Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” 1Peter 1:13-16
Perhaps the most mysterious and challenging of God’s ways is His way for being holy. I must confess, as I write this introduction, that I am a bit uncertain where the Holy Spirit will lead us in this study. But one thing is certain, we need to go there. So… I have some prayerful searching to do. I hope you will join me.
This matter of “being holy”, or holiness (i.e., the state of being holy), is a mystery for two reasons. First, the Bible speaks both of our being holy and our becoming holy. So, which is it – an established state, or a progressive one?
Of course, God’s way for being holy is not the only way of God that challenges our thinking in this way. His way for salvation includes “you have been saved”, “you are being saved”, and “you shall be saved”. Hopefully this similarity will help in our study.
The second mystery here relates to responsibility (also like salvation). The Scriptures are not clear (at least to me) how responsible we are for becoming and/or being holy. As you can see in the passages below, God has said “Be holy, for I am holy.” He doesn’t say, for example, “Let me make you holy.” While I firmly believe our holiness, like every other good thing, comes from God and is a work of God, I am still left wondering what He requires of me in the work.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love… Ephesians 1:3-4
Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. Ephesians 5:25-27
A second challenge in this matter relates to the bar God has set for our holiness. How can I be holy when the measure for holiness is God? The “Be holy, for I am holy” seems to indicate the same level of pure, unblemished holiness. I don’t see how you can read the Ephesians 5 passage, or the following description from Revelation 19:7-8, any other way.
Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints (the holy ones).
Why is This Important?
Perhaps due to its mystery and challenge, holiness has become one of those biblical topics we avoid considering, discussing, and teaching. That’s a tragedy, if only because holiness is a very good thing. Not only is becoming and being holy a command of God, it is – like all His commands – good for us, His children.
God does not require anything of His children that He Himself will not provide. Choosing to search out the matter is our initial act of responsibility. As we know, Jesus’ love language is obedience. So, let’s face the mystery and challenge head on. Let’s set our minds to respond to the Father’s command, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
God bless you with faith and passion to search out the matter of your holiness.
Have a strong day in the Lord,
Rob
#iamjustthepen