Holiness is not Optional

The ideologies of the modern world belong to Babylon. God is summoning us to come out of her before judgment arrives.

The Bible teaches us to live our lives as a holy community that is separated from the world, not physically, but morally and spiritually. We are “in the world but not of it.” Our mission is to call others to “save themselves from this crooked generation” before Jesus arrives to judge the world.

In contrast to Scripture, many voices in the church exhort us to infiltrate the surrounding culture and its institutions to change society’s ungodly character and institutions from the inside.

The Bible knows of no such task entrusted to the Church by Jesus or his Apostles. Nowhere do we find Christ instructing the church to take over the cultural centers of this fallen age to reform sinful society. Instead, the followers of Christ are summoned to come out of Babylon to live holy lives.

[Photo by Dallas Penner (Waterloo, Canada) on Unsplash]

The existing world order was condemned long ago because it rejected Jesus and his sacrificial death. The ideologies and institutions of this fallen world cannot tolerate the “word of the cross.” The Cross and the Sword are inherently incompatible. Babylon and the World Empire will vanish from the earth when Jesus next appears, and we must always live with this reality in mind.

• “But this I say, brethren, the time is shortened, that from now on both those who have wives may be as though they had none; and those who weep, as though they wept not; and those who rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and those who buy, as though they possessed not; and those who use the world, as not using it to the full, for the fashion of this world is passing away” - (1 Corinthians 7:29-31).

• “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vainglory of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust thereof. But he who does the will of God abides forever” - (1 John 2:16-17).

• “We speak God's wisdom in a mystery that has been hidden, which God marked out before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this world has known. Had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” - (1 Corinthians 2:7-8).

There is no biblical mandate for the church to seize control of society’s institutions or the political regimes of this age. If anything, the very attempt to do so corrupts the Body of Christ and the mission given to us by Jesus.

Christ summoned his church to preach the Gospel to all nations, to call all men and women who hear and believe his words to join his Assembly and become citizens of the Kingdom of his Father.

In the wilderness, Satan tempted Jesus with political power. If only the Son of God would pay tribute to the Devil, he would grant Christ the authority of Caesar and the military might of the Roman Empire. Was it not his destiny to rule the nations? – (Psalm 2:6-9, Matthew 4:8-10).

Jesus did not dispute Satan’s claim to have the authority to give political authority to whomever he wished (“For it has been delivered to me to give to whomsoever I will” – Luke 4:6). Nevertheless, the Messiah of Israel instead submitted to the will of God and chose the way of the Suffering Servant who “gave his life a ransom for many” – (Mark 10:45).

The interaction between Jesus and the Devil demonstrates that the political systems of this world are part of Satan’s domain, and this raises the question:  Should believers have anything to do with politics? The Book of Revelation graphically illustrates this tension between the Church and the world of politics.

In Revelation, John describes the “seven mountains” of this age, and he links them to Babylon, “the Great Whore, the mother of harlots and the abominations of the earth.” This seductress “sits on many waters” and the “scarlet-colored Beast,” and she also reigns over the seven mountains – (Revelation 17:1-10).

The waters on which Babylon sits represent “peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues,” and the scarlet-colored Beast is the same Beast from the Sea that wages war on the saints of the Lamb - (Revelation 13:6-10).

The scarlet color of the Beast connects him with the Great Red Dragon, “the Ancient Serpent who is called ‘Devil’ and ‘Satan’ and the deceiver of the whole habitable earth.” Babylon is the religious and ideological center that influences the World Empire and motivates it to wage war with the Lamb and his people- (Revelation 12:9, 20:2).

The seven mountains on which Babylon sits represent seven kingdoms, seven political systems, five of which had fallen by the time John received his vision, one of which existed in his day, and the seventh was yet to come. This is a picture of a transhistorical reality, an empire that recurs time and again, but in a different form each time; for example, Babylon, Persia, or Greece, or a monarchy, dictatorship, or democratic republic.

Each of the seven kingdoms is an embodiment of the Beast that persecutes the people of the Lamb, and the Beast is the earthly servant of the Dragon who wages war with the Son of God:

• “And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels going forth to war with the Dragon. And the Dragon warred and his angels. <…> And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and departed to make war with the rest of her seed, those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus” – (Revelation 12:17).

• “And it was given to the Beast to make war with the saints, and to overcome them…” – (Revelation 13:7).

• “And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus” – (Revelation 17:6).

The seventh kingdom is identified with the “Beast that was and is not, is itself also an eighth, and is of the seven; and he is going into destruction.” There is nothing positive here, nothing worth saving, and the destruction of this final empire is sealed even now. The annihilation of the seventh beast will be absolute – (Revelation 13:3, 17:8-11, 20:10).

Reforming this Beast and its policies and ideology is not an option. The destiny of the Dragon, the Beast, the False Prophet who exhorts men to venerate the image of the Beast, and every man and woman who swears fealty to the Beast is the Lake of Fire, “the Second Death” – (Revelation 13:3, 13:15, 19:10).

• “If any man renders homage to the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead, or upon his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb” – (Revelation 14:9-10).

• “The beast that you saw was and is not; and is going to rise out of the abyss, and to go into destruction. And the inhabitants of the earth will wonder, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast, how that he was, and is not, and will come” – (Revelation 17:8).

THE DEFILED CITY

Babylon is stained red with the blood of prophets and of saints. The Great Whore is intoxicated with the blood of Christ’s martyrs, and her sins have reached the highest level imaginable. The destruction of the Unholy City is inevitable:

• “In one day, her plagues will come, death, and mourning, and famine, and she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her. And the kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived wantonly with her, will weep and howl over her, when they look upon the smoke of her burning, standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city, for in one hour is your judgment come!” - (Revelation 18:8-10).

It would be foolish if the Church befriended this Great Whore or attempted to lead her to change her evil ways. It is dangerous to do so. If the Church remains in Babylon, she will be destroyed along with the Unholy City.

The letter from Jesus to the church of Thyatira demonstrates that the Great Whore was infiltrating the churches of Asia even in the first century. The prophetess called ‘Jezebel’ was seducing believers to compromise their commitment to Jesus to the demands and expectations of the surrounding pagan society:

• “I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman, Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. And she teaches and seduces my servants to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed to idols. And I gave her time, that she should repent; and she will not repent of her fornication. Behold, I cast her into a bed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works” – (Revelation 2:20-22).

And so, God summons His saints with the utmost urgency to separate themselves from Babylon before it is too late, to seek holiness rather than accommodation with the pollutions of this unholy system:

• “Come forth, my people, out of her, that you have no fellowship with her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached even unto heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities” - (Revelation 18:4-5. Compare Isaiah 52:11).

• “And what agreement has Christ with Belial? Or what partnership has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has a sanctuary of God with idols? For we are a sanctuary of the living God, even as God said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them. And I will be their God, and they will be my people. Wherefore, Come out from among them, and be separate, says the Lord, And touch no unclean thing. And I will receive you” - (2 Corinthians 6:15-17. Compare Leviticus 26:11, Isaiah 52:5-11).

• “Seek after holiness, without which no man will see the Lord” - (Hebrews 12:14).

The idea of sin rising to levels that demand Divine judgment is found elsewhere in Scripture, including the Book of Daniel:

• “In the aftertime of their kingdom, when transgressions have filled up their measure, there will rise up a king of mighty presence, a skilled dissembler” – (Daniel 8:23).

• “Wherefore you are witnesses to yourselves, that you are sons of those who killed the prophets. Therefore, fill up the measure of your fathers” – (Matthew 23:32).

The exhortations of the Book of Revelation accurately reflect the primary biblical sense of the term ‘holiness,’ namely, separation from that which defiles us, from unholy things.

There can be no compromise with Satan or his ideologies. There will be no negotiated peace between the Dragon and the Lamb. The Church will never win the world to the Gospel by emulating the Devil’s evil ways or infiltrating his corrupt institutions. The hearts of men and women can only be transformed by the Gospel of Christ.

This is not a call to abandon the world, but for every man and woman who would follow the Lamb to engage the world by using the biblical means, and “not to defile his garments.” This includes preaching the Good News of the Kingdom of God, which is the only political realm that will endure in the end. Our allegiance to the Lamb and his kingdom must be absolute, and holiness is not optional - (Revelation 3:4).

As Christ’s Body, we are called to become the light that shines brightly in this dark world, an unsullied reflection of everything that Jesus taught and did. We must be everything that the Beast, his empire and Babylon are not, and we must summon others to leave its darkness behind and join the Kingdom of God.

Finally, we are not simply exiting the defiled and impious city of Babylon, but we are marching behind Jesus to the Holy City, New Jerusalem, where no unclean person or thing is found:

• “And the city has no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine upon it, for the glory of God illuminated it, and the Lamb is its lamp. And the nations will walk amidst its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into the city. And the gates will certainly not be shut by day, for there will be no night there, and they will bring the glory and the honour of the nations into it. And there will certainly not enter into the anything unclean, or he that makes an abomination and a lie; but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life” - (Revelation 21:23-27).

[NOTE: Text printed in small capital letters represents quotations and allusions to Old Testament passages]

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SEE ALSO:

• His Kingdom - (Jesus proclaimed a new political reality, the Kingdom of God, which bears little resemblance to the political systems and regimes of this age)

• Following the Lamb - (The Messiah of Israel submitted to the way of the Cross and now summons us to follow his example in our daily lives)

• Who will you serve? - (Humanity is divided into two and only two groups – the followers of the Lamb and the subjects of the Beast)

• La sainteté est Obligatoire - (Les idéologies du monde moderne appartiennent à Babylone. Dieu nous appelle à sortir d'elle avant que le jugement n'arrive)