In the Old Covenant, holiness was work-based; the people were termed holy based on what they did. On the other hand, in the New Covenant, people are made holy by their faith in the finished works of Christ on the cross. Apart from the cross, the pursuit of holiness is a mirage unattainable. All good works, apart from the cross, amount to nothing in the sight of God. In the words of Martin Luther, "Good works do not make a man good, but a man made good by God does good works."
Holiness is more than doing good, it is about being made good. It is the one who has been made good by the works of Christ on the cross that can in turn do that which can be accounted as good before God. At the new birth, the Holy Spirit imparts in us a new nature; in addition to imparting in us God's holy nature, He also imparts in us the desire to walk according to our holy nature. This is the aspect of our new birth that gets many confused, making them think that it our good works that make us holy. No! Our holiness is a result of our simple faith in what Christ did on the cross.
We can grow in our desire to walk holy, but we can't grow in our holy nature; this is a gift we received from God in Christ Jesus. Our position in Christ makes us holy; yet, we are required to grow in our walk in holiness. This is the work of the Spirit called sanctification. It is God's duty to make us holy when we come to Christ; but walking in holiness is our responsibility, even this, is done, only, by the help of the Holy Spirit.
When these truths are not known, we assume that it is our good conduct that makes us holy before God, but it is not. Change in behaviour outside of Christ does not change who we are: sinners. This is what behaviour modification teachers don't often take into account in their presentation of the gospel.
Toni
