Holiness

Yesterday's Sunday School lesson was based on 1 Peter 1:13-25. The writer developed holiness as loving attitudes and actions, a perspective I hadn't seen before. He referred to John Wesley's 3 rules: do no harm, do good, and attend to the ordinances and spiritual disciplines. Due to the large number of ministers in my ancestry, I have a Methodist Episcopal Discipline from 1814. I read most of the "3 rules" section from that document, then asked the class what they thought. They actually felt the directives in that section were still valid for today. I was surprised. Most people would think them legalistic, I believe. The discussion highlighted a common perspective on holiness, though. Many people think of holiness as rule-keeping. The Wesleyan perspective is actually holiness of heart, which is more Biblical.