THE COLLAPSE OF CHARACTER - PART 10

UNHOLY

When the Sacred Is No Longer Set Apart

“…unthankful, unholy…” 2 Timothy 3:2 

Paul’s progression is exact. When gratitude dies, reverence does not survive. An unthankful heart will not remain holy for long, because holiness is sustained by awe, and awe is sustained by gratitude. Thus Paul adds the next mark of perilous times with chilling simplicity: “unholy.”

Holiness, biblically defined, means set apart unto God. It speaks of distinction, separation, and consecration. To be holy is not merely to avoid certain sins; it is to belong wholly to the Lord. When Paul says men shall be unholy, he is not describing ignorance of religious language, but the loss of sacred distinction. God is no longer treated as separate. Truth is no longer treated as weighty. Sin is no longer treated as dangerous.

Scripture repeatedly establishes holiness as essential, not optional. “Be ye holy; for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16). This command does not change with culture. It flows from the nature of God Himself. Holiness is not a preference; it is a reflection of who God is. When holiness disappears from life, it has already disappeared from the view of God.

The writer of Hebrews warns with sobering clarity: “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). Holiness is not legalism. It is evidence of genuine faith. To abandon holiness is not to become more loving—it is to become more distant from God.

Paul’s placement of unholy immediately after unthankful reveals the connection. Gratitude recognises grace. Holiness responds to it. When grace is assumed rather than received, obedience is resented. An unthankful heart asks, “Why must I?” A holy heart asks, “How could I not?”

Charles Spurgeon warned that the church’s greatest danger was not persecution, but assimilation. He cautioned that when believers blur the line between the holy and the common, they may still speak of God, but they no longer walk with Him. Holiness does not disappear suddenly; it is diluted slowly, excused gradually, and abandoned quietly.

History supports this truth. Winston Churchill warned that when societies lose reverence for what is sacred, they soon lose respect for everything else. Once nothing is set apart, nothing is protected. The erosion of holiness always precedes the erosion of conscience.

Our present age exemplifies this decline. The concept of the sacred has been replaced with the language of preference. Moral boundaries are dismissed as outdated. Purity is mocked as repression. Distinction is labelled intolerance. The question is no longer, “Is this holy?” but, “Does this feel authentic?”

This shift has not spared the church. Worship can lose its reverence. Entertainment can replace adoration. God’s Word can be treated casually, debated endlessly, and obeyed selectively. Familiarity replaces fear. The prophet Isaiah described such a people, saying they “draw near me with their mouth… but have removed their heart far from me” (Isaiah 29:13).

Scripture warns that unholiness invites judgment not because God is harsh, but because holiness is protective. Holiness guards the heart. It restrains desire. It preserves truth. When holiness is abandoned, appetite governs behaviour. Paul told the Thessalonians, “God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness” (1 Thessalonians 4:7). To live otherwise is to live contrary to our calling.

Christ stands again as the contrast. He moved among sinners without becoming like them. He loved without compromising. He showed mercy without lowering the standard. Holiness did not make Him distant; it made Him powerful. Grace did not excuse sin; it confronted it.

For the believer in perilous times, holiness must be guarded intentionally. It will not be reinforced by culture. It will not be applauded by the world. It must be chosen daily, maintained humbly, and defended biblically. Holiness is not arrogance; it is allegiance.

Paul lists unholy here because once gratitude is gone and reverence fades, restraint collapses. The sacred becomes common. The holy becomes negotiable. And when nothing is set apart, everything is eventually corrupted.

The last days are marked not by the absence of religion,but by the absence of holiness.

And once holiness is lost, even the most basic human affections begin to fracture.