Thank you to Ian for this week’s MWB
To Understand the Way of Holiness
A secular dictionary meaning for ‘Holy’ is – “Morally good, spiritually perfect or pure, untainted by evil.” – – A more biblical definition is – “separate”. – God is holy – A holy item has been set apart for God’s service. – A holy person has chosen to be separate – to be in this world but not of it – has chosen to follow God’s way – a choice made possible through Jesus – ‘saved by grace through faith’. – Holiness is made evident by one’s actions and character; a holy person lives to the Holy Spirit.
The command is – “Be holy as I am holy”
To understand what it is to be holy as God is holy – to lead a holy life – we need to understand God’s holiness and how he demonstrates his holiness. In Ex.33 Moses asked God to show him his glory. So, in Ex.34:
“The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished – – “
That last phrase would be frightening if we didn’t have Jn.3 v.16 & 17:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
God demonstrates his holiness through love and fairness but God has chosen to remain untainted by evil. He is compassionate and gracious, forgiving and faithful; he has made a way back for us to rejoin the way of holiness; – to follow Jesus, – but purity and perfection cannot compromise with those who choose the way of evil. The unclean will not journey on the way of holiness. – Is.35 v.8
Jesus came to give not to take. He was in the world but not of the world; he came into the world because of love; to love is to give of one’s self, not to take. God’s Holiness is not static or passive; God’s Holiness is active and out-reaching in love.
To be holy is to be set apart from the self focused evil of this world to serve the Father of compassion and God of all comfort in love. – In Christ we are in this world but not of it.
Prayer – Help us Lord to live out your holiness in our daily life.