Chapter 1 - Be Holy As I Am Holy (Part 1 of 4)

God is Holy.

This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wondrous can come from the reading of this blog.

However, this is not a series about the theology of Holiness.

It is so much more than that.

For having a “right theology” without a relationship with the One who set those theologies in motion—even on such topics as holiness—is rubbish (cf. Phil. 3:4-8, NASB 1995). It leads to the broad road when it convinces the sojourner he or she is on the straight and narrow when that is not the case.

But to understand what follows in the many pages to come, we first must set the stage. Like any fine piece of literature, of which the Bible reigns supreme, themes must be established. Topics will be covered. A grand dose of theology will be examined, but not through any lens but the lens of God and His Word.

We will not examine the Bible through the lens of the prominent Bible scholars and teachers, per se, using their viewpoints as launch pads from which to develop an entire, theological framework we can live with and by, for this was the ultimate sin of the Pharisees and teachers of the law (cf. Matthew 5:21; 5:27; 5:33; 5:38; 5:43; 6:1; 6:5; 6:16). We may reference some Bible teachers as they point out crucial elements or phrase things in a wonderful manner, but this blog is not an examination of one Bible teacher’s theology versus another Bible teacher’s theology. It’s not one denomination’s stance on biblical and theological issues versus another denomination’s stance, pitting them against each other to see which is more agreeable in today’s religious landscape.

Instead, we will see a beautiful tapestry unfold. A tapestry that has been woven through centuries of people groups. It has blessed various latitudes and longitudes around the globe. Through the Old Testament and New Testament authors, it has become the story to end all stories, displaying the heart and holiness of God against the backdrop of sin, rebellion, and their monstrous effects upon creation itself.

In addition, this tapestry has the power to begin many new stories too.

One at a time.

Through life-giving, soul-redeeming grace, mercy, and love for any wayward human being who wishes to acknowledge God as his or her King.

Only one person could have completed such a magnificent mission.

The God of the scriptures.

Therefore, it behooves us to see Him as He really is. To understand His Word as it really is. And to do this, we must first understand His nature.

Which is holy.

The Heart of Holiness

Holiness, in twenty-first century parlance, carries with it a vastly different connotation than what is found in the original meaning of the Hebrew words used in the Old Testament.

There are many who ascribe to holiness as a doctrine which should garner a special theological emphasis over other attributes of God. There are others who just view biblical holiness in general without giving it any particular weight over God’s other attributes. Regardless of their theological leanings, how they picture God as who He is, what He is like, how He reacts to anything and everything—in total, His attributes—help shape and define what holiness is supposed to look like in their daily lives.

These theological and philosophical vantage points then manifest themselves into what is described as a “holy person,” a “righteous person,” or a “pious person.” Even the Pharisees and Sadducees of Jesus’s day saw themselves as “holy, righteous, and pious” because of how they strived so hard to meet even the minutia of the rabbinic traditions. However, Jesus called them out publicly for missing the crucial message concerning the heart and holiness of God (see Matthew 23; specifically verse 23). They viewed themselves as “righteous” based on their human goodness. This “goodness,” in their minds, was determined by the things they did not do just as much as the things they did do.

For example, they adamantly defended their form of righteousness by stating repeatedly that they weren’t tax collectors, helping the Romans to oppress the nation Israel by extracting money from fellow, impoverished Jews. They weren’t murderers, either, like Barabbas (Mark 15:7; Matt. 27:16). They weren’t “sinners,” like those “foul people” with whom Jesus chose to eat dinner (Mark 2:16; Matt. 9:10; 11:19; Luke 5:29; 15:1; cf. Matt. 21:31; Luke 18:10).

In the minds of the Pharisees and religious leaders, they were better than that. They viewed themselves as good people, “righteous” followers of God, because of their religion. Unfortunately, they were comparing themselves to sinners instead of God. That’s the problem with human religions and self-righteousness. They always look for the lowest common denominator, religiously speaking. They set the standard low so the followers can humanly achieve it and make themselves feel satisfied in their “goodness.”

Today, when we discuss what a holy, righteous, or pious person looks like from a Christian, biblical standpoint, we may conjure up images of monks sitting at desks, transcribing the Bible into Latin, or groups of flagellants, walking single file, whipping their own backs with scourges, shouting in unison, “Woe is me, a sinner.” Some would even go so far as to say the words of the rich, young ruler would suffice in twenty-first century Christianity as a pathway to holiness: “All these (commandments) I have kept” (Matt. 19:20), thus making this young man a “good person” and worthy of acceptance through the pearly gates, based again on his adherence to religious practice and upstanding morality.

This modern understanding of biblical holiness has created some very tenuous, and often contentious, debates about how Christians should live their lives. I hope you can see how these discussions and arguments often end up following the same pattern as the religious leaders of Israel used in Jesus’s day. We argue about holiness because our emphasis is on us instead of God. And this was the issue Jesus had with the religious leaders.

Oddly, and sadly enough, debating—even arguing—about what holiness looks like and acts like, seems hypocritical and contradictory on its face, like the man wearing his “Winner!” button after being chosen as the annual recipient of his local church’s Humility Award.

Understandably, we must denounce the heretics who wish to distort biblical truth as well as witness to the deceived souls following them, praying for their redemption, if that can be accomplished at all (Matthew 7:6; cf. Luke 16:19-31). However, debates with those who want to misrepresent and pervert God’s Word into something it isn’t are not the kind of debates we are talking about here. Heretics have always lived both outside and inside the church walls, and they still do. That is what makes the theological waters so muddy, even in today’s Church. One could say Satan has done a masterful job at

infiltrating God’s people with the same half-truths and lies he has spewed since Genesis 3. Jesus confirmed such infiltration when He told the parable of the Wheat and the Tares (Matthew 13:24-30;36-43), so we know this to be true.

Thought for the Week:

Holiness often conjures up ideals of perfection, like batting 1.000, or never making a mistake, or always scoring 100s on every test we take. And when Jesus says in Matthew 5:48: “Be perfect, therefore, as your Heavenly Father is perfect,” we stand in awe of such a statement and say, “That’s not attainable. How can anyone be perfect in that sense?”

In and of ourselves, we would be right. We can’t. However, there is a wonderful, glorious happening that takes place when a believer yields his or her life to God. He works through us, in and with the power of the Holy Spirit, to make us capable of being obedient. It’s definitely not of ourselves, and we don’t always obey when the chips are down. However, when we do, we are holy. When we do, we are being perfect as He is perfect.

The Greek word in Matthew 5:48, “perfect,” means “complete in all its parts; full grown, of full age; especially of the completeness of Christian character” (Strong’s Concordance: 5046 “teleios”). When you and I obey, we are fulfilling our calling. We are emulating our Heavenly Father. People who openly defy God’s commands or pervert His truths emulate their father the devil (John 8:44). It’s really that simple to understand. It’s all about obedience. It’s all about the attitude of the believer’s heart. It’s all about the right attitude of the believer in relationship to God Almighty.

Where do you stand in relationship to God?

Do you find obedience tedious? Embarrassing? Bothersome? Downright intrusive? Even unattractive and undesired? If so, then you need to check your relationship with God.

True believers “delight in the Lord” and “in His ways” (cf. Isaiah 58:13-14; Psalm 37:1-6). They look forward to spending time with Him. They look forward to being in His presence and doing His will. They delight in His law (Psalm 2:7). He becomes their “bread of life,” (John 6:35) and their “living water” (John 7:38; cf. Zechariah 14:8). Therefore, obeying Him brings joy, not despair, because when a believer does obey, his or her will bows to God’s. When the believer delights in the Lord, God’s Word promises to give the believer the “desires of his or her heart” (Psalm 37:4). Why? Because those desires are not selfish ones, not earthly-focused ones, not fleshly. Those desires are bound by the Kingdom. The believer prays that God’s will shall be done “on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). His or her heart becomes focused on the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of God. It desires to dwell there above all other places.

Is that your desire?  

NEXT WEEK:

We will look at what makes a believer a member of  “God’s Chosen People.”

Pictures courtesy of  Pixabay  and the following photographers/artists:

"Bible in Light" by Katine Art

"Hebrew Scripture" by RobertC

"Wheat & Weeds" by Hans Braxmeier

"Woman Praying" by Barbara Jackson

"Heaven" by jplenio