this is the same Greek word translated “patience” throughout the New Testament, most notably the Lord’s words:

In your patience possess ye your souls.                                                                                    Luke 21:19

Notice what is the effect of patience according to the Lord.  The effect of our patience is that we possess our souls.  Possess them as opposed to what?  By implication, “possess” them, as to having someone or something else possess them.  For we are preserving them for the coming of the Lord.  If they are possessed by demons or in bondage to the spirit of this world, then they are not available for the work of God’s Spirit through Whom we are sanctified.

This being only the fourth item on Peter’s progressive list, there is still work to be done towards our advent into the kingdom of God, and this item is somewhat remarkable because Peter is telling us to “add” patience to our“ moderation as a means of progressing in the way of holiness.  But what do we normally understand is necessary for the working of patience?  Tribulation.  Paul tells the Romans:

And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also; Knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience, experience,  and experience, hope; and hope, maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.                         Rom. 5:3-5 (KJV)

Paul provides us with the process of redemption beginning with that essential element of progress in the kingdom, ie. “tribulation.”  Paul is describing the Divine process by which God sanctifies His elect.  Because this is a Divine process, it is Divinely-ordained tribulation that is intended to work a Divinely-induced patience.[9]  Although God provides the tribulation, nonetheless, we are to conduct ourselves in patience.  We are to endure patiently.  What are we to “endure?”  Anything unpleasant that requires enduring!  Paul writes that we are to endure “persecution and tribulation:”

 So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions & tribulations that you endure.                                                                                       II Thess. 1:4

Paul writes that we are to endure “Hardness:”

Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.                                                                                     II Tim. 2:3

Paul writes that we are to endure the “Chastening of God:”

 If ye endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chastens not?                  Heb. 12:7

For the saint, there are a variety of things to endure that the world is generally not required to endure.  But we should consider that we have laid for ourselves a good foundation.  We have; labored for “excellence” in all things, we have been built up in the “knowledge” of God, and we have made a habit of “moderation” in all things, so that we “glorify God in whatsoever we do.”  Therefore, its as if God says; “I will now allow you to glorify Me!”  Jesus glorified His Father in suffering the things He suffered.[10]  Suffering for the Divine purposes in Christ, means a glory that we cannot imagine in our present body.  What is the alternative to “patiently enduring?”  Acting-out impatiently and spoiling God’s purpose in calling us.  This would be a very sad result indeed.

This concept of patience is also closely linked the concept of trust.[11]  It is only when we grow in this precious substance quality of trusting in the Lord that we can venture out into deeper water with God as His Spirit beckons.  This deeper water is called “godliness,” the fifth item on Peter’s progression of faith.

5.  Godliness

This Greek word[12] is always translated “godliness” in the KJV with one exception wherein it is translated “holiness.”  Peter uses the word in his reply to the people that were marveling when he raised a lame man through the power of God:

Acts 3:12  . . . why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness     we had made this man to walk?

However, this is the only time the word is not translated godliness.  What is “godliness?”  Does it mean to keep the moral law?  It is, if we include keeping the “spirit” of the moral law as well as the letter.  Godliness knew its perfection in Jesus Christ, who walked in the spirit as well as in the letter of God’s moral law.  Therefore when we are directed unto “godliness,” we are directed to walk as did Jesus.

Jesus gave us various commandments.  Do we understand that Jesus walked in accord with His own commandments?  Did He “turn the other cheek?”  Did He deny Himself and take up His cross?  Therefore walking as Christ, is a walking in His commandments.  We thereby begin to walk in the spirit of prophecy, because we begin to walk in His testimonies.[13]  We begin to know the Word of God as a Person rather than as a letter.  We walk in the steps of Christ:

If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words,  even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;                 I Tim. 6:3

Therefore the meaning of godliness cannot be more clear.  It is even self-evident that to be “godly” is be in the way of God – to act as God would act.  Therefore Jesus says such things as:

  Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.   Matt 5:48 

But I say to you, love your enemies, & pray for those who persecute you in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil & the good, & sends his rain on the righteous & the unrighteous.                                                                                      Matt. 5:44-4

Now, lest we neglect to perceive it, something profound begins to infiltrate Peter’s progressive path of holiness.  The divine life begins to take root below and to flourish above.  For the nature of God, is the essence of such things as; purity, peacefulness, gentleness, love, etc.[14]  Therefore as we walk like Christ, the Father begins to take notice that He has a child in the earth that requires treatment and care as a child of God.  There is fruit that needs to be tended, watered, and even pruned.   We follow after those traits that are the traits of God, as Paul counseled Timothy:

 But thou, man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness,  godliness,  faith, love, patience, meekness.           I Tim. 6:11

When we follow after the Divine traits, we become partakers in what is called the “mystery of the gospel” – a marvel that will be revealed in its proper time.  This is the “mystery of the kingdom of God” that Jesus spoke about in His parables, and the mystery of Paul’s gospel:

  And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness:  God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels,  preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.      I Tim. 3:16

Therefore, Peter’s progressive way of holiness begins to take on the Divine warrant.  It always had the divine-warrant, but now the Divine agency is becoming increasingly perceptible and begins to consume the process.  Just as it is the work of the galactic dust to accumulate mass, but the work of nuclear physics to transform it into a star, so the believer begins to lay down his material life for the kingdom and it is the work of God to transform this into the eternal life.

6.  Brotherly Kindness:

The Interlinear renders it brotherly love.  Indeed, this is the word “philadelphia”[15] for which is named the “city of brotherly love (so called).”  This word literally means “love of brothers.”  We find this is the type of love that grows in our hearts as we ourselves experience the purifying work of the Spirit:

Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned  love of the brethren, see that ye love[16] one another with a pure heart fervently:      I Pet. 1:22

The apostle John tells us that the evidence to our hearts that we have passed from death into life is this “love” we have for the brethren; so much so, that we become willing to lay down our lives for God’s children.[17]  The word further appears in these verses:

 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love;  in honor preferring one another;   Rom 12:10 

Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another,  love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:             I Pet. 3:8

Do we begin to perceive the general sense of the word?  The word simply means to allow one’s heart to go out to another as one would a brother, or as one would one’s own self.  This second-highest level of Peter’s progression sounds quite similar to the second highest commandment, does it not?

And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.   There is none other commandment greater than these.    Mark 12:31

While the apostles taught that we should love others, they confided that ultimately it is the Spirit of God that teaches us to love others:

But as touching brotherly love you need not that I write unto you:   for you yourselves are taught of God to love one another.                 I Thess. 4:9

After entering into eternal life via the purification of our souls unto a pure love of the brethren, we can begin to sense something that is rarely seen in humanity, the true witness of Christ, which is the love of God.  Thus Peter’s last and highest attainment in the way of holiness is Love.

7.  Charity:

The modern translations render the word “love.”  This word is ag-ah’-pay,[18] meaning love in its most profound sense and is the common word for love where the context is the love of God, e.g.:

John 5:42    But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you.

Rom 8:35  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

Rom 5:5    . . . because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost . .

This “love” is the bond that ties God to humanity via Jesus Christ:

John 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept        my Father’s commandments, & abide in his love

Therefore this “love” is the identifying feature of the genuine disciple of Christ:

John 13:35  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to        another.

This word is the first on the list of the true “fruit of the Spirit”:

Gal 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, . . .

And this word “love” is the final destination on Peter’s progression, because:

Rom 13:10  Love works no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Being the “fulfillment of the Law”, love is the fulfillment of all things, therefore Paul confides the great truth of the gospel:

1Co 13:13& now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

And this is the Greek word used when the Lord states what is the highest commandment:

  And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul,  and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.                                                                                      Mark 12:30

Therefore, the fulfillment of all the Law and the Prophets is also the fulfillment of the law of Christ, which is to love God with the intensity of one’s entire being.  This is a powerful condition of grace.[19]  Therefore, the “love of God” constitutes the definitive attainment in Christ.  This is the definitive result of the “way of holiness,” and therefore this must be what defines holiness ultimately, ie. to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.”

ii.  The End of Love; A Cross

We know love to be the fulfillment of the Law and the prophets.  But is this the end?  No, but rather we might say that it is only the beginning!  For by sharing in the love of God we truly have a fellowship and unity of mind with God that we otherwise could not know.  This is because we have been conformed to the nature of Christ and therefore we can speak with Christ plainly, and He with us.  We are like-minded with Christ.  Therefore even the Father loves us freely and openly just as He loves His Son.  For the Lord promised that this would be the fulfillment of His love:

“These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; an hour is coming when I will speak no more to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly of the Father.  In that day you will ask in My name,  and I do not say to you that I will request the Father on your behalf;  for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I am forth from the Father.”                                                                                      John 16:25-2

This is the fulfillment of the love of God.  This is the place into which we are to ascend as the “holy hill of Mount Zion.”[20]  This is the end of our faith.  But lest we think to have arrived, let us understand that love will make demands upon us just as love made demands upon Jesus Christ.  When we know the truth and walk in the truth in a world operating under the influence of a contrary spirit that is fundamentally hostile to the truth, then Truth shall requires something; sacrifice.  When we engage with people who are antagonistic towards the things of Christ, we shall suffer for the sake of love in some way.  God will see to that.

 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.                                                                                      II Tim. 3:12

In fact, the more we advance with the Holy Spirit in the process of sanctification in this life, the more we shall know identify with the Cross.  And just as the Lord ascended the hill leading up to Jerusalem, so we to shall likewise follow the Lord to the laying down of our own lives:

“He who loves his life loses it; & he who hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal.   If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me;  & where I am, there shall My servant also be;  if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.”                                                                                      John 12:25-26

Whom do we follow?  . . . the Lamb”![21]

Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going”?  Jesus answered, “Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; but you shall follow later”.  John 13:36

Where was the Lord going?  He was going to the Father.  He was going to Calvary. Peter would later follow His Lord.  But he could not follow Jesus at the time he desired, as his sacrifice would not have been acceptable.  For the sacrifice of God is without blemish.  Despite his professed loyalty, his character would not stand up.  He would deny the Lord three times.[22]  Eventually, Peter did follow to the cross, and the “way” which had been appointed unto him.

Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?”  Jesus said to him, “I am the way, & the truth, & the life; No one comes to the Father, but through Me.  If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; From now on you know Him, & have seen Him.”                                                                                      John 14:5-7

The “way” was revealed to the disciples.  The “way” was through faith in Jesus Christ.  This way leads to the fulfillment of the Law, which is love.  Love itself has a fulfillment in the laying down of our lives for others as the truth requires:

Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us:  and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.                    I John 3:1

Is this too high to reach for?  Absolutely, except for the fact that God Himself will bring us there.

iii.  Entering the Kingdom Through Diligence in the Way

Through walking the way of holiness we find entrance into the kingdom of our Lord.

 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly  into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.   II Pet. 1:11

Will we barely “squeeze in?”  Not according to the apostle Peter!  Peter says we will be given “abundant” provision for entrance!  For we shall be “ministered unto” for this expressed purpose!

This is the way for our “fruit to remain.”  For the remaining of our fruit is the mark of being chosen unto sanctification:

Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you,  that you should go and bring forth fruit, & that your fruit should remain;    that whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.                                                                                        John 15:16

Therefore Peter has just told us how to ensure that our “fruit remains”.  He writes:

Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling & election sure:   for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:              II Peter 1:10

Therefore, should we fall, it is not because we were the hapless victims of providence.  No, but rather it is because we were not, as Peter exhorted us to be, “diligent to make our calling and election certain.”  We did not:

1. Strive for excellence and perfection in all things, nor did we
2. labor to add knowledge to our faith.  We did not practice
3. moderation in the use of the things of this world.
4. We did not possess our souls with the patience we were warned we would need.
5. We did not cultivate brotherly love, and so
6. the true love of God never came into full radiance in the face of Jesus Christ within our heart.

Lacking these things, we fell from grace and were burned as only dry sticks of the kingdom of God.  And what a shame this would be considering the wonderful promises held out to us, that come with a sure promise of divine strength in the way:

For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly  into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.         II Pet. 1:11

iv.  The Way of Holiness Not for the Unclean

The KJV of Isaiah’s prophecy reads that; “the unclean shall not pass over it.”  The KJV and Interlinear agree that the word describing what the unclean shall not do is to “pass over.”  This translation is well-established in the description of the Lord’s actions represented in the Feast of Passover.[23]   The word is used within the context of what occurred on the night upon which the feast day is based:

For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night,  and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast;  and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.                  Ex. 12:12

While the NASV indicates the unclean shall not “travel” therein, the true word is “pass through” or “pass over.”  “What is the essential difference?” one might ask?  The “unclean” represent those which have not come by way of water.  They have not truly repented unto the washing of their garments. Because of this, they shall not receive admittance to walk this special way.  For this special way has special benefits.  Recall Peter’s words:

For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  II Pet. 1:11

For those that have washed their garments and urgently seek to walk in the footsteps of Christ, the way shall be Divinely maintained.  They shall receive Divine aid and comfort along the way.  “An entrance shall be ministered unto [you] abundantly.”