"Holiness: Heresy & Heritage"
"What Makes God Holy"
"As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." 1 Peter 1:14-16 (RSV)
I. Call To Be Holy
"Say to all the congregation of the people of Israel, You shall be holy; for I the LORD your God am holy." Leviticus 19:2 (RSV)
"For I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy." Leviticus 11:44 (RSV)
"Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am the LORD your God." Leviticus 20:7 (RSV)
qodesh- separate, apart
R.C. Sproul gives us a simple way to remember the definition of holiness,
The first prayer I learned as a child was the simple table grace: "God is great, God is good, and we thank Him for this food." The two virtues assigned to God in this prayer, greatness and goodness, may be captured by the one biblical word, holy. [Essential Truths p. 47]
Chuck Colson says it well, "Holiness is the everyday business of every Christian. It evidences itself in the decisions we make and the things we do, hour by hour, day by day." [Loving God p. 131]
2. Call To Be Holy Is A Call To Be Like God
Only God is Holy
"For thus says the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place" Isaiah 57:15 (RSV)
"Who is like thee, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like thee, majestic in holiness, terrible in glorious deeds, doing wonders?" Exodus 15:11 (RSV)
"There is none holy like the LORD, there is none besides thee; there is no rock like our God." I Samuel 2:2 (RSV)
John Brown, 19th Century Scottish Theologian said, "Holiness does not consist in mystic speculations, enthusiastic fervours, or uncommanded austerities; it consists in thinking as God thinks, and willing as God wills." [John Brown, nineteenth-century Scottish theologian, quoted in J. Bridges, The Pursuit of Holiness, p. 51. http://www.bible.org/illus/h/h-40.htm#TopOfPage.]
"For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of. Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? To you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides him." Deuteronomy 4:32-35 (RSV)
3. Characteristics Of God’s Holiness
1. Autonomy
"Then Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?’ God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’"" Exodus 3:13-14 (RSV)
"Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!" Revelation 4:8 (RSV)
"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." Revelation 1:8 (RSV)
"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." Revelation 22:13 (RSV)
"Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am."" John 8:58 (RSV)
2. Truth
"Sanctify them in the truth; thy word is truth." John 17:17 (RSV)
"Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But, because I tell the truth, you do not believe me." John 8:43-45 (RSV)
"it is impossible for God to lie" Hebrews 6:18
3. Perfection
The Perfect Story: There was a perfect man who met a perfect woman. After a perfect courtship, they had a perfect wedding. Their life together was, of course, perfect.
One snowy, stormy Christmas Eve this perfect couple was driving along a winding road when they noticed someone at the roadside in distress. Being the perfect couple, they stopped to help. There stood Santa Claus with a huge bundle of toys. Not wanting to disappoint any children on the eve of Christmas, the perfect couple loaded Santa and his toys into their vehicle. Soon they were driving along delivering the toys. Unfortunately, the driving conditions deteriorated and the perfect couple and Santa Claus had an accident. Only one of them survived the accident. Who was the survivor?
Answer: The perfect woman. She’s the only one that really existed in the first place. Everyone knows there is no Santa Claus and there is no such thing as a perfect man.
A Male’s Response: So, if there is no perfect man and no Santa Claus, the perfect woman must have been driving. This explains why there was a car accident. [http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/p/perfection.htm. Source Unknown]
"This God—his way is perfect; the promise of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him." II Samuel 22:31 (RSV)
"For I will proclaim the name of the LORD. Ascribe greatness to our God! "The Rock, his work is perfect; for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and right is he."" Deuteronomy 32:3-4 (RSV)
"The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever; the ordinances of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb." Psalm 19:7-10 (RSV)
"You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." Matthew 5:48 (RSV)
4. Goodness
God is the source of Goodness, not the epitome.
"This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him is no darkness at all." I John 1:5 (RSV)
"But the LORD of hosts is exalted in justice, and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness." Isaiah 5:16 (RSV)
Conversation of Corrie Ten Boom
Often I have heard people say, "How good God is! We prayed that it would not rain for our church picnic, and look at the lovely weather!" Yes, God is good when He sends good weather. But God was also good when He allowed my sister, Betsie, to starve to death before my eyes in a German concentration camp. I remember one occasion when I was very discouraged there. Everything around us was dark, and there was darkness in my heart. I remember telling Betsie that I thought God had forgotten us. "No, Corrie," said Betsie, "He has not forgotten us. Remember His Word: ‘For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him.’"
[Corrie Ten Boom. http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/g/god_goodness_of.htm.]
5. Jealousy
"you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God" Exodus 34:14 (RSV)
"For the LORD your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God." Deuteronomy 4:24 (RSV)
"The LORD is a jealous God and avenging, the LORD is avenging and wrathful; the LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies." Nahum 1:2 "RSV)
"Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is strong as death, jealousy is cruel as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a most vehement flame. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house, it would be utterly scorned." Song of Solomon 8:6-7 (RSV)
Nature of God’s jealousy
Dr. Gary Collins states it this way. "There is a distinction between jealousy and envy. To envy is to want something which belongs to another person. "You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, his wife or his servant, his ox or donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor." In contrast, jealousy is the fear that something which we possess will be taken away by another person. Although jealousy can apply to our jobs, our possessions, or our reputations, the word more often refers to anxiety which comes when we are afraid that the affections of a loved one might be lost to a rival. We fear that our mates, or perhaps our children, will be lured away by some other person who, when compared to us, seems to be more attractive, capable and successful." [Dr. Gary Collins in Homemade, July, 1985]
"You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me" Exodus 20:4-5 (RSV)
"And the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying, "Thus says the LORD of hosts: I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath. Thus says the LORD: I will return to Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the LORD of hosts, the holy mountain... and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be my people and I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness."" Zechariah 8:8 (RSV)
6. Love
"Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God; for God is love... and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him." John 4:16 (RSV)
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him." John 3:16-17 (RSV)
"While we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Why, one will hardly die for a righteous man—though perhaps for a good man one will dare even to die. But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." Romans 5:6-8 (RSV)
