It is hard to conceive that anyone would be against holy living. To be God-like in character, it would seem, would be a benefit to one's family and society. Who could you trust more than a truly God-like person? Of course, we are assuming that we would be like the living God who has revealed himself to us through his Word. Not all "gods" are righteous or trustworthy. The pantheon of gods from ancient times to the present day had no idea of righteousness, goodness, or fairness. Because we know and seek to emulate the character of the living God through Jesus Christ we know perfectly well what righteousness, goodness, and fairness means.
So what is the problem? The Apostle Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:12 that anyone who sought to live a holy life would be persecuted. That seems, on the surface, to be a rash statement. How could anyone persecute a holy person? The problem is not the holy person but the holy God. We represent a God the world rejects. We represent the God many in our society reject. The main reason is that what God represents, primarily in the sense of morality and ethics, appears to restrict the one thing that people of the world wants—autonomous individual freedom without restrictions. The only restrictions that are allowed are what a person decides for him or herself.
There are some further reasons why Christians seeking to live a holy life will be persecuted. They are derived from the desire to live one's life autonomous from God. The holy life is counter-cultural. Cultures by nature try to coerce people to follow its dictates and any deviation from what is culturally approved is subject to correction. Christians resist the "gods" of culture, the ultimate loyalties that everyone in culture bows down to. Power, success, and autonomous individual freedom for the West but it may be group conformity, respect for traditional religions, and total submission to the leader. Another reason is that the holy life causes people who are living the unholy life to feel that they are being judged. It exposes their sins and forces them to deal with aspects of their lives from which they wish to hide. The Holy Spirit is using the holy life to convict people of their sins and they are not happy about that.
It is possible and desirable for people to see the error of their ways and repent and be transformed. If they do not, they may react in a negative way to the holy life and lash out at the Christian. On the personal level, it can be anything from mild resistance to rejection. On the societal level, it may take the form of social disdain and ostracizing, the pressure to conform that may include various forms of coercion like prison, fines, or public humiliation. Governments may carry this resistance to the level of persecution.
The theme of suffering for living a holy life is discussed further in the www.vomclassroom.com class titled Theology of Persecution and Suffering in Module 3. For those who want a deeper understanding of the issues of persecution and suffering, this is a great place to find material that will aid your journey to the deeper life.
Roy Stults, PhD, is the Online Workshop Coordinator and Educational Services Coordinator for The Voice of the Martyrs. He graduated from Olivet Nazarene University (BA and MA), Nazarene Theological Seminary (M.Div.), Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Doctor of Missiology), and The University of Manchester (England) with a PhD (theology). A Vietnam veteran, Dr. Stults served as a missionary for 19 years and pastored U.S. churches for eight years. Prior to joining VOM, he was a Professor of Religion at Oklahoma Wesleyan University.
GOD vs devil.
GOOD vs evil.
TRUE vs false.
LIGHT vs dark.
HOLY vs unholy.
RIGHT vs wrong.
TRUTH vs untruth.
what will happen?
what is happening?
what was happened?
GOD know all everything and GOD know how to do !!!
GOD + Followers of GOD = VICTORY WIN VICTORIOUS !!!
Posted by: STAR777 | March 19, 2013 at 11:12 PM