God's Perfect Requirement

I am constantly surprised by my generations understanding of holiness. I recently had a conversation with another Christian in which he basically said, "We should only behave in a holy manner if that is the way we feel like behaving." The philosophy behind that statement is that for a Christian to "act" holy when they do not feel like "acting" holy is hypocrisy and the world knows that the Church is full of hypocrites. So the argument goes, we need to start being "real" by acting out the way we feel instead of acting out holiness. I once heard a Christian man brag about the fact that no one at his work place could tell from his behavior that he was a Christian because he was so "real".
We must understand what hypocrisy really is. Is it behaving in a manner that you do not feel like behaving? Not to put to fine a point on it, but if this is true then many Christian men are hypocrites if they do not cheat on their wives. If it is true that looking lustfully at a woman is equal to adultery, then many men commit adultery anyway. Why not just do what is in your heart to do?
Jesus spoke of hypocrites in this way, "So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men... When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men... Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting." (Matt. 6:2, 5, 16) Speaking of judging others, Jesus also said, "You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye." (Matt. 7:5) Also in Matthew 23, Jesus speaks very harshly to the Pharisees, calling them hypocrites because they call themselves religious yet they are full of evil. They call themselves experts on the Law of God, yet they completely misunderstand God's heart in the Law. They call themselves morally pure, but Jesus pointed out that they were full of all kinds of wickedness and impurity.
The implication of these statements is that hypocrites are those who act good when in truth they are evil. Feeling has nothing to do with the hypocrisy of these men. They felt good about themselves. They felt religious and righteous based on their deeds. The Truth is what declared them to be hypocrites. They were not sincere in their pursuit of righteousness and godliness. They behaved the way they did because they wanted others to admire them, not because they were righteous. So hypocrisy does not mean that we behave in ways that we do not feel like behaving, it means behaving in ways that deny the truth of our hearts. If we are not holy, then to behave in holiness is hypocrisy!
Because of the sacrifice of Jesus, we who by faith in Him are saved have been regenerated, born again, "the body of sin" was "done away with." We have been given a new nature, as Paul says, "put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth." (Eph. 4:24) Because we have a new nature, a nature created in righteousness and holiness of truth, it is not hypocrisy for us to behave in holiness. Actually, it is hypocrisy for us to behave in unholiness! Hypocrisy is acting like something you are not. It is not acting in a way that you do not feel. For a sinner to act like a saint is hypocrisy. For a saint to act like a sinner is hypocrisy. If you have trusted Jesus to save you, then you are a saint.
God has called us to holiness, "Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were your in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.'" (1 Peter 1:13-16)
God has empowered us to holiness, "Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these he has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust." (2 Peter 1:2-4)
God rewards us for holiness, "For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:20-23)
The question that I have is, "Why don't you want to behave in holiness?" It seems as though Christians would prefer to dwell in sin. They act like being "real" by behaving in sinful ways is somehow virtuous or blessed by God. God promises blessing for obedience not disobedience. When a Christian behaves in a sinful way he is disobeying God's will for his life even if that sinful action is in keeping with the Christian's "feelings." God does not condone that; He will not reward it. It is not a virtue; it is a vice.
Finally, it is important to understand that God disciplines disobedience in His children, "It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness." (Hebrews 12:7-11)
I will end with the call of Moses, the Prophets, Jesus, and the Apostles, "The foremost is, 'Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." (Mark 12:29, 30) "These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on you hand and they shall be as frontals on you forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." (Deuteronomy 6:6-9) "See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity; in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the Lord your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it... I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them." (Deut. 30:15-20)