Holiness

By William W. Combs. Reproduced with permission from DBSJ 11 (2006). Read the series.

By William W. Combs. Reproduced with permission from DBSJ 11 (2006). Read the series.

The Believer’s Dedication Is Realized in His Life-long Transformation (v. 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.

Reproduced with permission from DBSJ 11 (2006). Read the series.

(Dedication in Romans 12:1–2, continued)

Reproduced with permission from DBSJ 11 (2006). Read the series.

Reproduced with permission from DBSJ 11 (2006). Read the series.

By William W. Combs¹ Reproduced with permission from DBSJ 11 (2006).

Romans 12:1–2 is one of the most well-known texts of Scripture. Its familiarity stems, I believe, from its perceived theological importance. This text is commonly viewed as having great import for the Christian’s spiritual life, and thus it is one of the passages most often memorized by children in Sunday School and teenagers in the youth group.

Read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

Here we are at the fourth article in this series, and I’d like to know if you have seen yourself yet. What does Mark 7 have to say to you? There are at least three things to see. The first two are incidental. The third is the main thing, and I’ll develop it at some length.

With the Old Testament and historical background in place in previous articles, it’s time to examine Mark 7:1–13 in more detail. In other words, it’s time to start comparing our lives to Scripture. God is holy, and he deserves a holy people. Mark 7 makes it clear that in our quest to be holy, the trap of idolatry lies close at hand. Indeed, the Pharisees were the conservatives. They were also idolaters. Are you a conservative? Are you liable to the same rebuke?

This brief series of articles arises from the concern that conservative Christianity is in danger of the sin of idolatry. I’ll go a bit further here to say that Christians who do not describe themselves as traditional or conservative are equally in danger of idolatry. Admittedly, I’m dropping these provocative statements to keep you reading, but the danger is real.

To many of you reading this blog, the words conservative and traditional are sacred cows. I think of myself as a conservative Christian. If you are a traditional, conservative Christian, you may be committing the sin of idolatry in your pursuit of conservatism. John’s warning against idolatry at the end of his first epistle is not gratuitous. Very few Westerners bow before physical idols. Instead, idolatry in Western civilizations always hides behind a mask. Is your conservative Christianity idolatry? In a series of short articles over the next few days, let’s examine Jesus’ encounter with the Pharisees in Mark 7, where he exposes the idolatry of traditionalism.