God is Holy

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”[1]

Sin is contagious, but holiness is incommunicable. This is the consistent message of the Word of God. The sin of Achan—covetousness and disobedience—condemned Israel to experience defeat and caused countless families to mourn [Joshua 7:1-26]. This truth is clearly taught in the prophecy of Haggai. Listen to the startling words of the Prophet Haggai.

The word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Ask the priests about the law: ‘If someone carries holy meat in the fold of his garment and touches with his fold bread or stew or wine or oil or any kind of food, does it become holy?’ “ The priests answered and said, “No.” Then Haggai said, “If someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body touches any of these, does it become unclean?” The priests answered and said, “It does become unclean” [Haggai 2:10-13].

Sanctified meat does not sanctify anything else. The effect of sanctified meat touching another article is neutral. In contrast, an unclean person touching that which is sanctified makes the items touched unclean. In short, God is providing a lesson which is vital to Christian growth—sin is contagious, but holiness is not communicable. Holiness is a choice. Holiness requires that an individual work at achieving it; and the requirement for holiness flows from the knowledge that God is holy.

You shall be holy, for I am holy. This is the Word of God, citing the command of God given in the Law of Moses. I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy… I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy [Leviticus 11:44, 45]. It is not a recommendation. Neither is this a plea. God commands holiness.

Holiness is a subject which is mentioned neither often nor much among the churches of our Lord in this day—churches which exalt personal rights over obedience to Him they call Lord and Saviour. Nevertheless, the subject of holiness is essential if we will prove pleasing to God who is holy. It is a tragedy of momentous proportions that we modern Christians confuse what can only be construed as an artificial piety with holiness. I make no apology for insisting that God’s people are to live holy lives. In order to live holy lives, we will need to challenge some cherished practises, bringing them into conformity with the mind of God.

In the hope of introducing a series of studies designed to challenge the people of God to grow in holiness even as they are separated from the practises of this fallen world, today I endeavour to provide sound instruction in this neglected subject. I invite you to join me in a study of God’s call to holiness.

What Does it Mean to Say that God is Holy? The holiness movement which arose from early Methodism was essentially a spent force in North American Christianity by the middle of the last century. A few pockets of saints endeavouring to manifest holiness to the Lord remained untouched by concessions to modernism. However, the majority of modern Christendom ceased to be concerned with holiness.

The term translated holy is sometimes translated sanctified. Holiness and sanctification are equivalent terms. When we speak of a person or object being holy or sanctified, we mean that it is set apart, that is, it is reserved for special use. When God blessed the people of Israel by filling the Tabernacle with His presence during their wilderness wanderings, that Tabernacle was said to be holy—it was reserved for His presence. The utensils used in the sacrificial system were reserved for that particular act of worship, and thus were declared to be holy.

In a more casual sense, it could be said that if you have fine china which is reserved for formal entertaining, you have declared those dishes to be sanctified to that purpose. Of course, I do not mean to imply that your dishes are holy in the sense that they are blessed by God, but the concepts are related.

Another meaning of the word holy is to describe the character of God as perfect, transcendent, or spiritually pure, evoking adoration and reverence.[2] While this definition applies primarily to God, it has secondary application to godly people. We each admire, are fascinated by, perhaps even hold in awe, that individual who lives a holy life defined by obedience to God, self-discipline and self-sacrifice.

Watts writes of God in relation to holiness:

God is holy. Fire is the symbol of holy power. Jealousy, wrath, remoteness, cleanliness, glory and majesty are related to it. He is unsearchable, incomprehensible, incomparable, great, wonderful and exalted. His Name is Holy.

…Thus holy defines the godness of God.[3]

Though God is declared holy throughout the Old Testament, the holiness of God is assumed throughout most of the New Testament. Only occasionally do we discover an assertion of God’s holiness in the New Testament. Jesus addresses God as Holy Father in John 17:11. The cherubs worship God on His throne, saying,

Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,

who was and is and is to come!

[Revelation 4:8]

Persecuted saints saved during the Great Tribulation, cry out to God for relief and for vengeance. As they cry out, they petition God as holy. O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth [Revelation 6:10]. In the same manner, our Lord identifies Himself as the Holy One in Revelation 3:7, just as His Spirit is identified as the Holy One in 1 John 2:20.

The great difference in the view of the two Testaments is that we who are Christians have the Holy Spirit dwelling within and we intuitively know that our God is holy. If it were somehow insufficient to rely upon the Spirit of God to remind us of this great truth, we are taught in the most elemental aspects of worship to hold God as holy.

I suppose that each of us has at one point of another recited the Model Prayer.

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

[Matthew 6:9-13]

Take special note of the opening petition. The prayer is addressed to God, who is our Father in heaven, and we ask first of all that His Name be hallowed [aJgiasqhvtw to; o[nomav sou]. What are we asking? We are asking that His Name be sanctified, that His Name be held holy in our hearts and assemblies, and we are acknowledging that we will be obedient to His commands. This issue must be explored in detail later, but for the moment, consider what it means when we recite this prayer.

The petition is a cry from the depths of distress. From a world enslaved by evil, death and Satan, the disciple lifts his eyes to the Father and cries out for the revelation of God’s glory, knowing that He will grant it. Praying for God’s holy Person to be revealed is the same as asking for the abolition of everything contradictory to divine holiness. We are asking that God destroy those aspects of our life which dishonour Him and which exalt our own nature. Likewise, we are asking that God Himself fit us for divine service. We are, in effect, asking that the command of our text be implemented in our life. Can any of us every again pray this Model Prayer in a casual or cavalier fashion?

What is vital to understand, is that because our God is holy, we are called to be holy. In fact, we are already said to be sanctified. In the Ephesian letter is one of the most beautiful statements of all that God has provided for us. Listen to the Apostle in Ephesians 1:3-10. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

Similarly, in the First Corinthian letter, Paul speaks of the contrast between what we were and what we are. Listen as I read 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

The reason we are said to be holy in the sight of God is because Jesus Himself provided for our setting apart. Even in His High Priestly prayer, Jesus asked this of the Father. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth [John 17:17-19].

Sanctification occurs in three spheres. We have been sanctified in Christ. Therefore, we now stand uncondemned, pure and holy in the presence of God. When the Father looks at the one who is saved, He does not see the awful sin which once contaminated and stained that individual. The blood of His Son provides atonement for sin and we no longer appear as filthy sinners.

There is a day when we shall appear in the presence of Christ, holy and blameless. That day shall come when we appear with Him at His coming. The longing of the Apostle was that the churches to whom he ministered should be pure and holy. He struggled with his feelings for the Corinthians as they were threatened by a “little bit of error.” I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ [2 Corinthians 11:2, 3].

In the Ephesian letter, the Apostle taught the purpose of Christ’s redemption. Consequently, he set a standard for men to love their wives by comparing our human love to the love which Christ has for His bride, the Church. I do not wish to detract from the statement emphasising the purity of the church, but I do think it wise to cite the entire reference in order to honour the context.

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendour, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church [Ephesians 5:25-32].

John wrote of that day. And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we will be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure [1 John 2:28-3:3].

We are to sanctify ourselves. This is the basis for the divine command received in our text—the command which insists that we are to be holy because God is holy. This is not a command which is found occasionally, but the call is woven through the warp and weft of the New Testament. For example, consider the admonition of Paul to the Thessalonians in one of his earliest letters.

Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to live and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honour, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you [1 Thessalonians 4:1-8].

How is the Holiness of God to be Reflected in My Life? An old saying says, “Anytime you see a therefore, ask what it is there for.” Of course, the first word of our text is therefore. A brief excursus of verses three through twelve reveals that Peter is writing about our salvation, the inheritance which is reserved in heaven for those of us who are counted as God’s redeemed people. We now live in the world, and we will be tested and tempted by the wicked inhabitants of that world to dishonour the Saviour through demonstrating that our faith is phoney.

This is the premise from which Peter writes as he initiates our text. Therefore, he calls the people of God to equip themselves, especially through being sober-minded and through setting our hope fully on the grace which shall be revealed when Christ comes. Notice something which many tend to overlook. Peter is basing the practical on the doctrinal. You have often heard me state that doctrine determines how we live. What you believe determines how you live; and in this instance, your understanding of salvation—especially its cost and the freedom with which it is offered—compels you to live a holy life.

First, prepare your mind for action. Peter actually uses an idiom which would have little meaning in our day. He calls us to gird up the loins of your mind (so av). The image conveyed is that of an oriental man gathering up his long robes by pulling them between the legs and then wrapping and tying them around the waist, so as to be ready to run, to walk fast, or other strenuous activity.[4] Our translation loses the richness of this imagery which speaks of getting ready to work and to respond with instant obedience.

Though foreign to contemporary culture, the idiom used in this text is nevertheless a rich and powerful admonition to get ready for work. Today, we might say, “Roll up your sleeves and get down to hard work.”[5] The Christian life is not an easy life—not if it is real. It is a demanding life which calls for dedication and a willingness to work hard at honouring Him who called us to life.

Unfortunately, the second admonition in preparation for moving toward holiness is translated as being sober-minded. The word nhvfonte" means to be sober or more literally, to abstain from wine. This is nothing less than a call to be spiritually alert. Peter’s command forbids drunkenness, but it is broader than merely prohibiting actual intoxication. Peter is warning against permitting ourselves to become spiritually or mentally intoxicated, letting the mind wander and thus becoming susceptible to sin.

Too many Christian—perhaps even a majority of Christians—are spiritually lazy! They are mentally lazy, as well. They do not wish to be caused any discomfort, nor do they wish to be challenged to weigh the consequences of actions. Consequently, more Christians fall into sin by default then ever move deliberately in defiance of the will of the Father. The great danger is that we can lose our spiritual concentration through “mental intoxication” with the things of this world.[6]

Just a few examples will suffice to illustrate the concern. In a parable, Jesus spoke of those who hear the Word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the Word [Mark 4:18, 19]. Paul admonishes us to set our minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth [Colossians 3:2]. John, in 1 John 2:15-17 warns Christians against “mental intoxication.” Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world— the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

More Christians have been lost at the crucial moment of battle through being distracted by politics, by pursuit of wealth, through seeking popularity, or through fad philosophies than have ever decided to rebel against the grace which redeemed them.

We are engaged in warfare. The battles we are called to fight will not be fought with earthly weapons. In a similar manner, neither are we always able to quickly identify the enemy. Nevertheless, we are at war as we struggle against the flesh, the world and the devil, and as we resist sin. Paul speaks of that war in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5. For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.

One aid to holiness which must not be overlooked in the rush to deal with the specific aspects of holiness, is to think often of Christ’s return. Peter calls Christians to set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Earlier, I cited 1 John 3:1-3. There, we are taught that thinking of the coming of the Master purifies the heart. It is difficult to continually think of gratifying our own lusts if we live in the presence of the Risen Christ. If we truly believe that He could return momentarily, we would live quite differently from the manner in which we otherwise live.

Do you want to be caught drunk at the return of Jesus? Do you wish to be caught in an immoral relationship, having sex without someone other than your spouse, at the return of the Saviour? Do you want to face Jesus with bitterness in your heart toward one of His people? As you surrender to your own desires, you give no thought to His return. However, as you contemplate His return, you will not be able to focus on gratifying your own desires and having your own way.

Holiness does not permit us to conform to our former ignorance. Peter’s call to holiness is nothing less than a call to obedience to God. If you wonder what in particular God commands us to do, a review of the Ten Commandments is a good starting point. Read Exodus 20:1-17 with me.

And God spoke all these words, saying,

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

“You shall have no other gods before me.

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labour, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

“Honour your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

“You shall not murder.

“You shall not commit adultery.

“You shall not steal.

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.

“You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbour’s.”

Worship God only.

Avoid idolatry.

Be reverential.

Make time for God.

Honour your parents.

Don’t murder.

Keep sex sacred and pure.

Don’t steal.

Don’t lie.

Don’t be greedy.

Don’t become so well adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognise what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.[7]

Do you see the similarity of this treatment of Romans 12:2 to what Peter has said? Listen to it again, this time from another translation. Don’t copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.[8]

My favourite translation is that of Phillips. Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.[9]

Doing what pleases God requires that we discover what God desires for us and then that we choose to do that. A holy life cannot be permitted to follow what is “natural” (that is, non-Christian). Holiness will require that we bring our desires under His control, instead of being controlled by our desires. The world about us entices us with the motto, “If it feels good, do it.” God calls us to holiness. Your baptism testified to God’s call in your life.

Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life [Romans 6:16-22].

Our former ignorance was marked by surrender to our passions [ejpiquÐmiva]. Christians are to recognise these desires for what they are and refuse to permit their lives to be influenced by them. Phillips paraphrases this statement, Don’t let your character be moulded by the desires of your ignorant days.[10] Among the desires which are warned against are sexual immorality, impurity [of thoughts], sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, [hostility, quarrelling], jealousy, [outbursts] of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, [wild parties] and things like these [Galatians 5:19-21].

The Cotton Patch Version of the Bible warns against loose sex relations, filthiness, unbridled lust, worshipping gadgets, trickery, hostile feeling, division, jealousy, temper tantrums, boot-licking, snobbery, arguments, envy, tippling, horsing around and things like that.[11]

Perhaps you are getting the idea that there is no such thing as a little sin if you will be holy. There is no such thing as sinning just a little. God’s call is to a holy life, and that is a call to what can only be construed as a radical lifestyle.

Holiness is revealed through changes in one’s conduct. There may be a problem at this point, but I am willing to risk the difficulty. The difficulty is that some will decide that actions make one holy. Nothing could be further from the truth. Actions reveal holiness, but holiness begins with an inward change. When the attitude is holy, the actions will follow suit. You can be perfect outwardly, and inwardly darkened and dead.

Peter calls Christians to be holy in all your conduct. This means that each of us is called to dedicate ourselves to a life of righteousness. God, through Peter, is calling us to a pattern of life that transforms every day, every moment, every thought, every action. Conduct is frequent in Peter’s writing. He uses it to refer to the evil pattern of life of unbelievers and the good pattern of life of believers which is intended to lead to the salvation of others who observe it.

To be holy as God is holy includes a full and pervading holiness that reaches to every aspect of our personalities. It involves not only avoiding outward sin but also maintaining an instinctive delight in God and His holiness as an undercurrent of heart and mind throughout the day.[12]

What are the Consequences of Failure to Obey this Command? Peter gives a powerful incentive for holiness of life. Each of us who call on the Name of the Father must one day give an answer for our conduct. 1 Peter 1:17 reads: if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile. Together with Paul’s cautionary statement in 2 Corinthians 5:10, we are warned that one day we must appear before God as open books. For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

Peter assumes that we habitually call on the Father for help. One true mark of a Christian is that they pray [cf. 1 Corinthians 1:2; 2 Timothy 2:22]. Christians do not “say prayers,” but Christians do pray. The One on whom we call for help in time of trouble is also Judge of all. If I know better and I choose to disobey, what shall my end be? The sense of Peter’s words is, “If you call on a Father who is also the Judge who shows no favouritism (and will therefore show no favouritism to His friends or children) and who is continually judging and rewarding each person according to what he does, then live your life on earth in fear (that is, fear of His discipline).”[13]

Membership in God’s family must not lead to the presumption that disobedience will be ignored or that it will not be punished. We as Christians are called to “fear God.” Though the concept is dismissed today as old fashioned, I remind you that the call of the Word is to fear God. Salvation is a beginning, but we who know God are commanded to hold Him in awe. We must not think that we can treat Holy God with casual indifference. We must reflect His holiness.

In the main, I have addressed Christians today. Like living stones, you are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ [1 Peter 2:5]. In a sense, this is all prospective, especially if we are not now living lives characterised as holy. The call of this message to each one who calls on the Name of the Father is to be holy. It honours the Saviour and it pleases the Father.

The message is nothing less than a call to life in Christ for all who are outside the grace of God. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved… For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” [Romans 10:9, 10, 13].

In just a few short paragraphs, Peter will challenge all outside the Faith with this thought. For it is time for judgement to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And

“If the righteous is scarcely saved,

what will become of the ungodly and the sinner”

[1 Peter 4:17, 18].

Therein is a sobering question. If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner? You see, outside of Christ, you have no hope of being godly. Therefore, you are the ungodly and the sinner. There is no hope for you, except that you should received Christ as Lord and Saviour.

I am reminded of an account of the death of a godly rancher in west Texas. The old man had lived a good life. He was righteous and godly in all his actions. He had two sons, one of whom followed his father in pursuit of a godly life, and the other who lived for himself.

At last, the old man lay dying. On his deathbed, it seemed that every sin he had ever committed was brought to his mind. He was inconsolable, though the pastor sought to remind him of the mercies of Christ and the forgiveness which is ours in Christ. The old man died a hard death, his fear compounded by the thought that his younger son may be dissuaded from the Faith by witnessing his father’s terrors.

Shortly after his burial, the younger son approached the pastor, asking how he might be saved.

The pastor was curious, wondering what brought the young man to that decision.

“Sir,” replied the younger son, “my father was a good man. He loved God and served him all the days I can remember. If it was that difficult for him to die, what will it be for me?”

That is the point precisely! If a righteous man is saved only by the intervention of the infinite God, what hope has the sinner? There is no hope is we try to make it on our own. There is no hope outside of Christ, the Son of God.

That is our call to you. Issued in love and pressed with deep compassion, we who know the Saviour call on you to believe this message and be saved. Amen.

What does it mean to say “God is holy?”

Another meaning of the word holy is to describe the character of God as perfect, transcendent, or spiritually pure, evoking adoration and reverence.[14] While this definition applies primarily to God, it has secondary application to godly people. We each admire, are fascinated by, perhaps even hold in awe, that individual who lives a holy life defined by obedience to God, self-discipline and self-sacrifice.

Watts writes of God in relation to holiness:

God is holy. Fire is the symbol of holy power. Jealousy, wrath, remoteness, cleanliness, glory and majesty are related to it. He is unsearchable, incomprehensible, incomparable, great, wonderful and exalted. His Name is Holy.

…Thus holy defines the godness of God.[15]

How is holiness revealed in our life?

Take special note of the opening petition. The prayer is addressed to God, who is our Father in heaven, and we ask first of all that His Name be hallowed [aJgiasqhvtw to; o[nomav sou]. What are we asking? We are asking that His Name be sanctified, that His Name be held holy in our hearts and assemblies, and we are acknowledging that we will be obedient to His commands. This issue must be explored in detail later, but for the moment, consider what it means when we recite this prayer.

The petition is a cry from the depths of distress. From a world enslaved by evil, death and Satan, the disciple lifts his eyes to the Father and cries out for the revelation of God’s glory, knowing that He will grant it. Praying for God’s holy Person to be revealed is the same as asking for the abolition of everything contradictory to divine holiness. We are asking that God destroy those aspects of our life which dishonour Him and which exalt our own nature. Likewise, we are asking that God Himself fit us for divine service. We are, in effect, asking that the command of our text be implemented in our life. Can any of us every again pray this Model Prayer in a casual or cavalier fashion?

Worship God only.

Avoid idolatry.

Be reverential.

Make time for God.

Honour your parents.

Don’t murder.

Keep sex sacred and pure.

Don’t steal.

Don’t lie.

Don’t be greedy.

Don’t become so well adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognise what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.[16]

Do you see the similarity of this treatment of Romans 12:2 to what Peter has said? Listen to it again, this time from another translation. Don’t copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.[17]

My favourite translation is that of Phillips. Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.[18]

Our former ignorance was marked by surrender to our passions [ejpiquÐmiva]. Christians are to recognise these desires for what they are and refuse to permit their lives to be influenced by them. Phillips paraphrases this statement, Don’t let your character be moulded by the desires of your ignorant days.[19] Among the desires which are warned against are sexual immorality, impurity [of thoughts], sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, [hostility, quarrelling], jealousy, [outbursts] of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, [wild parties] and things like these [Galatians 5:19-21].

The Cotton Patch Version of the Bible warns against loose sex relations, filthiness, unbridled lust, worshipping gadgets, trickery, hostile feeling, division, jealousy, temper tantrums, boot-licking, snobbery, arguments, envy, tippling, horsing around and things like that.[20]

What are the consequences of failure to obey this command?

Peter assumes that we habitually call on the Father for help. One true mark of a Christian is that they pray [cf. 1 Corinthians 1:2; 2 Timothy 2:22]. Christians do not “say prayers,” but Christians do pray. The One on whom we call for help in time of trouble is also Judge of all. If I know better and I choose to disobey, what shall my end be? The sense of Peter’s words is, “If you call on a Father who is also the Judge who shows no favouritism (and will therefore show no favouritism to His friends or children) and who is continually judging and rewarding each person according to what he does, then live your life on earth in fear (that is, fear of His discipline).”[21]

To be holy as God is holy includes a full and pervading holiness that reaches to every aspect of our personalities. It involves not only avoiding outward sin but also maintaining an instinctive delight in God and His holiness as an undercurrent of heart and mind throughout the day.[22]

----

[2] John D. W. Watts, Holy (art.) in Trent C. Butler (ed.), Holman Bible Dictionary (Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, 1991) 660

[3] Watts, op. cit., 661

[4] Wayne Grudem, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries: 1 Peter (InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL 1988) 76

[5] see I. Howard Marshall, IVP New Testament Commentary Series: 1 Peter (InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL 1991) 51

[6] see Grudem, op. cit., 76

[7] Eugene H. Peterson, The Message: New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs (NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO, 1995).

[8] Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Tyndale House, Wheaton, IL, 1997).

[9] J. B. Phillips, The New Testament in Modern English (Macmillan, NY, 1958, 1960)

[10] Phillips, op. cit.

[11] Clarence Jordan, The Cotton Patch Version of Paul’s Epistles (New Win Publishing Inc., Clinton, NJ 1957)

[12] Grudem, op. cit., 79

[13] Grudem, op. cit., 80

[14] John D. W. Watts, Holy (art.) in Trent C. Butler (ed.), Holman Bible Dictionary (Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, 1991) 660

[15] Watts, op. cit., 661

[16] Eugene H. Peterson, The Message: New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs (NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO, 1995).

[17] Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Tyndale House, Wheaton, IL, 1997).

[18] J. B. Phillips, The New Testament in Modern English (Macmillan, NY, 1958, 1960)

[19] Phillips, op. cit.

[20] Clarence Jordan, The Cotton Patch Version of Paul’s Epistles (New Win Publishing Inc., Clinton, NJ 1957)

[21] Grudem, op. cit., 80

[22] Grudem, op. cit., 79