So asceticism, as such—voluntary abstinences, routines of self-deprivation and grueling austerity—is not the same thing as holiness, though some forms of asceticism may well find a place in a holy person’s life. Nor is formalism, in the sense of outward conformity in word and deed to the standards God has set, anything like holiness, though assuredly there is no holiness without such conformity. Nor is legalism, in the sense of doing things to earn God’s favor or to earn more of it than one has already, to be regarded as holiness. Holiness is always the saved sinner’s response of gratitude for grace received.
The Pharisees of Jesus’ day made all three mistakes, yet were thought to be very holy people until Jesus told them the truth about themselves and the inadequacies of their supposed piety. After that, however, we dare not forget that holiness begins in the heart. Who wants to line up with those Pharisees?
Charles Wesley wrote:
O for a heart to praise my God,
A heart from sin set free;
A heart that always feels thy blood
So freely shed for me;
A heart resigned, submissive, meek,
My great redeemer’s throne,
Where only Christ is heard to speak,
Where Jesus reigns alone;
A heart in every thought renewed
And full of love divine,
Perfect and right and pure and good:
A copy, Lord, of thine.
It is with this focus, and this prayer, that real holiness begins.
Packer, J. I. (2009). Rediscovering Holiness, pg 22, Regal Publications.