By Pastor Dave Farmer

Topic #14 Holiness Addendum - Part 4

Review

As we search the Scripture regarding the subject of holiness, we see how often God revealed Himself as a Holy God, and this approach brings to light these facts:

1. Holy is one of the most prominent names given to our God in the Scripture.

2. Holiness is the divine attribute that guards the divine nature against all impurity of thought and action. God cannot sin for He is Holy.

3. Holy is a name that He delights in the most. Places become Holy by His presence in them in a special way. Things become holy because He sets them apart for a special purpose.

And now, fourthly, people become holy when God sets them apart for His use. There are two groups of people that we will consider who is designated holy in the Scripture: Israel and the Church.

In The Old Testament Israel Is Called A Holy People:

Deuteronomy 7:6

For you are a HOLY people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

The basic idea of holiness is seen in this passage. Notice several features of this concept:

One, Israel is called a holy people solely by an act of God's sovereign grace, "For you are a holy people TO THE LORD YOUR GOD. From the divine perspective, Israel would no longer be treated as common or ordinary, but precious and as poetically stated: "the apple of His Eye" [Zechariah 2:8].

Secondly, the object of this selection is said to be holy; that is, set apart and dedicated to Him, "God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession." Israel is given a unique and special position in the world of nations by God. They belong to Him personally, and they have been given a different, distinct, or unique purpose to fulfill. How different? The greatest contribution that Israel gave to the world was The Messiah, the Savior of the world our Lord Jesus Christ, who was a Jew.

Leviticus 19:2 [See also Exodus 19:6; Leviticus 11:44; 20:7,26]

Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.

Those who are declared holy must become holy, and this requires them to live a separated life. God redeemed them and gave them spiritual life and a holy law that would guide them in their daily walk. Thus as they obeyed the law, they would become holy as God is holy. For anyone who knows anything about the Old Testament, they have a real problem relating holiness to Israel. How is it possible that this grumbling, murmuring, rebellious people are called holy, when that would be the least likely description that we would ever use for them? In fact, Jeremiah, on some occasions referred to Israel as "stiff-necked having an evil heart":

Jeremiah 7:24

Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward and not forward.

Who can forget Stephen's testimony in the Book of Acts?

Acts 7:51–54

51) “You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did.

52) Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become;

53) you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.”

Stiff-necked, uncircumcised in heart, and ears that resist are just a few of the descriptions of the Jewish people, and these words form the Old Testament's nomenclature for believers who have rebelled against God. They have rejected the Word of God as the rule of life and have become reversionist, using Jeremiah's words, "and went backward and not forward." They went in reverse and reverse is "away from God." In Israel's case, she was unfaithful, idolatrous, and constantly under divine discipline. Nevertheless, they are called Holy People! How is that possible?

Our previous studies help us understand this dichotomy. Israel was not holy in a moral sense, but rather because God set her apart from the other nations of the world. What amazing grace! They were not holy by character or by conduct [the moral aspect], but by a solemn oath [the mosaic covenant] that God made as He chooses them to be His people [see also Deuteronomy 7:7-11]. In the midst of a deeply personal desire Paul lists nine reasons why Israel is special. He begins with the question, "Who are the Israelites?" In other words, "What makes them so unique?"

Romans 9:4,5

4) who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises,

5) whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.

Israel was different because God chose to found a nation that He would use to make known to the world His plan, His purpose, and His Person. Second, in this list of how God reveals Himself to Israel in a very spectacular way, through the Shekinah glory [Exodus 25:8, 21, 22; 2 Chronicles 5:13,14]. These nine gracious blessings given to Israel, taken together, demonstrated how Israel received her "most favored nation status." Again, Israel was not chosen because Jews as a race were a cut above everyone else. Their election was the sovereign choice of a gracious God who set them apart from the other nations of the world to represent Him. They received their "most favored nation status" not by the content of their character or any other human factor, but solely based upon the sovereign decision of God, "God, who is over all [nations]."

This act of sovereign grace lifted Israel out from being just an ordinary nation. God planned to set her upon the top of the mountains [governments of the world], like a lighthouse beaming into the spiritual darkness that plagued the world, a beacon to point the way to salvation, to the One and only True God. Her position required her to be a people whose way of life would exemplify what it meant to be God's people. IT WAS THEIR DUTY TO BE DIFFERENT; THAT IS, TO BECOME HOLY.

God often spoke to the people of Israel that if she followed His covenanted instructions, the Mosaic Law, she would become Holy. She would truly be different from the nations of the world. Sadly, all through her history, she desired to be like other nations. Sadly, I say again sadly, she wanted to be common, ordinary, and just like everyone else. Thank God there was in every generation a small remnant that did not bow their knees to Baal. However, Israel's failures led to her being temporarily set aside for the Church Age.

In The New Testament, The Church Is Called To Be A Holy People.

In his first epistle, Peter reveals how the Church has replaced Israel. In 1 Peter 2:9, he speaks about our incredible privileges:

1 Peter 2:9

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

There are some differences between the Age of Israel and the Age of the Church, which we must pass by at this time, but this passage explains how unique is the Church of Jesus Christ. In the previous Age, Israel was given the purpose of introducing the world to the True and Living God. Now in this Age, we are set apart to introduce the world to the Lord Jesus Christ and to extol His virtues. This purpose is being fulfilled in two ways:

Our Holy Position

First, we have been given an irrevocable position ¹ of being IN CHRIST ². Briefly, then, when we accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, we are placed into union with Him. This is our standing, our POSITION. Dr. Showers summarizes this concept in this way:

The idea which is related to this holy position is: Since the time of man's fall away from God, all human beings (except Jesus Christ) have been born into the world in a lost, sinful, unsaved condition with membership in Satan's kingdom (Ps. 51:5: Rom. 3:9-23; Eph. 2:1-3; Jn. 8:44; 1 Jn. 3:10). Since this is true of all human beings, this is what is common or ordinary. However, when a person trusts Jesus Christ, the Son of God, to be his personal Savior from sin. God divides him spiritually from the realm of the unsaved and places him in the realm of the saved: God separates him from membership in Satan’s kingdom and gives him a position in His family and kingdom (Eph. 2: 5:8: Col. 1:13; 1 Pet. 2:9-10. In other words. God gives the believer a position which is different, distinct or unique from the common, ordinary position of the unsaved. This makes the believer part of a unique minority in the world (1 Pet. 2:11). ³

This is why we are called in the Scripture "holy ones." You might not see that in the Bible because when the adjective holy is used as a noun, the translators gave it the meaning saint. It is hard to see the connection in the English, yet saint means holy one. This is used to describe the believer many times, ⁴ so each time you see saint in the English Bible; you should transpose that into the proper biblical designation holy one, in fact, put your name right there in that context Saint Jim, or John or Patricia.

It Is Our Duty To Live A Holy Life

The second way we fulfill this unique plan is to extol the virtues of Jesus Christ, that is, by our becoming like Christ.

1 Peter 1:14–16

14) As children characterized by obedience [to the word of God], do not conform yourself to the former lustful passions [which you had] in the time of your ignorance,

15) Instead, like the Holy One who called you, you yourselves, also, start to become holy in all manner of conduct;

16) For it is written in Leviticus 19:3 with the result that it stands written permanently, “You shall be holy, BECAUSE I am holy.” [Expanded translation]

Salvational blessings, whether we are talking about regeneration, justification, adoption, or as here holiness, places upon the believer a responsibility to respond to God. "As children characterized by obedience" we are to turn away from that which is unlike Jesus." Now that the Father has chosen us, set us apart from all members of the human race, called us His own, dedicated us to fulfill a unique plan, how then shall we live? Peter says, "become holy like He [the Holy One] is holy in all manner of conduct."

For most Christians, the subject of salvation is all about getting to heaven. This is a true teaching of Scripture, but how we get there, the life we live, is given great prominence in the Scripture. Our holy position demands us to live holy lives. This revealed purpose for our lives is not some vague or mystical approach to the Christian Way of life, but a well-defined path to follow. We are to look to Jesus so that we might look like Jesus. He set the pattern; we are to follow in His footsteps. This is stated numerous times in the New Testament using different vocabulary and different word pictures but all teaching one thing and that is believers are to grow spiritually into a likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is how they fulfill the mandate, "Be Holy as I am holy." Here is the principle: After salvation, there is one objective for the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, and that is to reach the high ground of spiritual maturity. Here are some passages that teach this:

Applications

Romans 8:29

For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;

2 Corinthians 3:18

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

1 Peter 2:21

For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps,

John 8:12

Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

Again, "To be holy" means to be different in our lifestyle, " in all matters of conduct" not to be perfect and living without ever sinning. A worthy goal to be sure, but only one person ever accomplished that feat, and it was the Lord Jesus Christ. On the other hand, we are to "start becoming Holy." Jesus is holy, and we are to become more and more like Him, " as the Holy One." This is the concept of the passage. When we return to 1 John, we will learn several principles that help us learn how to live a holy life or what I like to call the dedicated to Christ's lifestyle. For now, I hope you learned that holiness is a quality that God desires to see in all of us.

ENDNOTES

¹ The characteristics of Positional Truth

1. It is not an experience. It is something God does for the believer at the moment of salvation, and it continues forever. Not related to emotions. Not an experience of any kind (aorist tense excludes experience — “once and for all”: 1 Corinthians 12:12,13).

2. It is not progressive. It cannot be improved.

3. It is not related to human merit in any way; no works involved (passive voice).

4. It is eternal in nature. You can never lose your position in Christ (perfect tense).

5. Know only through the Word of God.

6. Belongs to all believers regardless of spiritual status, the winners, as well as the losers. 1 Corinthians 1:2,30.

² Positional truth refers to the believer's STANDING before their Heavenly Father. Our position is described as being in union with Christ. Well over a hundred times, this concept is taught, primarily by The Apostle Paul. This doctrine comes from a prepositional phrase, the preposition En plus the locative case which means in the sphere of plus the noun in the locative case Christos or Christos Jesous or even In Him. The locative of sphere indicates that there exists a close personal relationship with Christ or we are in union with Him or closely joined to Christ.

The expression In Christ is found 76 times in the Greek text. All but three instances are found in Paul's Epistles.

2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore if any person is IN CHRIST he is a new [spiritual] species, the old things have lost their power, behold, new things [unique assets] have come.

In Christ Jesus is found 46 times, and all are in Paul's writings.

Romans 6:23

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life IN CHRIST JESUS our Lord.

Romans 8:1

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are IN CHRIST JESUS.

In Him is used by Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 1:4, 10.

2 Corinthians 5:21

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

³ Dr. Renald E. Showers has an excellent article on Holiness in The Friends of Israel Magazine: "The Holiness of Places where God is uniquely present" (1987). Israel My Glory Issue February/March p.10-12.

⁴ Saint is a word that comes from the same root in the original as holy and sanctifies, referring as it does to what the believer is by his position in Christ. Saint is used fifty times in the Old Testament to denote Israel and sixty-two times in the New Testament to designate the believer. The children of God are called believers about 50 times and brethren about 180 times, while the more common name of today, Christian, is used but three times in the apostolic writings. The term never indicates personal character or worthiness. Being already set apart unto God in Christ, all Christians by so much are now saints from the moment they are saved. Sainthood, then, is not a future prospect. All believers are saints, positionally considered (1 Cor. 1:2, etc.). Chafer, L. S. (1993). In Systematic Theology (Vol. 7, pp. 272–273). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications.