The Real God - The Holiness of God

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The Real God • Sermon • Submitted 6 years ago

Holiness of God

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The Holiness of God

We’re in the middle of this sermon series titled, “The Real God” Studying through some of the characteristics of God desiring to know the one true God, the Real God better.

Today we will be looking at the Holiness of God

The Holiness of God

- God’s Nature is Holy (Isaiah 6:1-5)

- God’s Name is Holy () (Lord’s prayer)

Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible Holiness

Chief attribute of God and a quality to be developed in his people. “Holiness” and the adjective “holy” occur more than 900 times in the Bible. The primary OT word for holiness means “to cut” or “to separate.” Fundamentally, holiness is a cutting off or separation from what is unclean, and consecration to what is pure.

- God’s Dwelling Place is Holy (Exodus 3:1-6)

- God’s People are to be Holy (1 Peter 1:15-16)

Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible Holiness

Holiness is the Chief attribute of God and a quality to be developed in his people. “Holiness” and the adjective “holy” occur more than 900 times in the Bible. The primary OT word for holiness means “to cut” or “to separate.” Fundamentally, holiness is a cutting off or separation from what is unclean, and consecration to what is pure.

The Complete Topical Guide to the Bible

God’s holiness is the moral excellence of God that unifies his attributes and is expressed through his actions, setting him apart from all others.

A.W. Tozer, in his book Knowledge of the Holy wrote, “We know nothing like the divine holiness. It stands apart, unique, unapproachable, incomprehensible and unattainable. The natural man is blind to it. He may fear God’s power and admire His wisdom, but His holiness he cannot even imagine.”

it is God’s Otherness,

it Sets Him apart,

Because of His holiness, God is completely unique

(ESV) — 2 “There is none holy like the Lord: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God.

There is no category that includes God and something else. God and someone else. It’s God in his own category and then everything else in another.

The Holiness of God

- God’s Nature is Holy

- God’s Name is Holy

- God’s Dwelling Place is Holy

- God’s People are to be Holy

God’s nature is holy

Isaiah 6:

Isaiah 6:1–5 ESV

1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” 4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

Isaiah: An Introduction and Commentary a. The Individual, Atonement and Commission (6:1–13)

3. The continuous song had a single theme: the Lord’s holiness, concerning which we learn two truths. First, Hebrew uses repetition to express either a superlative, as when ‘pure gold’ in 2 Kings 25:15 translates ‘gold gold’, or a totality, as when ‘full of tar pits’ in Genesis 14:10 translates ‘pits pits’. But here for the only time in the Hebrew Bible a quality is ‘raised to the power of three’, as if to say that the divine holiness is so far beyond anything the human mind can grasp that a ‘super-superlative’ has to be invented to express it and, furthermore, that this transcendent holiness is the total truth about God. The holiness word-group (√qādaš) may mean ‘brightness’, the unapproachable God (1 Tim. 6:16; Ps. 104:2) or ‘separatedness’, i.e. the quality which marks off the divine nature, setting God apart from all else, making him the Being that he is. His holiness is, therefore, his unapproachable and unique moral majesty before which sinful humankind instinctively quakes (Judg. 6:22; 13:22). Secondly, just as holiness is the ‘whole truth’ about God himself, so it is the ‘whole truth’ about his immanence in creation: the whole earth is full of his glory. Holiness is the Lord’s hidden glory; glory is the Lord’s omnipresent holiness.

Isaiah: An Introduction and Commentary a. The Individual, Atonement and Commission (6:1–13)

3. The continuous song had a single theme: the Lord’s holiness, concerning which we learn two truths. First, Hebrew uses repetition to express either a superlative, as when ‘pure gold’ in translates ‘gold gold’, or a totality. But here for the only time in the Hebrew Bible a quality is ‘raised to the power of three’, as if to say that the divine holiness is so far beyond anything the human mind can grasp that a ‘super-superlative’ has to be invented to express it and, furthermore, that this transcendent holiness is the total truth about God.

This is the only word used of God in the Bible that’s repeated 3 times like this. We never read that “God is mercy, mercy, mercy” or “God is good, good, good.” But here the angels are singing, “holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.”

The moral excellence of God that unifies his attributes and is expressed through his actions, setting him apart from all others. Believers are called to be holy as God is holy.

We learn in that these angels never stop singing this. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty! Verse 8 says, “they never cease singing.”

I don’t know if you ever been on a road trip with your kids...

The Lord never gets tired of hearing it. He never says, “hey angels, just take a break for minute.” No. They never cease saying, “holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.”

God’s nature is holy. God, in and of Himself, is holy.

He is perfect

; ;

(ESV) — 4 “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.

(ESV) — 3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”

(ESV) — 8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”

See also ; ; ;

(ESV) — 11 “Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?

(ESV) — 13 Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God?

(ESV) — 25 To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One.

(ESV) — 4 Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

God’s name is holy

Turn with me to the book of Ezekiel. You’re in Isaiah right now so you’re close. The order goes, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel....

Ezekiel 36:21–28 ESV

21 But I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came. 22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. 23 And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. 24 I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. 28 You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

: 21:28

Ezekiel 36:21–23 ESV

But I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came. “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.

God is getting ready to act. He tell his people what he’s going to do in order to rescue them from their sin… from their worship of idols. And why is He going to do this? For His name’s sake! His Holy Name’s Sake!!! God is not going to allow His holy Name to be drug through the mud any longer. His people were disgracing his name among the nations. they would go to the temple to worship him on the sabbath and then go to the high places throughout the week to worship their idols. God said, “no more.” He was going to change them from the inside out for His name’s sake because His name is Holy.

God is getting ready to act.

Look at verse 22. Do you see the word Lord? “Thus says the Lord God.” Capital L and then lower case o-r-d. The word Lord there is descriptive of God. It’s sovereign God or ruler God. Ezekiel is letting them know who’s speaking. The God that is over all.

Now look at verse 23. “And the nations will know that I am the LORD… Capital L, Capital O, Capital R, Capital D. This is God’s personal name. This is the name YAHWEH. The unspeakable name. His people wouldn’t even say it because of their fear and reverence for His name. It’s how he introduced himself to Moses.

English Standard Version Chapter 3

15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.

God’s name is holy!

It’s the first petition in the Lord’s Prayer.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name… holy be your name

that’s not just part of the address. it doesn’t say “hallowed IS your name”. It’s a prayer, “we want your name to be holy.”

How much weight does the name of the Lord carry in your heart? When you hear His name profaned in a movie or song, or out of the mouth of another, or see it profanely written on a page does it make you cringe?

When you profess his name as one of his children but live like you’re not, are you stricken with grief because you have profaned his name?

When you approach him in prayer, are you aware of how holy his name is when address him?

God’s name is holy.

God’s name is holy!

God’s nature is Holy

God’s name is Holy

And...

(ESV) — 32 And you shall not profane my holy name, that I may be sanctified among the people of Israel. I am the Lord who sanctifies you,

(ESV) — 35 Say also: “Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather and deliver us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise.

(ESV) — 16 O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own.

(ESV) — 21 For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name.

God’s dwelling-place is holy

(ESV) — 12 Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous, and give thanks to his holy name!

(ESV) — 15 For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.

(ESV) — 25 “Therefore thus says the Lord God: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for my holy name.

(ESV) — 49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.

Wherever God is… that place is holy.

Exodus 3:1–6 ESV

1 Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” 4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

Moses was encountering the one true God. The creator. The mighty God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. And the presence of God in that place, made that place holy.

This was not a holy bush the day before. This was not some holy Midianite burial ground. The place became holy when a holy God was present.

When God rescued the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, they spent time in the wilderness before being able to enter the promise land. God gave them instructions to construct the ark of the covenant and the tabernacle. This would be God’s dwelling place amongst his people and it was holy. Wherever the ark went, it was a holy place.

God’s dwelling-place is holy

Later when the ark was at David’s palace, the palace was regarded as holy because of the presence of the ark.

Eventually, David’s son, Solomon, would construct the temple. And inside the temple, where only a consecrated high priest could go, was the holy of holies. The dwelling place of God.

It has always been God’s desire to dwell with his people. And after Jesus ascended back to heaven to take his rightful place at the right hand of the father… the very Spirit of God was sent to dwell in the hearts of God’s children. Making their hearts a holy dwelling place of God.

which brings us to our fourth and final point today:

See also ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; The Jews accused Paul of defiling the temple area by bringing in Gentiles; the church as the dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit; ;

(ESV) — 11 Solomon brought Pharaoh’s daughter up from the city of David to the house that he had built for her, for he said, “My wife shall not live in the house of David king of Israel, for the places to which the ark of the Lord has come are holy.”

(ESV) — 27 Then the priests and the Levites arose and blessed the people, and their voice was heard, and their prayer came to his holy habitation in heaven.

(ESV) — 6 “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.”

(ESV) — 4 I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah

(ESV) — 7 But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you.

(ESV) — 4 The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven; his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man.

(ESV) — 1 O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill?

(ESV) — 6 Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with the saving might of his right hand.

(ESV) — 8 God reigns over the nations; God sits on his holy throne.

(ESV) — 1 Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God! His holy mountain,

(ESV) — 4 Blessed is the one you choose and bring near, to dwell in your courts! We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple!

(ESV) — 15 Look down from heaven and see, from your holy and beautiful habitation. Where are your zeal and your might? The stirring of your inner parts and your compassion are held back from me.

(ESV) — 17 “So you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who dwells in Zion, my holy mountain. And Jerusalem shall be holy, and strangers shall never again pass through it.

(ESV) — 16 For as you have drunk on my holy mountain, so all the nations shall drink continually; they shall drink and swallow, and shall be as though they had never been. 17 But in Mount Zion there shall be those who escape, and it shall be holy, and the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions.

(ESV) — 4 Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.’

(ESV) — 2 Hear, you peoples, all of you; pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it, and let the Lord God be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.

(ESV) — 20 But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.”

(ESV) — 13 Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.

(ESV) — 28 crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against the people and the law and this place. Moreover, he even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.”

(ESV) — 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Exodus 3:1–6 ESV

Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

(ESV) — 19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

(ESV) — 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

(ESV) — 16 But the Lord of hosts is exalted in justice, and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness.

See also ; ; ; ;

(ESV) — 37 Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it, and the altar shall be most holy. Whatever touches the altar shall become holy.

(ESV) — 3 Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.

God’s dwelling place is Holy

(ESV) — 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

(ESV) — 1 For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins?

(ESV) — 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

the priests; the high priest

and finally...

(ESV) — 7 They shall not marry a prostitute or a woman who has been defiled, neither shall they marry a woman divorced from her husband, for the priest is holy to his God. 8 You shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I, the Lord, who sanctify you, am holy.

(ESV) — 10 “The priest who is chief among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured and who has been consecrated to wear the garments, shall not let the hair of his head hang loose nor tear his clothes. 11 He shall not go in to any dead bodies nor make himself unclean, even for his father or for his mother. 12 He shall not go out of the sanctuary, lest he profane the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him: I am the Lord. 13 And he shall take a wife in her virginity. 14 A widow, or a divorced woman, or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute, these he shall not marry. But he shall take as his wife a virgin of his own people, 15 that he may not profane his offspring among his people, for I am the Lord who sanctifies him.”

Aaron and his family:

;

God’s people are to be Holy

(ESV) — 1 “Then bring near to you Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the people of Israel, to serve me as priests—Aaron and Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 2 And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. 3 You shall speak to all the skillful, whom I have filled with a spirit of skill, that they make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him for my priesthood. 4 These are the garments that they shall make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a coat of checker work, a turban, and a sash. They shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons to serve me as priests. 5 They shall receive gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen. 6 “And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and of fine twined linen, skillfully worked. 7 It shall have two shoulder pieces attached to its two edges, so that it may be joined together. 8 And the skillfully woven band on it shall be made like it and be of one piece with it, of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen. 9 You shall take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel, 10 six of their names on the one stone, and the names of the remaining six on the other stone, in the order of their birth. 11 As a jeweler engraves signets, so shall you engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel. You shall enclose them in settings of gold filigree. 12 And you shall set the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, as stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel. And Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord on his two shoulders for remembrance. 13 You shall make settings of gold filigree, 14 and two chains of pure gold, twisted like cords; and you shall attach the corded chains to the settings. 15 “You shall make a breastpiece of judgment, in skilled work. In the style of the ephod you shall make it—of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen shall you make it. 16 It shall be square and doubled, a span its length and a span its breadth. 17 You shall set in it four rows of stones. A row of sardius, topaz, and carbuncle shall be the first row; 18 and the second row an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond; 19 and the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; 20 and the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They shall be set in gold filigree. 21 There shall be twelve stones with their names according to the names of the sons of Israel. They shall be like signets, each engraved with its name, for the twelve tribes. 22 You shall make for the breastpiece twisted chains like cords, of pure gold. 23 And you shall make for the breastpiece two rings of gold, and put the two rings on the two edges of the breastpiece. 24 And you shall put the two cords of gold in the two rings at the edges of the breastpiece. 25 The two ends of the two cords you shall attach to the two settings of filigree, and so attach it in front to the shoulder pieces of the ephod. 26 You shall make two rings of gold, and put them at the two ends of the breastpiece, on its inside edge next to the ephod. 27 And you shall make two rings of gold, and attach them in front to the lower part of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, at its seam above the skillfully woven band of the ephod. 28 And they shall bind the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, so that it may lie on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, so that the breastpiece shall not come loose from the ephod. 29 So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment on his heart, when he goes into the Holy Place, to bring them to regular remembrance before the Lord. 30 And in the breastpiece of judgment you shall put the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be on Aaron’s heart, when he goes in before the Lord. Thus Aaron shall bear the judgment of the people of Israel on his heart before the Lord regularly. 31 “You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. 32 It shall have an opening for the head in the middle of it, with a woven binding around the opening, like the opening in a garment, so that it may not tear. 33 On its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, around its hem, with bells of gold between them, 34 a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, around the hem of the robe. 35 And it shall be on Aaron when he ministers, and its sound shall be heard when he goes into the Holy Place before the Lord, and when he comes out, so that he does not die. 36 “You shall make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet, ‘Holy to the Lord.’ 37 And you shall fasten it on the turban by a cord of blue. It shall be on the front of the turban. 38 It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron shall bear any guilt from the holy things that the people of Israel consecrate as their holy gifts. It shall regularly be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord. 39 “You shall weave the coat in checker work of fine linen, and you shall make a turban of fine linen, and you shall make a sash embroidered with needlework. 40 “For Aaron’s sons you shall make coats and sashes and caps. You shall make them for glory and beauty. 41 And you shall put them on Aaron your brother, and on his sons with him, and shall anoint them and ordain them and consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests. 42 You shall make for them linen undergarments to cover their naked flesh. They shall reach from the hips to the thighs; 43 and they shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they go into the tent of meeting or when they come near the altar to minister in the Holy Place, lest they bear guilt and die. This shall be a statute forever for him and for his offspring after him.

(ESV) — 16 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “Speak to Aaron, saying, None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a blemish may approach to offer the bread of his God. 18 For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, a man blind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face or a limb too long, 19 or a man who has an injured foot or an injured hand, 20 or a hunchback or a dwarf or a man with a defect in his sight or an itching disease or scabs or crushed testicles. 21 No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall come near to offer the Lord’s food offerings; since he has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. 22 He may eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy things, 23 but he shall not go through the veil or approach the altar, because he has a blemish, that he may not profane my sanctuaries, for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.”

the Levites

(ESV) — 5 and said to them, “Hear me, Levites! Now consecrate yourselves, and consecrate the house of the Lord, the God of your fathers, and carry out the filth from the Holy Place.

God’s people are to be holy

;

(ESV) — 2 “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.

(ESV) — 9 who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,

See also ; ; ; ; ; ; the church is to be pure as the bride of Jesus Christ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; qualification for an elder; ; ; ;

(ESV) — 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

(ESV) — 31 “You shall be consecrated to me. Therefore you shall not eat any flesh that is torn by beasts in the field; you shall throw it to the dogs.

(ESV) — 44 For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground.

(ESV) — 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

(ESV) — 1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

(ESV) — 2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:

(ESV) — 2 For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.

(ESV) — 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love

(ESV) — 3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.

(ESV) — 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

(ESV) — 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,

(ESV) — 12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,

(ESV) — 13 so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

(ESV) — 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. 7 For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.

(ESV) — 8 but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined.

(ESV) — 11 For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers,

(ESV) — 1 Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession,

(ESV) — 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.

Our last passage today is in 1 Peter

(ESV) — 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

So here’s our application for today. God’s Nature is Holy, His Name is Holy, and His Dwelling Place is Holy. Regardless of what you think or how you live, the fact that God is Holy will remain.

The question for us today is, if God’s people are to be holy, how do we become holy? The answer is two-fold and is a cooperation between Jesus and us.

#1 Becoming holy is only possible through Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ purifies Christian believers

(ESV) — 4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.

Becoming holy is only possible when we allow Jesus to change us. Grace is not only the forgiveness of sin but also the taking away of sin so that we can, in fact, start to become holy.

#2 Becoming holy involves striving after God

Although Christ makes it possible, scripture says we do have a role to play.

(ESV) — 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

(ESV) — 1 Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

(ESV) — 14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

The holiness of believers originates from God

(ESV) — 13 “You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you.