How do we define holiness? Our approach to holiness usually depends on our upbringing and doctrinal background. Some have a more Biblical understanding of holiness, and others have a more outward understanding of holiness.
Let’s start with a basic understanding. “For I am the LORD who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God; thus you shall be holy, for I am holy.” Leviticus 11:45, 1 Peter 1:16 This verse creates our command to be holy, and the reason we are to be holy is that God is holy. We usually ascribe to holy the definition of set apart or separate. This is true, yet the context in Leviticus is much more than this.
Holiness as expressed in Leviticus is to be pure, unpolluted by sin, and abstaining from sin. God’s view of sin is that it is profane, defiles and pollutes the soul, and causes impurity. The Wesleyan/Arminian doctrine of Christian perfection captures this teaching in Scripture. The idea of perfection is that the object is free from impurity, pollution and defect. Thus, holiness is free from the impurity, pollution and defilement of sin.
The passage of Scripture that we should really consider is from Deuteronomy 32:51-52. Here, God reminds Moses that his unholiness will prevent him from entering the promised land. God uses this phrase, “…you did not treat Me as holy in the midst of the sons of Israel.” What does God mean that Moses did not treat Him as holy?
The original scene occurs in Numbers 20:8-12, “‘Take the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water. You shall thus bring forth water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their beasts drink.’ So Moses took the rod from before the LORD, just as He had commanded him; and Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock. And he said to them, ‘Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?’ Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank. But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.’”
The unholiness is subtle, yet very obvious. God told Moses to speak to the rock, and Moses struck the rock twice while condemning the people under his hearing. God was granting compassion on a people who, while unfaithful at times, were yet following Him. Moses, on the other hand, acted in condemnation toward them and disobeyed God’s command by striking the rock instead of speaking to it.
God ties the holiness of Moses to this act of disobedience. “You did not treat Me as holy” is essentially what God said. God’s holiness is defined by His purity, perfection and abstaining from sin. Our holiness, then, is defined by obedience to God. To achieve holiness, we must obey the commands of God, and His commands center around abstaining from sin and becoming pure and perfect – having no defect caused by sin.
We cannot know what God expects in obedience without reading the Bible, and we cannot achieve holiness if we dismiss portions of the Bible as irrelevant or refuse certain commands which the culture attempts to trivialize or repudiate.
A very basic definition of sin to know what is right and wrong and to willfully and intentionally choose the wrong. In this passage from Numbers, God illustrates how our sin defiles us and damages our holiness.
I personally reject a “holiness” that is rooted in outwardly conforming to a set of standards. Our holiness is not outward. Our holiness is based on obedience of God. This obedience will most certainly affect our outward decisions, yet it must always originate in the heart. I work during the week as a financial and tax professional. While there are certainly regulations and laws I chafe against, willful deviation from regulation which is uncovered during an audit, in my view, damages our claim to holiness. Such a way of life is to prefer a cheap and easy outward holiness and discards the more demanding holiness of heart. This is a double standard and will be rejected by God. It is immensely damaging to our witness and brings shame on Christianity.
If we are to see a strong church in 21st century America, it will come only through true holiness and careful obedience of God’s command. We must call to mind scenes such as Moses’ disregard of God’s holiness and remind ourselves that a holy God is a jealous God who requires obedience. If Moses did not see the promised land because he disregarded God’s holiness, how much more will we miss out on God’s best, even heaven, when we handle God’s commands in callous disregard.
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