Some Things Considered
YOU ARE HOLY
“Be holy, for I the Lord, your God, am holy”. In Leviticus, God commands the Jewish people to be holy by behaving like God tells them. The Jews understood “holiness” like a sliding scale of behavior: the more you obey God’s rules, the more holy you are and the less you obey, the less holy you are. They knew holiness in God’s eyes depended entirely on their perfect behavior. Compare their theology of holiness with what God later tells Christian people. “You are the temple of God...the Spirit dwells in you...the temple of God, which you ARE, is holy.” We ARE MADE holy because the Holy One unites with us and lives within us. This is a radical shift from Old Testament belief about holiness.
The adjective “Holy” means “consecrated, sanctified, blessed, sacred, righteous.” The noun “Holy” means “set apart for God, devoted entirely to God, having a Divine quality.” Because Jesus’ atonement had not yet occurred, the Holy Spirit could not live in people’s original sin nature. Once Jesus’ salvation took place on the Cross and Empty Tomb, the final Age of the Holy Spirit could and did began.
Believers in Jesus have become a “new creation of humans”, a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy people set apart to know and fulfill the Trinity's plans and already possess eternal life. Christians be-have holy because we are holy. We think holy and act holy as a result of being God’s beloved family home on earth. Our spiritual union with the Holy Spirit is always inspiring, prompting, convicting and guiding us into holy behaviors. Baptism shows a personal acceptance of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection as our own payment and restitution for our original sin nature. “With the Precious Blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Peter 1:19) we are cleansed and MADE holy. God doesn’t tell us that He is wanting us to be holy or that we can make ourselves holy, “but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, “You shall be holy, for I am holy” (1 Pet 1:15-16t 1:19).
Jesus and His Father poured out the Holy Spirit at our Baptism and we became and still ARE, a holy child of God. Holiness is a spiritual state of being, not achievable by our actions but we act holy and good because we are a holy son/daughter of God already! The Father’s Gift of Jesus’ Holiness (won for us) is now united and living within us as the Holy Spirit of God. People able to share in Divine holiness was fore-told and briefly experienced by only a few Old Testament prophets, but Jesus promised and taught that BE-ING HOLY will be the very nature of what it means to be a Christian, through the plan of the Father, the work of Jesus Christ, and the indwelling presence of God the Holy Spirit. Both Testaments attest that nothing less than holiness will fully satisfy God’s nature.
Praise God that whoever acknowledges Jesus as Savior and Lord will become the HOLY sons and daughters of God now and forever. We have received the impartation of the Divine Nature in all of its fullness into our new spiritual, born-again nature in Christ! This is an amazing graced-inheritance for the people of God, which includes not just eternal glories but the guarantee of living a life that is HOLY, full of wisdom and one that God had always intended for us.
Winter Blessings, Barbara