Willmore exhorts Southeastern Seminary students to holiness

Holiness must be both the passionate pursuit and the evident hallmark of a Christian’s life, Pastor Roger Willmore said in a Feb. 15 message to students at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C.
   
Willmore, senior pastor of Deerfoot Baptist Church in Trussville, is also the first vice president of the Alabama Baptist State Convention and chairman of LifeWay Christian Resources’ trustee executive committee.
   
In his message, taken from 2 Kings 4:8–9, Willmore reminded students that they are not attending seminary simply to pursue a degree or to gain a functional competency for their ministries. 
   
Instead, he said, they should be giving themselves to learning how to walk in a manner that pleases the Lord.
   
“Is what I’m seeing in the pulpit real or just a pulpit performance?” he asked students, reminding them that church members will ask the same question. “Does the walk match the talk?”
   
Willmore noted from the example of Elisha’s holy testimony before the Shunammite woman that holiness in the life of a man of God is observable to those around him.
   
“She could have said other things about him,” Willmore said, “but the thing that captured her attention was his holiness. If you have to tell people that you are holy, there may be a problem.”
   
Although holiness is a hard path, it is attainable for every Christian because of the victory over sin won by Jesus Christ, Willmore said.
   
“Sometimes, when we see those giants of the faith,” he said, “we think they must somehow have an edge on us. 
   
“But the holiness to which God calls us is a holiness that each one of us can experience,” Willmore said. “It’s not an easy path; it’s a hard path. It’s something that requires a price to be paid. Every time you see a giant in the faith, that person paid a price to get there.”
   
That price is worth whatever it may cost a believer, he said, reminding students that it is the example of a holy life that lends a sense of power and authenticity to a message that the world needs to hear.