- What is Holiness? - The Greek word for “holiness” is found ten times in the New Testament – five times as “holiness” and five times as “sanctification”. What exactly is holiness? Well, this verse is indicating that without it “no man shall see the Lord”. So, holiness is associated with the very character or nature of God Himself. In fact, God is the embodiment of Holiness because He is Holy. Let’s take a closer look at this key verse Heb 7:26. What does it mean for Christ to be “harmless”? That word conveys the idea of the absence of wickedness or evil. How is He “undefiled”? It means to be unsullied or unstained by sin. That word, for example, describes both the Author of salvation (Jesus Christ) as well as salvation itself in 1 Pet 1, which God has so lovingly given to His people. What about the phrase, “separate from sinners”? God is Holy, and by virtue of His righteous nature He cannot in any way be associated at all with sin. That is why all sin, by definition, must be punished. Next, we come to the fifth description of the Lord Jesus in Heb 7:26 as the Christian’s High Priest, who is “made higher than the heavens” portraying the majestic holiness of God the Son.
Heb 12:14 “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord…”
Heb 7:26 “For such an high priest [Lord Jesus Christ] became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens…”
1 Pet 1:4 “To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you.”
Heb 1:3 “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high…”
- God is Holy - As we begin to
talk about the holiness of God we quickly see that this is not some
type of intellectual exercise or pursuit. Who are we to even discuss
God? He is the grandest, most majestic, holiest Being we will ever
face; and make no mistake about it, every human who has ever lived will
face the One, True, Living God of the Bible. The big question for each
of us to ask ourselves is this, “Will He be my Savior or my Judge"? Those are the only two possibilities that exist. However, we must speak about God, because the Bible speaks about Him. Rev 4 declares His infinite Triune character. Indeed, everything about God is holy. His Name is Holy as Psa 99 states. His Word, the Bible is holy, according to Jer 23. His Habitation is also Holy, as Jer 25 affirms.
Rev 15:4 “Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.”
Rev 4:8 “And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.”
Psa 99:3 “Let them praise thy great and terrible name; for it is holy.”
Jer 23:9 “Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the LORD, and because of the words of his holiness.”
Jer 25:30 “Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.”
- By Nature, Mankind Has No Holiness - We have just considered some of the attributes of God’s holiness. Man, on the other hand by contrast, is unholy – the very opposite of God. Man’s heart is wicked. Man’s mind is reprobate. Everything about unsaved man is unholy.
and thus he is denied access into holy Kingdom of Christ. How is man
unholy you ask? If we look at the opposite attributes of Heb 7:6 we get a very clear picture of man’s sinful nature. From 2 Tim 3 we get an accurate picture of man’s utter lack of holiness. Man is also harmful – both to himself as well as to others. Gen 6 teaches that man is corrupt, and Psa 58 announces our true nature – man is wicked from the womb. Unsaved man is also abominable and filthy, as he is portrayed in Job 15. Man’s greatest problems stem from his own heart that is defiled by sin. Man’s sinfulness is referred to in Mark 8 as the “generation of evil”,
which is the generation of sinful man that spans all of human history
from after the Fall in the Garden of Eden to Judgment Day. People who
are trusting in their own works are “pure in their own eyes”, but are “filthy” in God’s eyes. Lastly, we understand that man, as a result of his sinfulness, deserves eternal damnation under the wrath of God.
2 Tim 3:2-4 "For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God…"
Job 15:16 “How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?"
Gen 6:12 "And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth."
Psa 58:3 “The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.”
Pro 15:26 “The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the LORD: but the words of the pure are pleasant words.”
Pro 30:12 “There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.”
Mat 12:34-35 “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.”
Jer 17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"
Rom 1:28 “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient...”
Mark 8:38 “Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."
Psa 88:6 “Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps.”
- The Command "Be ye holy; for I am holy"
- Holiness is required to enter into Kingdom of Christ. God gives many
commands to men in the Bible that they should do – like believe,
repent, be perfect, and confess. Another is "be holy".
This is true both in the Old and New Testaments. God had especially
chosen the nation of Israel to be His representative people on earth,
starting with the conversion of Abraham. We must understand, however,
that man is utterly incapable of obeying any such commands perfectly because he is spiritually “dead in trespasses and sins”, as we see from Eph 2. And yet God still holds man accountable to this command to “be holy”, as well as to every other command in the entire Bible.
Lev 20:7 “Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God.”
Lev 20:26 “And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.”
1 Pet 1:15-16 “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.”
Heb 12:14 "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord…”
Eph 2:1-3 “And you hath he quickened [made alive] who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation [lifestyle] in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others."
- How Does One Obtain Holiness? - How Can Unholy Man Be Made Holy? Since holiness is required to gain entrance to Kingdom of Christ, and man is unholy by birth and nature – how does one obtain holiness? Holiness is an aspect of salvation, which is entirely a gift of God. In other words, the only way for man to be “clean” in God’s eyes is by salvation. God must wash away our sins to make us truly “pure", or “holy”, through His Word. In order to enter into Kingdom of Christ, our sins have to be paid for, making us sinless and holy in the eyes God, even as God asserts in 1 Pet 1. Notice that those who are “unbelieving” are “defiled” both in “mind” and “conscience” as seen in Tit 1. Psa 106 explains that our so-called “good works” serve to defile us unless they come from those who have been made holy, or sinless, by God alone. Actually, the blessing that one receives is salvation itself – that is, when God makes every Christian righteous, or holy, in His sight. Psa 110 pictures God’s salvation upon the unworthy recipients who have been made holy by His grace. Has God done a work of grace to cleanse your heart and make you holy, so that you might be included in that company mentioned in Rev 19:8 who are “... arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints”?
1 Pet 1:16 “Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.”
Job 15:14 “What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?”
Psa 24:3-5 “Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.”
Psa 110:3 “Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.”
John 15:3 “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.”
Tit 1:15 “Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.”
2 Tim 3:8 “Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these [unsaved men] also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.”
Psa 106:39 “Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions.”
Heb 9:14 “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot [sin] to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
Tit 3:5-7 “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
- Those Whom God Has Chosen to be Holy - Eph 1 describes those individuals whom God has chosen to be holy. Because man is spiritually dead, God must both initiate and execute the salvation of all those He came to redeem from their sin and Hell. This took place, in principle, from before the foundation of the world and, experientially, at some point in each believer’s life. Salvation is Holiness from God. 1 Pet 2 speaks so eloquently of this holy salvation, which is so grandiose, so magnificent that no other words – except God’s words in the Bible – can adequately express such divine richness and grace. God likens the salvation of His children to marriage in Eph 5. The word “church” here refers to the eternal body of true believers. Psa 65 is another beautiful illustration of God’s mercy in making His people as holy as Himself.
Eph 1:4-6 “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”
2 The 2:13 “But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth”
John 17:17 "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth."
1 Pet 2:9 “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar [purchased] people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.”
Eph 5:25-27 “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”
Psa 65:4 “Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.”
Col 1:21-22 “And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled. In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight...”
Luke 1:74-75 "That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.”
Psa 97:2 “Rejoice in the LORD, ye righteous; and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.”
- God’s People are Called to Live Holy Lives - After someone has become saved, God’s command to “be ye holy, as I am holy” found in 1 Pet 2:16 begins to manifest itself in the life of one who truly has become a “new creature” (or creation) in Christ as 2 Cor 5:17 points out. This happens because in his new soul – where salvation has occurred – he never sins again, as 1 John 3 explains. The reality of Php 2:13 also takes effect. These Scriptures are underscoring a vital element of this new life of holiness, which is love for God and others and is expressed by a growing supernatural motivation to be obedient to the Bible in thought, word, and deed. May God cause us to hunger and thirst for Him and for His holiness.
Eph. 4:24 “And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”
2 Cor 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."
Gal 5:19-21: “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”
Mark 9:43-48 “And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: 44Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. 45And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: 46Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. 47And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: 48Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”
1 John 3:9 “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.”
Php 2:13 “… work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”
Rom 6:19 “… for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.”
Col 3:1 "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 5Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:"
Gal 5:22-25 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit."
Rom 8:12-14 "Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 13For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 14For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God."
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