The Way of Holiness

Without holiness there is no revival or renewal.

Holiness is a key component, not only in the House of God, as Psalm 93:5 says, “Holiness adorns Your house,” but also in the heart of God’s people. The Apostle Paul said God hasn’t called us to uncleanness, but holiness. (1 Thessalonians 4:7)

The writer of Hebrews said, “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.” (Hebrews 12:14)

The word, “see,” means to have a vision. Without holiness we’ll never have a clear vision of God, and we’ll never understand His ways. The way of holiness, therefore, needs to be traveled.

In speaking about the time of the coming Messiah, when blind eyes will be opened, deaf ears unstopped, the mute shouting for joy, and when water gushes forth in the wilderness and streams flow forth in the desert, the Lord says, “And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way.” (Isaiah 35:8)

The word “highway” doesn’t mean a road where cars and trucks can quickly travel. Rather it means exactly what it says, a way that is high. It means a road that’s been built on a raised causeway making it visible and unmistakable to everyone.

This high way is called the way of holiness, and God has clearly marked out this highway in His word.

But the church has lost its way, even though God’s word has clearly marked it out.

John Wesley said that God raised up Methodism to spread scriptural holiness, and Methodism was the source by which a great revival broke out in the mid 19th century known as the “Holiness Revival.”

But much of Wesley’s teaching and this holiness revival has been forgotten, because we’ve relegated holiness to a set of behaviors, like not smoking or drinking, how we are to act, or how we are to dress and speak.