Holiness

“Thou shalt be holy, for I am holy.”* Does that sentence strike fear and apprehension into our hearts or anticipation? Often this is taught and portrayed as an impossible, draconian command from an indignant Deity. We have to live up to His standards or suffer the consequences. This is also accompanied by the imposition of ten, sometimes obtuse and usually unattainable, levels of behavior. And when these are coupled with Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount** which condemned the very attitudes that led to the acts, we are overwhelmed by this statement and, more often than not, inclined to ignore or forsake it.

Was this God’s intent in giving this instruction to Moses? The answer is an unequivocal, “No!” The Ten Commandments*** are not a set of capricious decrees that God generated to deprive mankind of all the fun in life. That statement is ludicrous on its face. What “fun” can there be in lying to our companions, realizing all the time that they can, and probably are, lying to us? And this applies in spades with regard to stealing, murder, and adultery, and their included reverberations back to us.

No, Our Father in Heaven gave, gifted, these things to us out of the effulgence of His nature. Using our examples, He is truth, He does not lie; He is generous, the does not take what is not His own; He is life, He does not murder; and He is love and fidelity, He is faithful and true. None of the offenses are found anywhere in His character. But, they are not only “found” in our character, they are inherent in our nature. When we act in a certain way, we are merely exposing our natural drives and inclinations. Just watch two small children playing with one desirable toy. No parent would teach the toddler this behavior. It is natural.

When Moses recorded the “be ye holy” statement, it was to convey Our Father’s invitation for us to be like Him: To be holy. We cannot ever attain to that achievement alone. Thus, implicit in the “command,” is the enablement that will produce such behavior and character in us. 

That enablement was previewed in the Old Testament by sacrifices and ordinances. It was personified and effectuated in the Person of Jesus Christ. He was the ultimate sacrifice and He died on the cross to pay for our sins. (Incidentally, He was also, the only sacrifice that would work.) 

But, unlike the OT sacrifices, He did not stay dead! He rose again after three days to declare that we were now able to join Him in His family. We are invited to be children of God. And with that standing, we are given the privilege of “being holy.” 

In specifics, we are given freedom from the compulsion to lie, steal, murder, be unfaithful, and all the rest. We can worship Him in holiness. (1 Chronicles 16:29) He is holy, and we are too! Let’s summarize this with Hebrews 11:6.

And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for the one who comes to God must believe that He exists, and that He proves to be One who rewards those who seek Him.

Logic prevails in the first phrase. It is nonsense to “come to some one, or some thing” of which we deny the existence. If I write a check on a bank in which I have no funds, it is not only a dumb thing to do, it is fraud. I do not worship Buddha, Allah, or any other false and fake god. They simply do not exist as a “god.” The “Stratton Dragons” will never win the World Cup. First because there never was, nor ever will be a team from there named the “Dragons.” And second because, even if they did exist, they do not play soccer. Or to make it even more unlikely, insert “cricket” for the game. I doubt is anyone in Stratton even knows how to play cricket, let alone produce a winning team. (If that is what you do in cricket. I don’t know.)

False gods, to quote the Scripture over 100 times, are “worthless.” And, in fact, less than worthless. They drag the worshiper down to a lower level than originally occupied if that is possible. But most damning is that they distract or divert a “believer” from seeking the True God. 

Conversely, belief in and worship for God, our Father in Heaven, elevates us to the level of holiness and purity that He possesses and expresses. “Be holy,” is His invitation for us to emulate Him in His character. And, concomitantly, that elevates our relationships and interactions with our fellow men. We do not lie, murder, steal, or otherwise violate their rights, characters, and possessions.

Our Father did not give us a “roadmap” of how to make it to holiness. He gave us a yardstick to measure our progress. “Check; didn’t lie today.” And we can go down the list. If, and when we find a box that we cannot check, we turn to 1 John 1:9.

If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Then we follow that up with a confession to the one we offended. And if they offended us, we forgive them. “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” 

And be holy.

Two additional thoughts contributed from my rich store of advisors. One, is a friend from here in town. He added:

Notice that the words “Thou shalt be holy" could be read as a promise. Understand that the only two of the Ten Commandments that do not have the word "shall" are two that will be irrelevant in heaven: the one on the Sabbath and the one about honoring parents.

Great thought, Gary. “You shall...” can be thought of as a demand, like “You shall be on time every day to work.” Or, as Gary pointed out, it is a also promise, “You shall be paid for the work you do.”  

God doesn’t command us to do impossible things. He may command us to do uncomfortable things or things that we do not WANT to do. But it is always possible. The second addition to our thoughts is from David Jeremiah preaching on the radio one day after I originally wrote this.

He said that he had a plaque in one of the houses that he had early in his ministry that said, “God’s command is God’s enablement.” When we get an order from the Lord, it is accompanied by the ability to complete it. He does not ask us to jump up and touch the moon. But He does ask and expect us to reach into heaven with our prayers and touch the Throne. That we can do.

Just think of the Great Commission. It does not say, “Thou shalt go throughout all the world and preach the Gospel.” It says, “As you go throughout the world, preach the Gospel.” We do not all have to go everywhere, but everywhere we go, we have to preach. This is getting gooder and gooder.

You shall, will, be holy. Amen.

* Holy Leviticus 11:14 

**Sermon Matthew 6

***Commandments Exodus 20