BE HOLY BECAUSE I AM HOLY
We serve a holy God. He tells us in Lev 11:44 that he is holy.
Lev 11:44 I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves about on the ground.
Lev 11:45 I am the LORD who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.
In a couple of sentences he gives us the motive for being holy. Because He is. The call to be something is not about us it’s about Him. We exist for Him, for His glory, for His purposes.
R. C. Sproul makes this insightful statement about his divine attribute from Isaiah 6:
“The Bible says that God is holy, holy, holy. Not that He is merely holy, or even holy, holy. He is holy, holy, holy. The Bible never says that God is love, love, love, or mercy, mercy, mercy, or wrath, wrath, wrath, or justice, justice, justice. It does say that He is holy, holy, holy, the whole earth is full of His glory.”
(1) TO BE HOLY IS TO BE DISTINCT, SEPARATE, IN A CLASS BY ONESELF. AS SPROUL PUTS IT:
The primary meaning of holy is ‘separate.’ It comes from an ancient word that meant, ‘to cut,’ or ‘to separate.’ Perhaps even more accurate would be the phrase ‘a cut above something.’ When we find a garment or another piece of merchandise that is outstanding, that has a superior excellence, we use the expression that it is ‘a cut above the rest.
This means that the one who is holy is uniquely holy, with no rivals or competition.
“When the Bible calls God holy it means primarily that God is transcendentally separate. He is so far above and beyond us that He would be totally foreign to us except that he made himself relatable to us. To be holy is to be ‘other,’ to be different in a special way.
The Scriptures put it this way:
11 “Who is like Thee among the gods, O LORD? Who is like Thee, majestic in holiness, Awesome in praises, working wonders? (Exodus 15:11). 2 “There is no one holy like the LORD, Indeed, there is no one besides Thee, Nor is there any rock like our God (1 Samuel 2:2).
8 There is no one like Thee among the gods, O Lord; Nor are there any works like Thine. 9 All nations whom Thou hast made shall come and worship before Thee, O Lord; And they shall glorify Thy name. 10 For Thou art great and doest wondrous deeds; Thou alone art God (Psalms 86:8-10; see also Psalm 99:1-3; Isaiah 40:25; 57:15).
Everything about him is holy. We see in the scriptures many references to things that God made holy: There’s the Holy Temple, holy mountain, holy ground (the place where Moses was standing), Gods holy dwelling, the holy place, the Holy of holies, we are a holy nation and a holy priesthood, the holy city of Jerusalem. Consider the following points.
Pt 1: HIS NAME IS HOLY.
(Lev 22:32 NIV) Do not profane my holy name. I must be acknowledged as holy by the Israelites. I am the LORD, who makes you holy.
Lev 19:12 "’Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.
Lev 24:11 The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name with a curse; so they brought him to Moses. (His mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri the Danite.) Lev 24:12 They put him in custody until the will of the LORD should be made clear to them. Lev 24:13 Then the LORD said to Moses: Lev 24:14 "Take the blasphemer outside the camp. All those who heard him are to lay their hands on his head, and the entire assembly is to stone him.
No profanity, no swearing falsely, no cursing, nothing indecent should spoken in reference to Gods name for it is holy. Rather,
We are to: (1 Chr 16:10 NIV) Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice. Praise and honor his name. When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray the first words out of his mouth were “Father hallowed (to honor as being holy) be your name.”
Pt 2: HIS WRATH IS HOLY
Some may think when God destroys people that he is being unjust. Wrong! Even when God destroys people for their sin he is still being holy. God is holy in all he does because he is pure and perfect and without sin. God cannot do anything wrong because he has perfect wisdom to do everything right. He knows exactly what do to do all the time and in every situation. God cannot act outside of his character which is holy even when expressing his wrath.
Num 16:16 Moses said to Korah, "You and all your followers are to appear before the LORD tomorrow--you and they and Aaron.
Num 16:17 Each man is to take his censer and put incense in it--250 censers in all--and present it before the LORD. You and Aaron are to present your censers also."
Num 16:18 So each man took his censer, put fire and incense in it, and stood with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
Num 16:19 When Korah had gathered all his followers in opposition to them at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the glory of the LORD appeared to the entire assembly.
Num 16:20 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
Num 16:21 "Separate yourselves from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once."
Num 16:22 But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and cried out, "O God, God of the spirits of all mankind, will you be angry with the entire assembly when only one man sins?"
Num 16:23 Then the LORD said to Moses,
Num 16:24 "Say to the assembly, ’Move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.’"
Num 16:25 Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him.
Num 16:26 He warned the assembly, "Move back from the tents of these wicked men! Do not touch anything belonging to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins."
Num 16:27 So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing with their wives, children and little ones at the entrances to their tents.
Num 16:28 Then Moses said, "This is how you will know that the LORD has sent me to do all these things and that it was not my idea:
Num 16:29 If these men die a natural death and experience only what usually happens to men, then the LORD has not sent me.
Num 16:30 But if the LORD brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the grave, then you will know that these men have treated the LORD with contempt."
Num 16:31 As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart
Num 16:32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, with their households and all Korah’s men and all their possessions.
Num 16:33 They went down alive into the grave, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community.
Num 16:34 At their cries, all the Israelites around them fled, shouting, "The earth is going to swallow us too!"
Num 16:35 And fire came out from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.
Num 16:36 The LORD said to Moses,
Num 16:37 "Tell Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest, to take the censers out of the smoldering remains and scatter the coals some distance away, for the censers are holy--
Num 16:38 the censers of the men who sinned at the cost of their lives. Hammer the censers into sheets to overlay the altar, for they were presented before the LORD and have become holy. Let them be a sign to the Israelites."
Num 16:39 So Eleazar the priest collected the bronze censers brought by those who had been burned up, and he had them hammered out to overlay the altar,
Num 16:40 as the LORD directed him through Moses. This was to remind the Israelites that no one except a descendant of Aaron should come to burn incense before the LORD, or he would become like Korah and his followers.
Num 16:41 The next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. "You have killed the Lord’s people," they said.
Num 16:42 But when the assembly gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron and turned toward the Tent of Meeting, suddenly the cloud covered it and the glory of the LORD appeared.
Num 16:43 Then Moses and Aaron went to the front of the Tent of Meeting,
Num 16:44 and the LORD said to Moses,
Num 16:45 "Get away from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once." And they fell facedown.
Num 16:46 Then Moses said to Aaron, "Take your censer and put incense in it, along with fire from the altar, and hurry to the assembly to make atonement for them. Wrath has come out from the LORD; the plague has started."
Num 16:47 So Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the assembly. The plague had already started among the people, but Aaron offered the incense and made atonement for them.
Num 16:48 He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped.
Num 16:49 But 14,700 people died from the plague, in addition to those who had died because of Korah.
The display of Gods holy wrath is terrifying. Consider the example of Ananias & Sapphira (Acts 5:9) who lied to God. Was God being unholy because he took their life? No. God is holy in all he does.
Pt 3: HIS DWELLING IS HOLY (ISAIAH AND THE HOLINESS OF GOD)
(Isaiah 6:1-10)
1 In the year of King Uzziah’s death, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. 2 Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD Of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.” 4 And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. 5 Then I said,
“Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, with a burning coal in his hand which he had taken from the altar with tongs. 7 And he touched my mouth [with it] and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin is forgiven.” 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!” 9 And He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand.’ 10 Render the hearts of this people insensitive, their ears dull, and their eyes dim, lest they see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and return and be healed” (Isaiah 6:1-10).
When Isaiah saw the holiness of God, so powerful was the vision that he exclaimed I am ruined, I am unclean and the people that I live with are unclean. When a man sees the splendor and majesty of the holiness of God not only does he see the depth of his sin but he is eager to serve.
Pt 4: HE CALLED FOR HOLY LIVING
Moses gave the Israelites direction for holy living. Why? (Deu 23:14 NIV) For the LORD your God moves about in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy, so that he will not see among you anything indecent and turn away from you.
If God saw anything in the camp that was unholy he would turn away. That’s the standard we should be trying to imitate.
God was so serious about holiness that he even gave his people direction on what they were to eat and not eat. Look at: Lev 11:1-47.
By the way Peter had some convictions about this passage. Let’s read:
Acts 10:9 About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air.
Then a voice told him, "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat." "Surely not, Lord!" Peter replied. "I have never eaten anything impure or unclean." The voice spoke to him a second time, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean."
In Peters mind this was an issue of holiness. Impure, unclean whoa, that’s to be unholy; no way God!
What about us? We too need to have deep convictions about being holy. Why? Again because He is holy and he calls us to be like Him.
Pt 5: WE TOO HAVE A CALLING
(1 Cor 1:2 NIV) To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ--their Lord and ours:
Our calling calls us to:
1. OBEY AND NOT CONFORM
1 Pet 1:14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do;
for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear.
2. MAKE EVERY EFFORT
(Heb 12:14 NIV) Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.
3. NOT BE YOKED
3. 2 Cor 6:14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?
2 Cor 6:15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial ? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?
2 Cor 6:16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."
2 Cor 6:17 "Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you."
2 Cor 6:18 "I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."
(2 Cor 7:1 NIV) Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.
As disciples we should be perfecting holiness in our lives. Am I living a holy life before the Lord? 1 Th 5:21 Test everything. Hold on to the good. 1 Th 5:22 Avoid every kind of evil. We must continue to examine how we are living?
Who you are yoked with is an issue of holiness with God. When you have a deep uncompromising conviction about being holy before your God who is holy that conviction will direct your dating life. Pray about someone spiritual, a disciple of Jesus Christ, someone that desires to be used by God to serve in wonderful ways.
This calling came before the creation of the world:
(Eph 1:4 NIV) For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. WE HAVE A HEAVENLY CALLING!
May God help us to be holy as he is holy and be holy in all we do. Amen.
