I've been sharing a series of messages at Christ Church titled, "Church for Real People." The main focus of the series is the realness of the people to whom Jesus reached out, and the amazing prospect that Jesus is interested in real people, not just "religious" people.
Religion is more about rules. Jesus is more about relationship. Religion is mostly concerned with what you're forbidden from doing. Jesus is more concerned with what he's calling you to do, like loving your neighbor as yourself. Religion encourages self-righteousness. Jesus encourages humility.
The basic point is that we can't earn our way into God's favor. God already favors us, we just need to figure that out.
Now, some folks might accuse me of antinomianism. [Look it up.] I'm quite far from it. As a matter of fact, I believe that when you get real with God, admit you need his grace, and receive his grace, that you will never be the same again. However, simply trying to imitate the good works of someone else won't do it, because your heart will not be changed.
I believe in real holiness. Not the kind that says you must dress a certain way, avoid a narrow 19th century-derived list of so-called vices, and learn to speak Christianese. The holiness the Bible teaches is quite different. It is a holiness of grace.
You see, to live a life of grace, I have to receive grace. When I truly receive grace and understand that my most fundamental identity is Beloved Child of God, then my whole life is altered. I want to live differently. I want to please God, not because of some benefit I might receive, but in response to the love I have already received. Motivation is the key.
If I can't be real with God, others, and myself, then I will never experience the holiness God planned for me, and that's a bit of a scary thought considering what the Bible says in Hebrews 12:14: "Pursue peace with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord." Wow! I need holiness!
Try this on for size: Holiness, real holiness, is about wholeness. It is being the person created you to be, not being someone you're not. Not squeezing into a religious conception of what it means to be a Christian. It's being who you are. Thomas Merton, one of the greatest spiritual writers of the twentieth century wrote: "For me to be a saint means to be myself. Therefore the problem of sanctity and slavation is in fact the problem of finding out who I am and of discovering my true self."
The task of the Holy Spirit in leading us into a deeper experience of holiness is leading us into a deeper experience of living out our true self: a child of God.