Across the borders of
denominations we see a wide variety of belief concerning the topic of holiness.
In some churches, particularly those of the Methodists, Church of God,
Assemblies of God, and Pentecostal Denominations, we see an extreme push for
holiness that often leads to a purely legalistic lifestyle. This is a very
important thing for us to understand about ourselves, and seek to understand
better. Other churches neglect the whole concept of holiness and teach that you
can do whatever you want as long as you don’t feel guilty, or perhaps they
teach that as long as you repent of it after doing it that there is no issue.
So what is “holiness”? Why does it matter?
What does the Bible have to say concerning the topic? What does this mean to
us in the area of Salvation? How does this affect our lives in as a whole?
These are the questions that we should be asking ourselves as believers, and we
need to think critically and Biblically concerning each and every one of these.
No question asked of theology or of the nature of God and our relationship with
Him should ever be answered halfheartedly or passively.
Definitions: let’s
begin by looking at some definitions from Miriam-Webster’s Dictionary. Here are
the five definitions found on the Miriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary. 1: exalted or worthy of complete
devotion as one perfect in goodness and righteousness 2: divine <for the Lord our God is holy —
Psalms 99:9(Authorized Version)> 3: devoted
entirely to the deity or the work of the deity <aholy temple> <holy prophets>
4a : having a divine quality <holy love>b : venerated as or as if sacred <holy scripture> <a holyrelic>
5—used as an
intensive <this is a holy mess> <he was
a holyterror when he drank — Thomas Wolfe> ; often used in
combination as a mild oath <holy smoke> — ho·li·ly adverb.
We
see that the word for holy definitely points toward God and toward being set
apart or “sacred” as many would say.
In
several letters written by Paul, we see the word holy being used to also imply
a sense of purity and Christ-like attitude and lifestyle. Throughout the Bible
we see a call to holiness to the people of God. Even we as gentiles are called
to live holy before our God. In fact, in both the Old and New Testament, there
is a sort of requirement of the people of God to be holy, set apart, and pure
in their way of living. In 2 Corinthians 7, Paul makes this plea, “Since we
have these promises, beloved [Followers of Christ in Corinth], let us cleanse
ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit bringing holiness to
completion in the fear of God.”(ESV) But what did Paul mean in saying these
things? What was the context of this verse?
In the verse just before we learn the following
1. The
Corinthians were being restrictive in their affection toward Paul and his
fellow travelers.
2. The
Corinthians were taking part in worldly actions and giving themselves over to
lawlessness (2 Cor. 6:14)
3. Paul
is obviously addressing what he sees to be a serious problem within the Church
of Corinth.
The idea of being holy
and set apart is not just something that was required of the Corinthians. Paul
told the Colossians that Christ died “in order to present you holy and
blameless and above reproach before Him [The Father] (Col. 1:22. ESV).”
Leaders are held to an
even higher standard because of their role as influencers within the Church
Body. Paul writes about this in his letters to Timothy as well as to Titus (1
Timothy 3:1-3, Titus 1:5-8). In both passages Paul states that the “overseer
must be above reproach” and he also lists off over qualification that reflect
this need for purity, including being the “husband of one wife”, being
“sober-minded”, etc.
But why live holy? Why be
set apart?
1. God
clearly desires for us to be holy.
a. In
Leviticus He tells the priests to tell His people “be holy, for I the Lord am
holy.” And as part of the Church we are “grafted in” to the people of Israel
and this becomes part of who were are to be.
b. The
whole reason for the Jerusalem Counsel (Acts 15) was to determine the laws that
we as Gentiles must follow. It was a holiness issue!
2. How
can we be a light to the World when we look just like the World?
a. Romans
12:2 tells us not to be caught up in things this world does or be like them,
but to be transformed through the renewing of our minds by the Holy Spirit.
b. The
Holy Spirit works in us to make us more holy.
Talking it out:
Let the students interact at this point, talk about how we can apply this to
our lives ant to our culture today. Ask questions like “how does this affect
how we treat others?”, “How does this affect us in our schools, in our jobs?”
“I have a rock at home that, when I was a child, I took and
spray-painted Gold. I kept that rock in my room and pretended like it was real!
But it was obvious that it wasn’t real gold, but it did catch people’s
attention. The problem is that it has considerably less value because it wasn’t
pure Gold. Gold, real gold, is at its highest value when it’s been purified.
The question I leave you with is this…are we living our lives in such a way
that we look like Gold on the inside, but inside we are nothing more than a
rock coated in gold spray-paint? Let us seek to live Holy and listen to the
Holy Spirit, allowing Him to lead us and purify us.”
In the Psalms, David states the following : “Who shall ascend the hill
of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and
a pure heart, who does not lift his soul to what is false and does not swear
deceitfully. He will receive blessing form the LORD and righteousness from the
God of his salvation.” (Psalms 24:3-5 ESV). If we want to be people in stand in
the presence of God and are led by His Spirit, then we must seek to be holy and
have “clean hands” and a “pure heart”. These terms are holistic, speaking of
the whole being pure.
·
We must have “clean hands”
o
This term gives us the impression of having
innocence in deed.
o
Pilot “washed his hands” of the death of Jesus.
o
In the
same sense we are seeing that David is saying that those whose deeds are
blameless are able to come before God
·
And a “Pure heart”
o
Not only are our deeds to be blameless, but our
intentions as well
o
We must not forget that God looks at the hearts
of men and judges them accordingly.
o
What good is it for to do what is right, if our
intentions are evil in nature?
As Christians, we must strive to be Spirit-led people. We must work to honor
God and to show His Nature to everyone around us. Let us make ourselves humble
before God and seek to be pure and holy vessels, useful to the Spirit for the sake
of His kingdom.
Work Cited
“The Holy Bible”. ESV. Crossway Bibles Publishing.
Wheaton, Illinois. 2008
“Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary”.
Online Resource. <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/holy>
