Perfecting HOLINESS

WE HAVE been doing a series of articles about “going on unto perfection.” This involves three categories of thought, going on unto perfection in our faith, in our love and in our holiness. We developed the category of faith extensively with several articles following one another. We have just now finished two articles on love, and with this article we deal with the theme of holiness.

These three categories of “going on unto perfection” have not been artificially selected. Paul, in writing to the new Christians at Thessalonica in 1 Thessalonians 3, touched upon all three. Carefully read this chapter where faith, love and holiness are emphasized, all moving toward the last one “to the end he may stablish your hearts in holiness unbelameable before God…” All three categories are also highlighted by Paul in 1 Timothy 2:15 where he says that Christian mothers will be saved “if they continue in faith and charity [love] and holiness with sobriety.” Here he adds the ingredient of all of this being done with sobriety (a sense of soberness in realizing the seriousness of what they were doing). All three categories are basic routes we are to take in going on unto maturity in Christ.

To put it another way as parallel thought, God is, God is love, and God is holy. (1) God is. This involves faith (Hebrews 11:6). (2) God is love (1 John 4:8,16). We are to be like Him (1 John 4:7-21). (3) God is Holy. God says, “Be ye holy; for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16). We go “on unto perfection” as we reach out to God in all three of these avenues.

IN THIS ARTICLE we wish to notice (1) Holiness, (2) Perfecting Holiness, and (3) Perfecting Holiness in the Fear of God. As a “jumping off” place into this study, 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1 is an excellent place to begin. Read it carefully. This section starts with a positive injunction, “Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers” and continues with five questions rhetorically asked to prod our thinking in this direction. Then the writer Paul highlights the reason why we are not to be “unequally yoked.” We are the temple of the living God. Following this, he meshes together thoughts from several Old Testament sources to get his point across. God will dwell in us, be among us, and “walk in” us—as He is our God. But this is all conditional. It is on the basis of the instructions that follow (and had already been given), “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” And finally, chapter 7:1, which should have been part of chapter 6, sums everything up nicely with this extended and crowning admonition, “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” As we stated before, that’s what we are talking about in this article.

In the light of the Bible, the words “holy” and “holiness” always are to be defined and understood in reference to and in relation to God. God, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, said, “Be ye holy; for I am holy” (Leviticus 20:7; 1 Peter 1:16). He is holy and He is holiness in the absolute, in its perfection and completeness. From our human viewpoint, holiness is realized in our proximity to God, as we have separated ourselves from moral defilement and dedicated ourselves to Him. Trench, in his Synonyms of the New Testament, has this to say about the Greek word hagios that is translated “holy” in the New Testament. “Its fundamental idea is separation, and, so to speak, consecration and devotion to the service of Deity…and what is set apart from the world and to God, should separate itself from the world’s defilements, and should share in God’s purity.” Consequently and subsequently, Paul admonished the Corinthians to be “not unequally yoked together with unbelievers,” “to touch not the unclean thing,” and to “come out from among them, and be ye separate.” Holiness is the state attained when we do this.

The Old Testament puts a heavy emphasis on places and things being holy, although personal holiness on the part of man is not omitted. Things are holy because of God’s presence and association. The first use of the word “holy” is found when God, who was speaking to Moses from the burning bush, told him to “put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground” (Exodus 3:5). The place was holy because of God’s presence. God was there in a very immediate sense. Palestine came to be called the Holy Land; wherein was Jerusalem that was called the holy city, and therein was the holy temple (regarded such because of God’s presence). And the temple proper was partitioned into the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. In the Holy of Holies was God’s most personal presence. On the Mercy Seat, situated on the top of the Ark of the Covenant between the cherubim facing one another from the ends, God’s most personal presence dwelt.
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The New Testament seems to take a shift away from regarding things as being holy, putting the emphasis on people being holy. However, perhaps looking at it from the Old Testament perspective, earthly Jerusalem is still called the holy city (Matthew 4:5; 27:53; Revelation 11:2), the new Jerusalem is called the holy city (Revelation 21:2, 10; 22:19), and the mount of transfiguration is called the holy mount (2 Peter 1:18). God’s Word always is regarded as being uniquely holy, being called the Holy Scriptures (Romans 1:2; 2 Timothy 3:15), and His commandments are called holy commandments (Romans 7:12; 2 Peter 2:21). But Stephen, defending himself before the Sanhedrin of the Jews, unques-tionably makes it clear that there has been a shift in thinking (especially involving the temple). To the dismay of his hostile audience, he declares that “the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophets, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will you build me? Saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these things?” (Acts 7:48-50). Paul advances the tenor of what Stephen said, as his voice echoed across Mars’ Hill to resound against the walls of the pagan Grecian temples. “God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands…” (Acts 17:24) The time had now come, as Jesus strongly implied to the Samarian woman, when places and buildings would no longer be important factors in worshipping God (John 4:20-24). “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”
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With the advent of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2, the Christian age was ushered in (Mark 9:1). The miraculous outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the apostles was followed by the regular indwelling of the Spirit in all believers (Acts 2:38, 39). Slowly, but surely, the church was led away from the building concept of the temple (John 14:26; 16:13; 1 Corinthians 13:9, 10) to realize that God now dwells in a temple not made by hands. Collectively (2 Corinthians 6:16; 1 Corinthians 3:16; Ephesians 2:20-22) and in its individual members (1 Corinthians 6:19, 20) the church is the temple of the living God today. With God’s personal indwelling, it is holy and must always be characterized by holiness. A temple is sacred and set apart from the world for sacred purposes. Being a temple, there is nothing secular in the life of a Christian. The body of a Christian is a temple of God twenty-four hours a day and everything that is done is to be entered into and done with this mindset.
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Before we move on in this study, let us point out again that the primary New Testament word for holy is hagios. It furnishes the root from which a whole family of words comes. This word and its cognate derivatives are represented in our English Bibles with words like “holy,” “saint,” “sanctify,” “sanctification,” “holiness,” and “hallow.” In each word, God is always standing nearby, and each word must always be understood in relation to Him. The thought always involves separation for sacred purposes.

Now returning to the key verse in this article, “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 7:1), let us get right into the heart of this study on perfecting holiness.

A. Perfecting Holiness, Sanctification, is Initially Imputed and Progressively Attained

When we talk about perfecting holiness, we are talking about being sanctified—being made holy and becoming more holy; being separated and set apart unto God. Basically, sanctification and holiness are the same thing. In being sanctified, we become holy. Sanctification takes place initially in becoming a Christian and it takes place progressively in living the Christian life. Let us elaborate.

Forgiveness of sins and conversion to Christ constitute the initial sanctification (as His perfect holiness is imputed in the taking away of our sins). As Paul has said, “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), and “There is none righteous, no, not one” (3:10). Sin is such a contaminating pollutant that we were anything but a temple set aside to God. One sin made the human race a dying race. Forgiveness, cleansing and imputation of righteousness were necessary before we could be looked upon as holy before God. That is what the story of Christ is all about, “For he [God, the Father] hath made him [Christ] to be sin for us, who knew no sin: that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). In 1 Corinthians 1:30, Paul had earlier written to the Corinthians about “Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” Reviewing their former state of pollution in sin, he said, “And such were some of you; but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11). Ephesians 5:26 and Acts 2:38 are talking about the same thing. Initial sanctification takes place when we repent and are immersed into Christ for the remission of our sins. Then the Holy Spirit comes into our lives to live. Our body (our whole person) has become a holy temple set aside for sacred purposes. Likewise, according to the Word of God, we have become a saint.