Yes the new man in Christ is holy - completely holy, you cannot have partial holiness. ALL things become new. A little yeast spoils the whole dough (or whatever). At that point, the old man has been crucified and this is vital as the Holy Spirit cannot dwell where there is sin. It must be done away with. Either or. The OT is full of this message. Yes it is through the blood of Christ, but that blood enables man to be holy as it washes away his sin.
The problem is that the person who has a first encounter after being evangelised is encouraged to believe things in scripture that do not apply to him/her yet. The truth of what the new man is, has been revealed but it is not, as you say, in their real life. They still sin without intention.
Then therre is the myth about gradual sanctification that will gradually take place till death perfects it. The Bible does not say this. It emphasises today.
Yes those who say they are walking in this doctrine all say the same. They all have the terstimony that they were convicted when they stopped resisting the Holy Spirit and learned their true state whereby they could truly repent.
Such a big subject, and I'm not sure I'm up to it. All I can say is that no true doctrine is going to take away the foundation and destroy anyone's faith in it........we must not be moved off the foundation........though we must grow up from it, because the foundation is just the beginning.
Rom 10:8-13
But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach):
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”
For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.
For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”
Eph 2:4-10
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast.
For we are HIS workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Rom 4:1-9
What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?
For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man,
unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,
Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness.
Romans 5 also….too much to post here, but that chapter reiterate the same things. Hope maketh not ashamed, righteousness is a free gift, etc. Any doctrine that moves us off this foundation cannot be right.
And after that of course we need to grow/increase and bear fruit, running the race so as to win it, bringing fruit to perfection…..that theme of growth is all over the scriptures. There are different stages of growth along the way….scripture speaks of there being virgins without number, large number of concubines, and only one bride. That is the "one" winner of the race, so to speak. The single eye of a dove. We must do our best, being or becoming single eyed and perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord. But God is the only judge of each soul, how well a person is running the race, what rewards one will receive, or lose, and whether we are on the narrow path, etc. I don't accept that the subject of holiness is as cut and dried the way it is being made out to be on these thread....it needs to be in spirit, not a dead letter. Each one is responsible to be doing their best to obey and follow Jesus, and always seeking to do better.... God expects sincerity.....whole heartedness......and that is judged by being whole hearted at whatever phase of growth one is at. For example Peter was zealously whole-hearted as a disciple of Jesus before the Holy Spirit was even given, but he was just not mature yet. (I think God showed him that he still had a ways to go when he was tested and denied the Lord.) His fruit was there but needed to be matured, ripened and brought to perfection/completion.
And outer darkness that Epi talks about is not a lower level in eternity, it is speaking of a soul that has perished. Parable of the TEN virgins (a minyan) is talking first to the Jews about the glory of the first covenant, but that they could only enter the new covenant with extra oil (Holy Spirit, Spirit of Christ – glory of the new covenant) and those who didn't enter the new covenant, clearly it meant they would not be saved, hence be cast into outer darkness.
I know that the church at large in the west has gotten off the track....they are not even on the narrow path any more.....that means they are in grave danger. But I believe a not-yet-fully-matured believing soul who is on the narrow path at any stage along the way is safe as long as they stay on the narrow path, staying in the race running it and walking according to the light they have received wherever they are along the way.
