What does it mean... to be Holy?

When we think of someone being "holy" we usually think in terms of a monk in a cloister, with a shaved head, beanie cap, long brown ropes with a suffering look on his face.  Needless to say, being holy is greatly misunderstood.

Often, because Christians want to please the Lord and live a godly life they are accused of having a "holier than thou" attitude toward others. The world misunderstands a Christian who is trying to live right and condemns him by saying he thinks he is better than other people.
           

Another extreme is the idea that a person who is holy walks around all day, smiling, making religious statements, maybe chanting and humming and acting totally unlike normal people.
     

Well, we surely ought to live clean and godly lives. but a Christian knows he is no better than any one else. The bumper sticker we often see says it well: "Christians are not perfect, they are just forgiven."

Some churches have seriously misunderstand what the Lord meant when he told Christians not to be like the world. (Rom. 12:2) Further confusion comes from the kind of attire some denominations may require members to wear to church. Wearing dark clothes, such as black, or a particular style of dress, putting on a somber and pious look does not make one holy.

Biblical holiness is best described as being “set apart” to God... separated from the worldly apparatus of sin.  Holiness is best embodied as a condition of the heart, one of devotion to God which controls a believer's life and directs him to "abstain from even the appearance of evil." (1 Thess. 5:22) 

Simply said, being holy means we as Christians are dedicated to and set apart for service to the Lord.  Its not a matter of external objects, wardrobing or facial expressions, its an attitude of the heart, an internal commitment to separate oneself from the world and travel a different path... one defined and directed by God’s Word.

When God says, "Be holy as I am Holy." (1 Peter 3:16) He is not expecting us to be something we cannot be.  God is the only truly Holy one because He is totally separated from sin.  In Leviticus 11:44 it says to “sanctify” ourselves. Sanctify means to make clean and pure. It’s an act of one's will. A truly holy person in his heart separates from the world’s philosophies and adheres to God and His wisdom.  We makes choices that avoid sin, removing ourselves from the things that tempt us, thus living as pure and clean life as possible in a sin–filled world.  Christians live in the world, yet we are to keep ourselves separated from the sin of the world, consecrated to God. 

At our baptism (Acts 2:38) in accordance with God’s plan for our salvation, we are deemed as holy in the eyes of God, when we make that commitment of separation.  Rising to a “newness of life” is a turning away from the past [sin] to a new direction, towards God’s ways.  At the time of immersion, God begins to indwell a “newborn Christian”  in the person of the helper... The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit assists and encourages us on our new journey of overcoming the sinful life and living in obedience to Him.

Once you become a Christian, you must also recognize that “living a holy life” means total dedication to God; seeking after righteousness, giving our heart and soul—our very being—to God and Jesus Christ, following the “way” that God has laid out for us. 

Holy means allowing God to guide and direct our paths assisted by the Holy Spirit. There is nothing we can do to make ourselves holy, but through the power of God’s Holy Spirit working in us, we can overcome the influences of sin and begin to walk in the holy ways of God with Jesus’ guiding, instead of the flawed ideas and philosophies of the world.  Holiness is not a “label” attached to Christians, its a consistent way of living in harmony with the counsel and instruction of God’s Word.  Being holy, set apart to God, traveling through life on His path should become as much a part of who you are as the skin you live in.

God’s holy people today, defined as all-in, fully and unconditionally committed believers,  are expected to be like light for a dark world and examples of what can be achieved by uniting in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  Christians are to be a reflection of God the Father and Jesus Christ... Savior, Redeemer, Mediator and King.  

Being holy, being know by God as one who lives a life dedicated to Him, set apart for His service is an absolute necessity for eternal life in God’s Kingdom.   

Be holy, as I am Holy....  YOU can do it!

Consequences of rejecting the King...

What would you think the consequences of sin, rebellion, idolatry, apostasy and general wickedness would be for the people of ancient Israel?   Consequences brought by God always come with ample warning.  Call it a time of grace, undeserved restraint, when God gives people in sin, time to clean up their conduct and behavior.  The Israelites knew what could happen and they persisted in their arrogance and idolatrous ways.  When time finally ran out, it should not have been a surprise that God was bringing about their demise.

For 209 years, the 10 tribe northern kingdom of Israel had endured one evil king after another. During those years God sent nine prophets who tried to warn the 33 evil kings and the people who followed them, “Look, you are not doing things God’s way and here’s what’s going to happen. If you continue on this path, destruction is going to come.” NINE TIMES God sent His prophets with this message.  As it says in 2nd Chronicles 36, “The Lord, the God of their ancestors, repeatedly, AGAIN AND AGAIN, sent these prophets to warn them.”  Sadly, they mocked God’s messengers and despised their “warning words.” One version of the Bible says... “The people called them idiots. They scoffed at the prophets until the Lord’s anger could no longer be restrained and nothing could be done.”

Their failure to keep God’s commandments meant they would be expelled from the covenant God had made with Abraham. They had been chosen to be a blessing to all other nations, but now they would be delivered over to a harsh nation. God warned his people time and time again of calamity if they continued in their sinful ways.  They did not turn from idolatry and fell to the Assyrians in 722 B.C..

The summary of God’s action is sobering... Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them out of his sight. None was left but the tribe of Judah only. (2 Kings 17:18) The 10 tribes of the northern kingdom were conquered and dispersed throughout the Assyrian empire. God “removed them from his presence” is the worst possible thing that could have happened to them.  The Creator divorced Himself from them, never again to care for or restore them to their homeland.  It’s as if they ceased to exist and in fact in some ways they did vanish into the cultures of the lands where they were exiled. They become known as “the lost tribes of Israel.”   

The Southern Kingdom, Judah, was ruled by both good and evil kings, mostly evil ones. However, as this calamity is befalling the northern kingdom, a good king who trusted in God by the name of Hezekiah was nervously watching the events unfold.  After the ruin of the northern kingdom is complete, the Assyrian King with his army of 185,000 is poised to continue southward and claim Judah. 

The outcome was different... Hezekiah, by putting his trust in God, defied the Assyrian king who conquered the northern kingdom. (2 Kings 18:19; 19:15-19)  That act of defiance took extreme courage and trust in God.  Hezekiah was out numbered and outgunned, but he did have God on his side and he had trust and faith in God's Truth.  On God’s order, an angel destroyed the Assyrian army of 185,000. (2 Kings 19:35-37).  Years were added to Hezekiah’s life and the people of Judah sort of got the message, at least for awhile. 

I wonder if we can draw some lessons from what many consider one of the greatest tragedies in human history... the fall of Israel.

A few things come to mind. The first and most obvious... GOD deals with disobedience but not without ample warning.  God will keep his promise to bring the Messiah through Judah, even though in about 100 more years, the southern Kingdom will be vanquished by the Babylonians.  God keeps his promises, especially the one about “blessing the whole world” (Isaiah 49:29) accomplished through Jesus Christ who family genealogy runs through the tribe of Judah.

God is faithful and compassionate, even when His discipline seems extreme and harsh.  He expects His creation... humanity to recognize Him as King and to live obedient reverent lives.  Possible?  Absolutely!  Probable?  Not likely.

That can be hard to do if TRUTH is hard to find and hard to recognize as once trusted institutions like the Church continue to pervert and distort God’s Word.

Right now, Truth is under attack and much is at stake. Christians are caught in the crossfire of alternative Christian histories, emerging faulty texts, and a cultural push to eliminate absolute Truth altogether.  As a result, many churches and Christians have been deceived. Worse still, they propagate the deception that poses itself as Truth and don't even realize the apostate nature of what they are doing.  

There is no middle ground ― no safe zone, no neutrality, no uncommitted in this war. There MUST be a willingness among Christians today to stand against the falsehoods, untruth and corruption permeating the Church in many forms.

Too often in the desire to be ecumenically "inclusive," not only are lies allowed, but they are often encouraged, as if the lie itself does no harm and is simply a matter of denominational variety.  In hindsight, I seriously doubt any of the Israelites would agree with that sentiment considering how they were often duped into idolatry for the sake of convenience or to “be like all the nations around them.”   In truth, many of the lies that are being promulgated by false teachers attack the very foundation upon which Christianity rests... the commands of Jesus Christ, the teachings of the Apostles and the New Covenant... born of the blood of Christ!

You may not see any correlation between the ancient Israelites and contemporary Church or society in general. Sure, the ancient Israelites rejected God as their king and each person did their own thing, worshipped idols and immersed themselves in activities contrary to the commandments of God.  Isn’t that essentially what people, even people who “claim” to be Christians, are doing today? "There is no fear of God before their eyes," and they are "lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God" (Romans 3:18; 2 Timothy 3:4). 

When the common and prevailing sentiment of most societies and cultures is one of every man believing what is comfortable and doing as he pleases, he has in effect become his own god, and that is called... humanism. But just as ancient humanism was empty, and the Israelites desired a human king, so does the modern humanistic world desire more and more governance by the authority and institutions of man, even though such leadership has been driving humanity to the brink of disaster.  

Looking back, during the time of ancient Israel, all people fell into two mutually exclusive groups:  those who trusted in God, and those who did not.  Those who trusted in God remained as a remnant of the promise of Abraham, even thought punished for their sin, they benefited from God’s loyalty to His plan for humanity’s salvation.  All others embraced other beliefs, other gods, whether they be secular or pagan and suffered the consequences of abandoning truth.

We have the history of Israel to show us the consequence of idolatry and apostasy.  Her destruction shows us the consequences of rejecting God. 

God has not changed, His plan of salvation has not changed, and consequently, the state of the nations of peoples has not changed.  The world today is divided into two mutually exclusive groups... those who trust in God and those who do not.  

Isaiah describes the noise of the unfaithful like the seas, (Isaiah 17:12-14) or the rushing of mighty waters, a roar that has no discernible message.  What is the judgment for those who have never placed their faith in God?  Isaiah describes is at chaff blown away in a wind, never to be seen again, never to be used for any purpose, separated from the fruit forever.  This is the judgment upon those who not only reject God, but also those same people who spoil and rob, and persecute people of faith. 

Likewise,  the Church today is accountable for their covenant with God; those who call themselves Christians but lack true faith in God will find themselves separated from Him because of their apostasy; and today's pagan and secular humanistic nations are accountable for their rejection of the One True God, and for their persecution of the faithful remnant, true Christians.  All people are accountable before God for their faith in Him or their lack of faith in Him.  You have no neutrality option, to opt-out, as if sitting in a grandstand watching but free of any accountability for how the game is played.

God has given a task to all Christians to spread the good news of the gospel of salvation to all the world so that none will perish, so all could have an opportunity to place their faith and trust in God.  This task is the paramount duty of the Church, because all people are accountable before God, and will give that account at the final judgment.  God desires the salvation of all people.  It is time for the church, the body made up of every individual Christian, to take the task seriously. 

Yet across the world very few people truly acknowledge that all of these blessings come from God, and most people fail to place their faith and trust in Him.  Like the ancient Israelites, they follow after other gods, gods of man's fabrication as they embrace the myriad of world religions that reject the truth of God's Word.  For these, the harvest will be a heap of grief and sorrow when they come before the judgment and found to be... faithless.

Acknowledging OUR Real King

Imagine... the entire world, every nation, every tribe, all peoples and language groups both well known and obscure, living by the counsel and admonition of the Holy Bible?  Doing exactly what the Bible commands... living “...on every word that comes from the mouth of God” and conducting government, business, commerce and personal lives based on what Paul said to Timothy... All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. (2 Timothy 3:16)

What if 225 years ago, the U.S.A. had started with kings instead of presidents? If that would have happened, we would have seen a very different legacy of leadership in America.  Kings would have come from a family dynasty for example.  Did you know that George Washington was asked to be king of America during the Revolutionary War? 

George Washington both as a Christian and a praying man rejected the offer. He believed that there was only one King and no earthly man could fill that awesome responsibility. A motto that was shouted often during the war years was... “No king but King Jesus.” 

In 1774... two years before the Declaration of Independence was presented, a report was delivered to King George of England, by the governor of Boston.  In it this was said...  “If you ask an American who is his master, he will tell you he has none, nor any governor but Jesus Christ.”  The prewar colonial committees of correspondence soon made this sentiment the American motto of their quest for independence from England and its King...  “No king but King Jesus” and this sentiment was carried over into 1783 peace treaty with Great Britain ending the war which begins in the name of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity.

Oh how times have changed since those momentous events established a new nation... one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.  The founding fathers of America would not recognize her today.  Their beloved vision of a nation beholding only to Creator God and His precepts, has lost its way and by the actions and choices of its government and its people, both have denied the God they once chanted as their only King.

The advent of America, its noble birth, its declaration of independence from the tyrannies of men and self-proclaimed allegiance to God, reminds me of another nation in another time.  A nation even more connected to Almightily God... a chosen people... the story of the ancient nation of Israel.  It’s a very sad story indeed.

Like America, they too proclaimed their undivided allegiance and loyalty to the God of Heaven.  He was their King. They were born of pain and suffering, claimed by God, and a people of untold potential and eternal promise.  They were delivered from oppression by God and guided to a place and time where God would care for them and lead them in living holy and God-honoring lives.  

Alas... the Israelites were known as a stiff-necked people.  Stubborn to say the least.  They had everything to gain, nothing to lose in life with the Creator as their King, Defender and Provider.  They were setup for success!  Can you imagine such an opportunity... to be that closely linked to the Living God, being the receiver of all He can do for you?  

First, they were unhappy because they didn’t have visible leadership... like the nations around them had.  They wanted a King even though that was never part of God’s plan for the Israelites.  So God relents to their demands, first by establishing “Judges” who would work closely with Him through prophets to govern the people.   The book of Judges says this about life among the Israelites before the Judges began governing... "In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes." (Judges 17:6)  Sounds like living then would have been chaotic... no rules... a do your own thing kind of lifestyle.  That free-for-all attitude changed to some degree during the period of the Judges.

The people were still not satisfied... they wanted a King.  God finally relented and allowed them to have a King.  His name was Saul.  The story of Saul’s kingship ends badly and it ushered in exactly what God had warned them about... human Kings will fail... but I [God] will never fail!  So begins a long line of human kings governing over Israel.

These human kings got the nation of Israel into a heap of trouble with God. First, the one nation of Israel divided into two smaller weaker nations.  During the time of the divided kingdom there were 38 kings in all. Only five were good kings.  Just five! The other 33 kings did evil in the eyes of the Lord.  God sent 9 prophets to the northern kingdom over a span of 208 years and the people refused to hear and obey what they said, including the dire warnings of what would happen to them if they didn’t cleanup their living and worship.

God’s people didn’t appreciate the fact that among all the peoples and nations on earth at that time... they had the BEST King of all – God Himself.  How did they miss that fact?  They rebelled against Him in every imaginable way possible.  They paid a hefty price for their desire to be governed by an earthly imperfect King.

Next week we’ll look at the grime consequences of Israel’s rebellious spirit and examine the U.S.A. and all nations of the world to see where we lineup in the eyes of Almighty God.  His view of humanity is the only thing that matters! Stay tuned... Walk Upright in the Lord.