WHAT IS HOLINESS......... Obadiah 1 VS 17
Holiness is the quality of being holy, set apart, sanctified. Holiness means wholeness; the full development of the entire person - personality, virtue and gifts. The verb to consecrate hagiazo means to set a place apart for God, to make it holy, by the offering of a sacrifice upon it. The Christian has been dedicated and consecrated to God by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The root idea of holiness is that of separation. The Jews were the holy people, the nation which was quite separate and different from other peoples.
There is a link between holiness and spiritual power. The nineteenth century holiness movement which started immediately after the Civil War was a revival movement, almost exclusively Methodist in the beginning. Holiness has a collective communitarian character, revealed today in the manifest sons. We as the Bride of Christ cannot be but suspicious of any forms of holiness that has left unchanged a world filled with oppression, injustice and exploitation.
If God is love and we are to be perfect and holy like our Father in Heaven, then it only follows that love and holiness entwine. The restoration is here but much is yet to be perfected. Of course faith and obedience and grace and walking in the spirit play their parts but without love, each one of them is misplaced and without proper direction. Think about it. To have love one for another was not a request from Jesus - we are commanded to love. So with all the cutting edge prophetic revelations that we receive from God in these last days, it still comes down to this greatest commandment in that we are to love each other and that means dying to our own flesh and living for others. Get ready, for the Lord is coming for a Holy Bride.
Watchman Nee wrote: "Do you realize that we have the same life today that God has? It is for this reason that we can live a life of holiness, for it not our own life that has been changed, but the life of God that has been imparted to us." Vatican II: "The Constitution declares that everyone in the Church is called to holiness in his own state of life, not merely certain Christians who have been set apart in monasteries and convents. Holiness is nothing else but communion with our fellow human beings and the communion of all human beings with God."
When Jesus walked this earth, He was holy. You may say that it was easy for Him, He was born holy and without the original sin that we have inherited. That's true but the problem with us is that we often try too hard. Have you ever heard someone say to you that no one said that the Christian life would be easy? I have, many times. Jesus told us in Matthew 11:28,
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Our problem is that we want to be holy under our own power, it won't work, it's hard. For me to be more like Jesus, I must take upon His nature and that means as I decrease, He increases. The more that I deny myself, the more that Jesus is exalted. Simple enough, Kindergarten theology. True holiness can be very elusive however.
It is true that we must seek righteousness to be holy. That does not mean that we do it on our own, it means that we have made the decision to follow Christ and are willing to take upon His holy nature. This is the first step of faith but it does not mean that we go to a preacher that says, recite after me, and then leave the church thinking that our decision for Christ is enough. To put on Jesus takes more than faith; faith is just the beginning. We deny ourselves and that means repentance of our former way of thinking and begin thinking like Jesus. We love each other. We do things differently that we used to. Our priorities have changed. Instead of ourselves being the center of the universe, we become God-centric.
For those of you already making progress in this area, it is real hard to tell you to put away what you love for the sake of obedience. The Lord is real in your life, He obviously deals with you in letting you know He is there and you have a heart for Him. Trust Him to lead you in the right direction.
I also sin, I am need of repentance. So the message is to repent but it does not have to come from me, all you need is to read your Bible and know that this is the message for all of us. I need to repent, I needed to do it today. Yesterday too, but I waited until today to do it, that's not right, is it. One way that the Lord convicts me of sin is when I pray. If I think of another person that I should be praying for, if there is revealed sin in my life it comes to mind and hinders my prayer, it becomes a stumbling block to get into the spirit so that I can pray effectively. Well, I either go on with my sin or I do not have the holiness necessary to pray for another's needs with power. My need for repentance must be dealt with or I cannot go on.
I share my example in the hopes that it helps you with yours. There would be many that will tell you that you do not have problem areas in your life but if the Lord speaks to you then already have recognized them, so put away any hedonistic influences and try to get close to the Lord. It may be step by step or all at once but make those conscious decisions to step out in faith and try to know God's will for you. Each step back makes the next step back that much easier. If you would like to have a real anointing on your life, it must be from a position of holiness and you cannot do it on your own, ask for God's help, you already know how.
You have made good progress, you have fought the faith and put away much already. Sometime there is a price to pay in your relationship to others but look at it from the eternal aspect of rewards in heaven, not in this life. If you are in a situation that is wrong and it effects another as well, then the wrongful act also wrongs another. This makes it doubly wrong. I hope I am making sense here because i do not think that i have to spell it out for you. Also, smoking is not a sin in itself, what is a sin is knowingly ingesting poison into the temple of the Holy Spirit. I smoked for years and had to quit or just plain get sicker and sicker. As far as drugs, I was a lightweight but I sure could put away the beer. The big thing was that I could be around others who would do these things and accept them as brothers, I could not condemn them as sinners, rather they were my friends. That means like laying around with dogs, you are bound to get a few fleas but you don't kick the dog to get rid of the fleas, he is your friend. I still love them and have a real affinity with them but there came a time in my life that I had to choose between spending time with those that brought me down or with those that could edify me and go toward the calling that I have. That is a process of putting worldly things behind us and setting our minds on heavenly things.
As long as you allow yourself to be drawn away from holiness and toward your own lusts, it can be hard. Did you know that many of those that look the most righteous and holy are the ones that the devil does not need to tempt? When self-righteousness sets in, you look real good on the outside but it is just a white wash, when you appear righteous, you start to think that you are more righteous than others so you treat them that way. The devil already has you right where he wants you so he leaves you alone. Spic and span Christians can look really good but they speak with the flesh and try to make you into their own image. When you desire the nature of Jesus, you are aware of your sinfulness in the flesh and are exposed to the power of the Holy Spirit. The devil doesn't like that so you go through the wilderness experiences, testing, temptations and purging and he is just around the corner waiting for you to mess up so that he can defeat you with guilt trips and unbelief. And others will resent you.
The more that we allow Jesus to take control of our lives, the easier it becomes. This is maturity. I hear of those that teach that holiness is in our position in Christ through our salvation. That is only part of the truth. With our position in Christ through initial salvation, we are already grafted in Him and separate from the world but there is more to holiness. I have always said that holiness is the key, I need to also say that Jesus is holy.
Jude 1:5, I will therefore put you in remembrance, though you once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
This is our positional holiness. Paul goes on to say to the Ephesians, 4:21-24:
If so be that you have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That you put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Putting on the new man requires some effort on our part. Jesus did the most that anyone could do when He died for us. Father God has used this ultimate sacrifice of His son to redeem us from death. Paul tells us that it is now our responsibility to put away our lusts and put on the new man. Being renewed in our mind is a result of our repentance.
Holiness is not a completed work until we are glorified. We identified four parts to holiness: positional holiness, practical holiness, holiness in power and glorification holiness. Practical holiness is being sanctified in holiness, this is what we do as our spiritual sacrifice. With God's help and guidance and in our reliance upon Him, we are to continue in our positional holiness. We praise God, we obey Him and we keep ourselves pure. This is not always easy but remember, as I must especially remember, love will cover a multitude of sins. We may fall but we must not fail to love those around us. Love is much more important than fleshly purity, love cleanses us like no other activity.
The presence of love is not an occasion to sin however. Many think that because of our positional holiness that we can get away with anything. Paul also writes:
I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as you have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness... But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, you have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.... 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." Romans 6:19 & 22, II Corinthians 7:1.
Isaiah 35:8-10 tells of a highway to Zion and it is holiness. Because God is holy, we can rightly say that holiness is the only way that we can be clothed with His righteousness. We need to make sure that we are on the right highway.
And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there: And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
I am finding out that holiness is not a subject that people care to comment much about. Much is said about faith and grace in the church but precious little about holiness, in fact it has mostly been ignored and by some, profaned.
The people of your holiness have possessed it but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down your sanctuary. Isaiah 63:18.
It is said that without faith it is impossible to please God but I say it again, without holiness, you will never see Him.
We have discussed positional holiness as our position in Christ; practical holiness is in living out that position to stay holy or holiness put in practice. It is not enough to believe in the way, truth and life, it must be lived and it must be fleshed out in love and righteousness. We are to put on our wedding clothes. The priestly garments that God had the Israelites make in the wilderness were holy garments, given by the wise to Aaron, the high priest, to consecrate him, so that he may minister unto God. A plate of gold was to be made with the engraving "Holiness Unto The Lord." Where was that plate placed? Upon Aaron's forehead. The forehead is significant, it is at the place that the seal of God is given as well as the mark of the beast. The forehead was Goliath's weak point, a leper is especially unclean if it is the forehead. Jeremiah 3:3, "Therefore the showers have been withheld, and there has been no latter rain; and you had a whore's forehead, you refused to be ashamed." That delusional shamelessness is part of the judgment even now coming upon an unholy harlot church.
Once the construction of the ark of the covenant was finished and the priestly garments were completed and all the consecration and sacrifices were made, the finished work according to the commandments to Moses were to take that golden plate, have holiness unto the Lord engraved upon it and placed in position. The work was done, then the candlesticks could be placed in order along with the vessels, the oil for light, altar and incense. Can you see the picture here. Holiness is our finished work. We have no high priest but Jesus and we are now consecrated to Him. The churches are the candlesticks, we are the vessels, the Holy Spirit is the oil, our worship is the altar and our prayers are the incense. Jesus is coming for a holy church, one that worships the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. Hebrews 12:14.
The next step of holiness is to be able to use it to the glory of God in POWER. Holiness is the key to that same power that we have been waiting to see outpoured without measure. As to our glorification holiness, unless there is more we can add to eternal life, it is not a discussion. Once we identify and regards God's way of holiness, our glorification is a done deal. We are not to wait for Jesus to be fully like Him, we are being changed into his likeness now.
If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. Matthew 16:24
Where is that power anyway? How do we get holiness power to work in our lives? The power is from Jesus and in the power of His resurrection but to be a part of that resurrection power we must first join Him in His death. Once we have been called and baptized into the body of Christ by faith, we take upon His holiness unto eternal life but for it to be in power, we must be obedient and put it into practice. The Bible teaches us that our baptism in water is symbolic of that new life and obedience but there is another promise given to us and that is the baptism of the Holy Spirit if we repent and that means a changed life and spiritual help to keep us changed. Each of us longs for that Holy Ghost power that we see in others, it is found in self-denial.
We have that positional power in Christ already and if it is in fact holy, then holy is holy, what else do we need? Application; power must be active for it to be powerful. Passive faith is just that, passive and conservative, producing a luke-warm church that denies the power. Faith must be in action to have any effectiveness. If we can come to the point to know that our position in Christ is such that it comes with the resurrection power that raised Jesus from the dead and we can do the first works of the early church, the simple fact of our knowing gives us the witness of the spirit. We must come to the point of our knowing that it is the practical application of this power that makes it work powerfully and that includes deliverance, the power over sin. Sin includes the sins of omission as well as the sins of commission, it is not just what you do that you should not but also what you should be doing that you have not been. It is as simple as that. As soon as we apply the position of holiness in our lives, we have the power that Jesus had. Now that we have the power, we must use it.
As Christians, we have all the necessary spiritual resources at our disposal to heal the sick and raise the dead. So why aren't we doing the first works? I believe that God is waiting for us to finally come together as one in the spirit so that He can pour out His spirit upon all flesh as He promised. As long as we are a divided body that fights among ourselves, slanders His people to strengthen our own biased positions and exalt ourselves in pride and jealousy over others, Jesus does not have the holy church that He can point to as a proper example of how He would have us be. Evangelistic works and the propagation of the gospel is not enough if there is not sufficient truth and unity among us to bring others to holiness and resurrection power.
If there is more to it than that, then what is it? What does it take to be the spotless Bride of Christ? We have discussed love, humility, holiness and speaking as one. What else is there? What will it take for these things to finally be evident in a church body, even a remnant. Is it that simple? There are many telling us that we are in the last days of the last days. If that is true, then the anti-christ is about to be revealed. What of those millions and millions of Christians that may have already chosen to follow him instead of Jesus? What will it take to bring the church out of the worldly delusion that it is under? Are these rhetorical questions? Perhaps for now, but the time is short. There must be answers to these questions, we need to ask of God, listen and be prepared to admit the delusions and pull down the high places of idolatry, pride and deceit in the church and in ourselves.
I don't think that we can know for sure if we have reached that level of holiness. I think it is just smug self-satisfaction to think so. I can be confident of my salvation but perfection yet eludes me. Some will go through the experience of Jesus saying to us, "depart from me, I never knew you." We don't know, we just keep on keeping on pressing on toward the prize of the high calling that Paul wrote about in Philippians 3:12-16
Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing you be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.
Paul did mention these things to those "as many as be perfect" so, he felt that others had attained, but he had not. That is real humility, the kind that makes us perfect. I know that I have not attained but I also know that I am to love others and have that humility, that is a real good start. He also mentions here that that attainment includes minding the same thing. He mentions elsewhere that we are to speak the same thing in I Corinthians 1:10
Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
The reason the church is not perfect is because we have division, is this not what Paul is warning us? Perfection in unity is not just agreeing to disagree, it is saying the same thing, having the same mind, walking by the same rules. If we cannot attain to that perfection individually, at least we should try to come together in the spirit and agree. We may never be truly free from sin in our lives, but we can love each other as He would have us to. This is what I am committed to and if Jesus is to come for a holy Bride, it will not be until she is holy and we finally come to agreement.
Now if we have been called out as especially belonging to God, we must show ourselves fit in life and character for that service. That is how hagios comes to be holy, saintly. Buber: "Every moral demand is set forth as one that shall raise man, the human people, to the sphere where the ethical merges into the religious." The people are bidden to become not a good people, but a holy people.
As you read may the lord be with you in Jesus name Amen.
There is a link between holiness and spiritual power. The nineteenth century holiness movement which started immediately after the Civil War was a revival movement, almost exclusively Methodist in the beginning. Holiness has a collective communitarian character, revealed today in the manifest sons. We as the Bride of Christ cannot be but suspicious of any forms of holiness that has left unchanged a world filled with oppression, injustice and exploitation.
If God is love and we are to be perfect and holy like our Father in Heaven, then it only follows that love and holiness entwine. The restoration is here but much is yet to be perfected. Of course faith and obedience and grace and walking in the spirit play their parts but without love, each one of them is misplaced and without proper direction. Think about it. To have love one for another was not a request from Jesus - we are commanded to love. So with all the cutting edge prophetic revelations that we receive from God in these last days, it still comes down to this greatest commandment in that we are to love each other and that means dying to our own flesh and living for others. Get ready, for the Lord is coming for a Holy Bride.
Watchman Nee wrote: "Do you realize that we have the same life today that God has? It is for this reason that we can live a life of holiness, for it not our own life that has been changed, but the life of God that has been imparted to us." Vatican II: "The Constitution declares that everyone in the Church is called to holiness in his own state of life, not merely certain Christians who have been set apart in monasteries and convents. Holiness is nothing else but communion with our fellow human beings and the communion of all human beings with God."
When Jesus walked this earth, He was holy. You may say that it was easy for Him, He was born holy and without the original sin that we have inherited. That's true but the problem with us is that we often try too hard. Have you ever heard someone say to you that no one said that the Christian life would be easy? I have, many times. Jesus told us in Matthew 11:28,
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Our problem is that we want to be holy under our own power, it won't work, it's hard. For me to be more like Jesus, I must take upon His nature and that means as I decrease, He increases. The more that I deny myself, the more that Jesus is exalted. Simple enough, Kindergarten theology. True holiness can be very elusive however.
It is true that we must seek righteousness to be holy. That does not mean that we do it on our own, it means that we have made the decision to follow Christ and are willing to take upon His holy nature. This is the first step of faith but it does not mean that we go to a preacher that says, recite after me, and then leave the church thinking that our decision for Christ is enough. To put on Jesus takes more than faith; faith is just the beginning. We deny ourselves and that means repentance of our former way of thinking and begin thinking like Jesus. We love each other. We do things differently that we used to. Our priorities have changed. Instead of ourselves being the center of the universe, we become God-centric.
For those of you already making progress in this area, it is real hard to tell you to put away what you love for the sake of obedience. The Lord is real in your life, He obviously deals with you in letting you know He is there and you have a heart for Him. Trust Him to lead you in the right direction.
I also sin, I am need of repentance. So the message is to repent but it does not have to come from me, all you need is to read your Bible and know that this is the message for all of us. I need to repent, I needed to do it today. Yesterday too, but I waited until today to do it, that's not right, is it. One way that the Lord convicts me of sin is when I pray. If I think of another person that I should be praying for, if there is revealed sin in my life it comes to mind and hinders my prayer, it becomes a stumbling block to get into the spirit so that I can pray effectively. Well, I either go on with my sin or I do not have the holiness necessary to pray for another's needs with power. My need for repentance must be dealt with or I cannot go on.
I share my example in the hopes that it helps you with yours. There would be many that will tell you that you do not have problem areas in your life but if the Lord speaks to you then already have recognized them, so put away any hedonistic influences and try to get close to the Lord. It may be step by step or all at once but make those conscious decisions to step out in faith and try to know God's will for you. Each step back makes the next step back that much easier. If you would like to have a real anointing on your life, it must be from a position of holiness and you cannot do it on your own, ask for God's help, you already know how.
You have made good progress, you have fought the faith and put away much already. Sometime there is a price to pay in your relationship to others but look at it from the eternal aspect of rewards in heaven, not in this life. If you are in a situation that is wrong and it effects another as well, then the wrongful act also wrongs another. This makes it doubly wrong. I hope I am making sense here because i do not think that i have to spell it out for you. Also, smoking is not a sin in itself, what is a sin is knowingly ingesting poison into the temple of the Holy Spirit. I smoked for years and had to quit or just plain get sicker and sicker. As far as drugs, I was a lightweight but I sure could put away the beer. The big thing was that I could be around others who would do these things and accept them as brothers, I could not condemn them as sinners, rather they were my friends. That means like laying around with dogs, you are bound to get a few fleas but you don't kick the dog to get rid of the fleas, he is your friend. I still love them and have a real affinity with them but there came a time in my life that I had to choose between spending time with those that brought me down or with those that could edify me and go toward the calling that I have. That is a process of putting worldly things behind us and setting our minds on heavenly things.
As long as you allow yourself to be drawn away from holiness and toward your own lusts, it can be hard. Did you know that many of those that look the most righteous and holy are the ones that the devil does not need to tempt? When self-righteousness sets in, you look real good on the outside but it is just a white wash, when you appear righteous, you start to think that you are more righteous than others so you treat them that way. The devil already has you right where he wants you so he leaves you alone. Spic and span Christians can look really good but they speak with the flesh and try to make you into their own image. When you desire the nature of Jesus, you are aware of your sinfulness in the flesh and are exposed to the power of the Holy Spirit. The devil doesn't like that so you go through the wilderness experiences, testing, temptations and purging and he is just around the corner waiting for you to mess up so that he can defeat you with guilt trips and unbelief. And others will resent you.
The more that we allow Jesus to take control of our lives, the easier it becomes. This is maturity. I hear of those that teach that holiness is in our position in Christ through our salvation. That is only part of the truth. With our position in Christ through initial salvation, we are already grafted in Him and separate from the world but there is more to holiness. I have always said that holiness is the key, I need to also say that Jesus is holy.
Jude 1:5, I will therefore put you in remembrance, though you once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
This is our positional holiness. Paul goes on to say to the Ephesians, 4:21-24:
If so be that you have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That you put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Putting on the new man requires some effort on our part. Jesus did the most that anyone could do when He died for us. Father God has used this ultimate sacrifice of His son to redeem us from death. Paul tells us that it is now our responsibility to put away our lusts and put on the new man. Being renewed in our mind is a result of our repentance.
Holiness is not a completed work until we are glorified. We identified four parts to holiness: positional holiness, practical holiness, holiness in power and glorification holiness. Practical holiness is being sanctified in holiness, this is what we do as our spiritual sacrifice. With God's help and guidance and in our reliance upon Him, we are to continue in our positional holiness. We praise God, we obey Him and we keep ourselves pure. This is not always easy but remember, as I must especially remember, love will cover a multitude of sins. We may fall but we must not fail to love those around us. Love is much more important than fleshly purity, love cleanses us like no other activity.
The presence of love is not an occasion to sin however. Many think that because of our positional holiness that we can get away with anything. Paul also writes:
I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as you have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness... But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, you have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.... 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." Romans 6:19 & 22, II Corinthians 7:1.
Isaiah 35:8-10 tells of a highway to Zion and it is holiness. Because God is holy, we can rightly say that holiness is the only way that we can be clothed with His righteousness. We need to make sure that we are on the right highway.
And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there: And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
I am finding out that holiness is not a subject that people care to comment much about. Much is said about faith and grace in the church but precious little about holiness, in fact it has mostly been ignored and by some, profaned.
The people of your holiness have possessed it but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down your sanctuary. Isaiah 63:18.
It is said that without faith it is impossible to please God but I say it again, without holiness, you will never see Him.
We have discussed positional holiness as our position in Christ; practical holiness is in living out that position to stay holy or holiness put in practice. It is not enough to believe in the way, truth and life, it must be lived and it must be fleshed out in love and righteousness. We are to put on our wedding clothes. The priestly garments that God had the Israelites make in the wilderness were holy garments, given by the wise to Aaron, the high priest, to consecrate him, so that he may minister unto God. A plate of gold was to be made with the engraving "Holiness Unto The Lord." Where was that plate placed? Upon Aaron's forehead. The forehead is significant, it is at the place that the seal of God is given as well as the mark of the beast. The forehead was Goliath's weak point, a leper is especially unclean if it is the forehead. Jeremiah 3:3, "Therefore the showers have been withheld, and there has been no latter rain; and you had a whore's forehead, you refused to be ashamed." That delusional shamelessness is part of the judgment even now coming upon an unholy harlot church.
Once the construction of the ark of the covenant was finished and the priestly garments were completed and all the consecration and sacrifices were made, the finished work according to the commandments to Moses were to take that golden plate, have holiness unto the Lord engraved upon it and placed in position. The work was done, then the candlesticks could be placed in order along with the vessels, the oil for light, altar and incense. Can you see the picture here. Holiness is our finished work. We have no high priest but Jesus and we are now consecrated to Him. The churches are the candlesticks, we are the vessels, the Holy Spirit is the oil, our worship is the altar and our prayers are the incense. Jesus is coming for a holy church, one that worships the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. Hebrews 12:14.
The next step of holiness is to be able to use it to the glory of God in POWER. Holiness is the key to that same power that we have been waiting to see outpoured without measure. As to our glorification holiness, unless there is more we can add to eternal life, it is not a discussion. Once we identify and regards God's way of holiness, our glorification is a done deal. We are not to wait for Jesus to be fully like Him, we are being changed into his likeness now.
If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. Matthew 16:24
Where is that power anyway? How do we get holiness power to work in our lives? The power is from Jesus and in the power of His resurrection but to be a part of that resurrection power we must first join Him in His death. Once we have been called and baptized into the body of Christ by faith, we take upon His holiness unto eternal life but for it to be in power, we must be obedient and put it into practice. The Bible teaches us that our baptism in water is symbolic of that new life and obedience but there is another promise given to us and that is the baptism of the Holy Spirit if we repent and that means a changed life and spiritual help to keep us changed. Each of us longs for that Holy Ghost power that we see in others, it is found in self-denial.
We have that positional power in Christ already and if it is in fact holy, then holy is holy, what else do we need? Application; power must be active for it to be powerful. Passive faith is just that, passive and conservative, producing a luke-warm church that denies the power. Faith must be in action to have any effectiveness. If we can come to the point to know that our position in Christ is such that it comes with the resurrection power that raised Jesus from the dead and we can do the first works of the early church, the simple fact of our knowing gives us the witness of the spirit. We must come to the point of our knowing that it is the practical application of this power that makes it work powerfully and that includes deliverance, the power over sin. Sin includes the sins of omission as well as the sins of commission, it is not just what you do that you should not but also what you should be doing that you have not been. It is as simple as that. As soon as we apply the position of holiness in our lives, we have the power that Jesus had. Now that we have the power, we must use it.
As Christians, we have all the necessary spiritual resources at our disposal to heal the sick and raise the dead. So why aren't we doing the first works? I believe that God is waiting for us to finally come together as one in the spirit so that He can pour out His spirit upon all flesh as He promised. As long as we are a divided body that fights among ourselves, slanders His people to strengthen our own biased positions and exalt ourselves in pride and jealousy over others, Jesus does not have the holy church that He can point to as a proper example of how He would have us be. Evangelistic works and the propagation of the gospel is not enough if there is not sufficient truth and unity among us to bring others to holiness and resurrection power.
If there is more to it than that, then what is it? What does it take to be the spotless Bride of Christ? We have discussed love, humility, holiness and speaking as one. What else is there? What will it take for these things to finally be evident in a church body, even a remnant. Is it that simple? There are many telling us that we are in the last days of the last days. If that is true, then the anti-christ is about to be revealed. What of those millions and millions of Christians that may have already chosen to follow him instead of Jesus? What will it take to bring the church out of the worldly delusion that it is under? Are these rhetorical questions? Perhaps for now, but the time is short. There must be answers to these questions, we need to ask of God, listen and be prepared to admit the delusions and pull down the high places of idolatry, pride and deceit in the church and in ourselves.
I don't think that we can know for sure if we have reached that level of holiness. I think it is just smug self-satisfaction to think so. I can be confident of my salvation but perfection yet eludes me. Some will go through the experience of Jesus saying to us, "depart from me, I never knew you." We don't know, we just keep on keeping on pressing on toward the prize of the high calling that Paul wrote about in Philippians 3:12-16
Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing you be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.
Paul did mention these things to those "as many as be perfect" so, he felt that others had attained, but he had not. That is real humility, the kind that makes us perfect. I know that I have not attained but I also know that I am to love others and have that humility, that is a real good start. He also mentions here that that attainment includes minding the same thing. He mentions elsewhere that we are to speak the same thing in I Corinthians 1:10
Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
The reason the church is not perfect is because we have division, is this not what Paul is warning us? Perfection in unity is not just agreeing to disagree, it is saying the same thing, having the same mind, walking by the same rules. If we cannot attain to that perfection individually, at least we should try to come together in the spirit and agree. We may never be truly free from sin in our lives, but we can love each other as He would have us to. This is what I am committed to and if Jesus is to come for a holy Bride, it will not be until she is holy and we finally come to agreement.
Now if we have been called out as especially belonging to God, we must show ourselves fit in life and character for that service. That is how hagios comes to be holy, saintly. Buber: "Every moral demand is set forth as one that shall raise man, the human people, to the sphere where the ethical merges into the religious." The people are bidden to become not a good people, but a holy people.
As you read may the lord be with you in Jesus name Amen.
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