3: I am HOLY
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Opening
Opening
This is week 3 of what will be (I think) a 5 week series called “Who Do You Think You Are?” We’re taking and unpacking the adjectives found there:
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Four weeks ago, we looked at CHOSEN. God has, in His sovereignty, chosen us in Christ. As a result, we have a purpose. We aren’t better because we have been chosen, but we should be better BECAUSE we have been chosen.
Then the next week, we looked at the adjective ROYAL. God is King, Christ is King, and we exist from the King, by the King, for the King, and to the King. This is what it means to be royal.
Tonight we will look at the next adjective in : “holy.” We are a “holy nation.”
But what does it mean to be “holy?”
This is a word that we throw around a lot, but I’m not sure that we always fully grasp the definition, probably because there are a couple of different definitions, depending on your point of view.
And the simple fact is that there are two definitions that matter for our context today. I’ll be getting these from the 1828 Webster’s Dictionary. If you’ve never used Webster’s 1828, it’s a great resource, because most of his definitions were taken from the word’s use in Scripture, and most have Bible references to back them up.
Holy: 1. Properly, whole, entire or perfect, in a moral sense. Hence, pure in heart, temper or dispositions; free from sin and sinful affections. Applied to the Supreme Being, holy signifies perfectly pure, immaculate and complete in moral character; and man is more or less holy as his heart is more or less sanctified, or purified from evil dispositions. We call a man holy when his heart is conformed in some degree to the image of God, and his life is regulated by the divine precepts. Hence, holy is used as nearly synonymous with good, pious, godly.
Be ye holy; for I am holy .
2. Hallowed; consecrated or set apart to a sacred use, or to the service or worship of God; a sense frequent in Scripture; as the holy sabbath; holy oil; holy vessels; a holy nation; the holy temple; a holy priesthood.
So in one sense, holy means moral perfection. In another sense, it means set apart for sacred use.
Obviously, Webster uses the wording of in his definition of the second sense. So we should just look at that sense, right?
Not exactly. Instead, we need to understand that it is only because of God’s holiness in the first sense that we are able to actually be holy in either sense. Our holiness is derivative. We derive it, or receive it, from God Himself.
This makes “holy” along the same lines as the other two adjectives that we’ve already talked about. God does the choosing, so we are chosen. God is the King, so we are royal. God is holy, so we both SHOULD BE and ARE holy.
Huh? How can we say that we ARE something that we SHOULD BE?
Because in so much of God’s way of looking at things, there is a “now” and “not yet” reality. There’s a tension here, just like there is in the fact that our home is in heaven, yet we live here for the moment. Just like there is in the fact that we have been joined with Christ in His death, yet we keep having to do battle with the old man, our sinful natures inside us. Our holiness is no different. We’re going to look at these two definitions, but in reverse order. The first is the NOW:
1: Because God has set us apart, we are holy NOW.
1: Because God has set us apart, we are holy NOW.
One thing that’s interesting about this definition of holy: as set apart, is that this is the usual usage of the word in the Old Testament. Most of the time in the OT, holy refers to things set apart or consecrated to God for a particular purpose, including the nation of Israel:
6 For you are a holy people belonging to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be his own possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.
Note that I said most of the time. There are many exceptions, especially in the Psalms.
In many places in the New Testament, the declaration of our holiness is a given as a statement of fact, not as a command or an admonition, not as a suggestion or an idea. It’s given as something that is absolutely true right now. It’s this type of holiness that is referenced in our focal passage for this series:
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
This is part of what prompted this entire series. We ARE holy. By definition. If we are in Christ, then we are a part of this “holy nation” called the Christian church. This is a people who are set apart, consecrated, useful to the master. Some other examples:
22 But now he has reconciled you by his physical body through his death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before him—
Colossians 1:
Paul says that Christ has reconciled us to God through His death, to present us holy, faultless, and blameless. We have received Christ’s holiness in place of our sin in the Great Exchange ().
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,
Here, Paul speaks about what we should do because we are chosen, holy, and dearly loved. But he states those adjectives as facts. We ARE chosen, holy, and dearly loved.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.
So our holiness is a fact. We are holy, in the sense that we are set apart, consecrated, so that we might be of use to the Lord, our Master. This holiness is itself derived from His complete “apartness.” This is the NOW aspects of our holiness. We are holy NOW.
10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
6 For you are a holy people belonging to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be his own possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.
deut 7:6
But we have to understand that being set apart and consecrated so that we might be of use to the Lord has a “NOT YET” aspects of holiness: what we SHOULD BE.
Note that I said most of the time. There are many exceptions, especially in the Psalms.
2: Because God is holy, we should pursue being holy.
2: Because God is holy, we should pursue being holy.
Nearly every time the OT doesn’t use the word “holy” in the sense of being set apart, it uses it in relation to God’s own character. There are a couple of very notable exceptions:
45 For I am the Lord, who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God, so you must be holy because I am holy.
2 “Speak to the entire Israelite community and tell them: Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.
26 You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be mine.
In each of these instances, the Lord has instructed His people that they are to BE holy because He is holy. Here we find a choice for them to make, because God has issued a command to them to be holy.
Therefore, this holiness must be the first sense of the word: that of moral perfection.
We see the same thing in the NT: We are commanded by God to be holy (morally perfect) as a response to His own moral perfection:
3 But sexual immorality and any impurity or greed should not even be heard of among you, as is proper for saints. 4 Obscene and foolish talking or crude joking are not suitable, but rather giving thanks.
15 But as the one who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct; 16 for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy.
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a grievance against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you are also to forgive. 14 Above all, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. 15 And let the peace of Christ, to which you were also called in one body, rule your hearts. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
This is quoting the concept above from the OT. So it’s still a command being given to we who no longer live in the OT time period or governmental structure.
3 For this is God’s will, your sanctification: that you keep away from sexual immorality, 4 that each of you knows how to control his own body in holiness and honor, 5 not with lustful passions, like the Gentiles, who don’t know God. 6 This means one must not transgress against and take advantage of a brother or sister in this manner, because the Lord is an avenger of all these offenses, as we also previously told and warned you. 7 For God has not called us to impurity but to live in holiness.
Just as we can choose to live in holiness and to control our own bodies in holiness and honor, so we can choose to go the other direction: to not live in holiness or to control our own bodies that way.
14 Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness—without it no one will see the Lord.
15 But as the one who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct; 16 for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy.
1 Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
19 So then you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building, being put together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you are also being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit.
21 Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds expressed in your evil actions. 22 But now he has reconciled you by his physical body through his death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before him—
10 By this will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time. 11 Every priest stands day after day ministering and offering the same sacrifices time after time, which can never take away sins. 12 But this man, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God. 13 He is now waiting until his enemies are made his footstool. 14 For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are sanctified.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; on that day the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, the elements will burn and be dissolved, and the earth and the works on it will be disclosed. 11 Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, it is clear what sort of people you should be in holy conduct and godliness 12 as you wait for the day of God and hasten its coming. Because of that day, the heavens will be dissolved with fire and the elements will melt with heat. 13 But based on his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. 14 Therefore, dear friends, while you wait for these things, make every effort to be found without spot or blemish in his sight, at peace.
Since God is going to wrap things up and all things will be revealed, we should live in holy conduct and godliness, making every effort to be spotless and blameless in His sight.
14 Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness—without it no one will see the Lord.
heb
Holiness is being set apart. It is also being morally pure.
We could not be more clear: pursue holiness.
3: We are to BE holy because we ARE holy.
3: We are to BE holy because we ARE holy.
This is the crux of the “now-and-not-yet” deal. We are declared to be holy, set apart for God’s purposes. But since we are set apart for God’s purposes, we are to live lives of holiness, individually and collectively, as those who are set apart. Paul spoke of this idea when he said this to the church at Philippi:
12 Not that I have already reached the goal or am already perfect, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, 14 I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus. 15 Therefore, let all of us who are mature think this way. And if you think differently about anything, God will reveal this also to you. 16 In any case, we should live up to whatever truth we have attained.
We are to live up to whatever truth we have attained. We are holy, so we should be holy.
Lesson Closing
Lesson Closing
So, we derive our holiness from God. He declares us to be holy: set apart, consecrated for His work, because He Himself is totally separate from and other than us. But He also commands us to be holy: morally upright and blameless, which is again to be derived from His own moral perfection and righteousness. Remember, our focal verse is:
CSB9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Every week, we’ll end with this question: “Who do you think you are?”
Our answer this week is: “I am HOLY.”
Discussion Questions
Discussion Questions
Which aspect of holiness do you usually think of first when you hear the term? Set apart, or morally pure? Why?
Why is it important that our “set apart” holiness is a statement of fact, rather than a command?
How does our “set apart” holiness define our pursuit of moral holiness?
How do these two things go together in regards to the Gospel?