The Joy of Holiness

One thing you will hear at least once in your life as a Christian is this: “Christianity is so restricting; it’s so boring; it’s just a bunch of rules. I don’t want to sacrifice happiness in order to obey.” Most of the time this will come from admitted unbelievers; sometimes you will hear this from professing Christians!

Either way, it’s very misguided. But the problem is even we as Christians believe this — whether knowingly or not. We can fall into the ditch of believing that we have to sacrifice our joy and happiness in order to pursue holiness in the Lord.

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash

However, Scripture makes it abundantly clear that’s a false dichotomy. You don’t need to abandon joy and happiness in order to pursue holiness and obedience to the Lord. They are intimately connected. “God intends,” Jerry Bridges wrote, “the Christian life to be a life of joy—not drudgery.”

The Christian life will certainly be one of ups and down and struggles and triumphs, but none of that should touch our joy in Jesus Christ. But there’s an important caveat: the experience of joy we have in the Christian life is predicated upon our pursuit of holiness. Again, Bridges: “Only those who walk in holiness experience true joy.”

It’s quite possible to be Christian, yet not be happy, because we’re not actively pursuing holiness in Christ. Our sadness and frustration and drudgery — whatever you want to call it — is many times directly related to our disobedience. If we are not pursuing holiness – if we’re not consistently pursuing obedience to God in Christ – then we won’t experience the joy that comes from the Lord. This doesn’t mean we don’t have the joy that comes with being in Christ. It’s there, but just means we’re lacking in experiencing it.

Think of the assurance of your salvation. Many Christians believe in eternal security — that we cannot lose our salvation — but it’s quite possible to lose the assurance of your salvation. Maybe the Christian is struggling to pursue holiness and obey the Lord and not fighting sin well. They didn’t lose their salvation, but they've temporarily lost the assurance of their salvation. In the same way, it’s easy for Christians to not experience joy in their walk with the Lord because of a lack of holiness or obedience unto the Lord.

The love of God is a pivotal factor as we consider pursuing holiness with joy. God’s love works in two ways as we pursue holiness; it precedes and follows our obedience. The love of God is a supreme motivator as we pursue holiness. Knowing that the Lord loves us – despite our sins and flaws and problems – should make us eager to pursue holiness in the Lord. And it’s a drastic mistake – and an indicator of a real spiritual issue – if the love of God for you makes you believe that you should just remain still and not pursue holiness. God’s love is not meant for us to think we don’t need to pursue holiness. God’s love doesn’t lead to complacency, but action.

But as we consider this, it’s important to remember that God’s love does not fluctuate based on how well we’re pursuing obedience and holiness in the Lord. We can have joy as we pursue holiness because we know, despite our ups and downs, the Spirit is working through us to conform us to the image of Jesus Christ. If I have a bad day – and we all do – I don’t have to hang my heads in defeat and feel as though God’s love decreased. That’s demonic. Our reaction to a bad day certainly shouldn’t be apathy, but it doesn’t need to be despair. God loves us just as much on our bad days than on our good days. And that should compel us to have joy as we pursue holiness.

As we seek to pursue holiness and honor the Lord with our obedience, it simply comes down to everyday decisions.

Choose to make Bible reading a priority.

Choose to make prayer a priority throughout the day.

Choose to have people in your life—people in your church—that can check in on you and you can check in on them.

Choose to fill your minds with heavenly things rather than sinful things.

Choose to follow the Lord regardless of where he takes you.

Choose to resist temptation not merely by ensuring you have boundaries but ultimately by believing the promises of God in Christ for you.

Choose to confess your sin consistently to your spouse and/or someone close to you to keep you accountable.

Choose to fight your sin because the gospel is worth that grace-driven effort.

Choose to make the hard but joyful choice to pursue holiness in Christ because you know you will never regret that but will always regret sin.