6.7 The Holiness of God

It is impossible to talk about God without mentioning His Holiness. As we reflect upon God's majesty, His holiness captures our hearts and minds. 1 Peter 1:16 reminds us that not only can we be holy, but that:

1 1 Peter 1:16

16 You shall be holy; for I am holy.

How does that work? 1 Corinthians 6:19 supplies the answer:

1 1 Corinthians 6:19

19 Don't you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God?

Obedience is not difficult because there are great benefits and rewards for drawing near to God and seeking Him with all our hearts. We are to consistently walk in holiness. You are holy because you are in Christ and He is within you. God has made us holy, but we must also pursue it as is described in Hebrew 12:14-15:

2 Hebrew 12:14-15

14 Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man will see the Lord,

15 looking carefully lest there be any man who falls short of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and many be defiled by it.

It is impossible to see God unless we pursue peace with all men and pursue holiness. Holiness if the completion of sanctification. For that reason, some versions of the Bible use sanctification where others use holiness. However, sanctification is also the process of pursuing holiness, of choosing that which is pure and pleasing to God.

Malachi 3:2-3 refers to the Lord's coming as a day of refining fire and cleansing with launderer's soap. The process of sanctification is like a brush that is used with a strong cleaning agent like bleach to remove a stain in a white robe. The Lord also purifies hearts in the same way that impurities are removed from silver and gold. He applies intense heat to burn away our impurities. This is how God purified the Old Testament priests, but it is also a picture of how He refines the New Covenant priesthood from every nation - those who have become his temple.

2 Malachi 3:2-3

2 But who can endure the day of his coming? And who will stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire, and like launderers' soap;

3 and he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi, and refine them as gold and silver; and they shall offer to Yahweh offerings in righteousness.

Without holiness and progressive sanctification, it is impossible to see God as He is. To see God is to comprehend Him, to understand Him, and to be in a dynamic relationship with Him. It is seeing Him with spiritual eyes. To be in relationship with Him is to experience the peace, presence, anointing, and power of the Holy Spirit. It's not just the ability to hear God speak though the Bible, but to also hear Him with spiritual ears. It is the ability to have a two-way conversation with God. The Holy Spirit teaches us all things and answers our questions.

Why should that sound so strange? The Spirit of the Living God did not vacate the ark of the covenant when the curtain was torn only to be enshrined in the Bible. The Holy Spirit of the Living God resides in his followers. They have become His New Covenant temple.

In Ephesians 1:3-4, Paul equates spiritual blessings in heavenly places resulting from being holy and without defect.

2 Ephesians 1:3-4

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and without defect before him.

Paul went on in Ephesians 1:15-23 to elaborate what is revealed in Christ to the eyes of our hearts (our spiritual eyes).

9 Ephesians 1:15-23

15 For this cause I also, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which is among you, and the love which you have toward all the saints,

16 don't cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers,

17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him,

18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

19 and what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to that working of the strength of his might

20 which he worked in Christ, when he raised him from the dead and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly places,

21 far above all rule, authority, power, dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come.

22 He put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things for the assembly,

23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Revelation 7:9-17 describes an innumerable number of people from every nation who are dressed in robes of white for choosing to pursue Christ despite times of intense suffering and tribulation. They washed their robes - even when it cost them their lives for not renouncing Christ.

9 Revelation 7:9-17

9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could count, out of every nation and of all tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands.

10 They cried with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation be to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"

11 All the angels were standing around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before his throne, and worshiped God,

12 saying, "Amen! Blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might, be to our God forever and ever! Amen."

13 One of the elders answered, saying to me, "These who are arrayed in the white robes, who are they, and where did they come from?"

14 I told him, "My lord, you know."

15 Therefore they are before the throne of God, they serve him day and night in his temple. He who sits on the throne will spread his tabernacle over them.

16 They will never be hungry or thirsty any more. The sun won't beat on them, nor any heat;

17 for the Lamb who is in the middle of the throne shepherds them and leads them to springs of life-giving waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

In Revelation 19:8, we discover that the bride of Christ consists of those who are arrayed in bright, pure, and fine linen which are the righteous acts of the saints. This indicates sanctification - the removal of every spot and stain.

1 Revelation 19:8

8 It was given to her that she would array herself in bright, pure, fine linen: for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.

In Ephesians 4:22-24, Paul described the process of becoming a new man in righteousness and holiness.

3 Ephesians 4:22-24

22 Put away, as concerning your former way of life, the old man that grows corrupt after the lusts of deceit,

23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,

24 and put on the new man, who in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth.

Romans 12:1-2 reiterates the need to be holy by renewing our minds in Christ.

2 Romans 12:1-2

1 Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service.

2 Don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God

He already knows our secrets. Nothing is hidden from Him. He is fully aware of our condition and how to save us from our sn and from ourselves! If we want to experience all that He has for us and to accomplish all that He wants to do through us, then our response matters. Even so, His grace never fails to pursue us. He calls us to change from our position to His position. It is how we can approach the highway of Holiness. Meditate upon Isaiah 35:8-10.

3 Isaiah 35:8-10

8 And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.

9 No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there.

10 And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.