During our summer Mathetes Bible studies (5:45-6:45pm, both in-person and livestream on our church FB page) we've explored Paul's words about holiness. For Paul, justification by faith is everything; Christ's blood alone atoned for our sins and also made us righteous with God. This is wonderful news! Paul knew that he was a sinner, saved by grace. That is our reality. In Christ we are now viewed as saints, God sees us as God sees Christ; therefore, we are fully justified. Does this mean that we won't struggle with sin in our bodies? Of course not! Paul reminds us in Romans that we will battle between the good we want to do and the evil our flesh desires to do. Yet, the blessing is found in the promise that we are no longer slaves to sin but to righteousness; we don't have to succumb to the wiles of sin because in our minds we are slaves to God. The battles take place in the mind, and when the Holy Spirit controls our thoughts and attitudes, we end up enjoying the blessed boundaries of God's love. Paul shares this daily, inner conflict with choosing between good and evil here in Rom. 7:14-25 (NRSV):
14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold into slavery under sin. 15 I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. 17 But in fact it is no longer I who do it but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that the good does not dwell within me, that is, in my flesh. For the desire to do the good lies close at hand, but not the ability. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it but sin that dwells within me. 21 So I find it to be a law that, when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, 23 but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched person that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God[b] through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I am enslaved to the law of God, but with my flesh I am enslaved to the law of sin.
So when it comes to holiness, the Christ-follower can only talk about holiness as it relates to Jesus Christ at work within her. She knows that God's imparted divinity in Christ is at work within her through the power of the Holy Spirit. It's this understanding that empowers her to live an obedient, purpose-filled life for God. You and I are made holy through the power of God (sanctification), expressed in the beautiful community of the Trinity (three distinct persons yet one divine, holy entity). The Trinity is a mystery to us, but helps us understand that our holiness is not just what sets us apart for God's use, but sets the Church apart for God's use as the community of faith. God's motivation is to build both individual and communal holiness, just as the Lord desired for the children of Israel millenia ago. The Lord wanted Israel to be a beacon of holiness in a land surrounded by wickedness, evil and discord. Because Israel learned that they were grossly inadequate in the eyes of God, Yahweh's grace enabled them to continue, helping them realize that only by seeking the Lord's will and power among them would they shine God's holiness across the nation and, by God's will, shine over every nation--and therefore into every heart.
It took the offering of Christ on the cross to make God's dream for his children's holiness a permanent reality. Holy--wholly holy. When we say something or someone is called "holy", it means that it/he/she is "set apart, consecrated". In other words, God makes something or someone holy in Christ, and the Spirit sets that thing or person apart for the distinct use of God's holy and set-apart purposes. God is purely holy! There is none like him and no one who will ever be like him. God's holiness is what makes God stand apart and outside of sin, darkness and death. This holiness was magnified when Jesus conquered sin and death on the cross. Now, God desires for the holiness of Father, Son and Spirit to work for the good of those who are called according to the Lord's purposes (Rom. 8:28). There is no darkness in Jesus, only light! There is no evil in Christ, only goodness! The Trinity is holy...wholly holy indeed!
In the early 1800s, a vicar by the name of Reginald Heber wrote the hymn, "Holy, Holy, Holy" set to the tune of "Nicaea" by John Bacchus Dykes. The hymn was published posthumously and is included in most major hymnals of our day. It is a favorite of mine and probably a favorite of yours as well. It is usually sung on Trinity Sunday in the Christian calendar year because of the three-fold witness of the Holy Father, Holy Son and Holy Spirit. The last verse of this mighty hymn is a true offering of praise directed towards the heavens in order to glorify God:
All thy works shall praise thy name in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, Holy, Holy! merciful and mighty,
God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity!
God is so holy that only by God's grace through faith in Christ Jesus do we have access to his holy work within us. As the veil of the Holy of Holies was torn in two from top to bottom when Jesus breathed his last on Calvary's hill, God was making us holy in Christ. God was setting us apart when we couldn't consecrate ourselves. God was making us usable and good through the amazing love of a Divine Parent who couldn't stand the thought of his own creation not living in a holy community with one another, representing the holy community of the Trinity. We are made holy--wholly holy--through the sanctifying work of God in Christ through the resurrecting power of the Spirit. This is the best news of all, and it is because of the Good News of Christ and his consecrated Kingdom all are welcomed to participate in this holy community, manufactured by Jesus' finished work at Golgotha centuries ago.
Therefore, let us bow down in reverence and awe of our Holy God. Let us worship him in Spirit and in truth. And may we "...approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need" (Heb. 4:16, NIV). God is "holy, wholly holy" and we, too, are set apart to reflect that glory. We are enabled to do that each and every time we submit to the loving control of the Holy Spirit who desires to fill our minds with "...whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable...excellent or praiseworthy..." (Phil. 4:8, NIV). When our minds are offered to God, our actions follow, actions that are holy, set apart, and "...consecrated, Lord, to thee..."
Praising God for our Christ Who alone is "holy--wholly holy",
Pastor Will
><> John 3:30 <><
