Holiness
Notes
Transcript
Holiness has been reduced to rules and regulations that “monitor” outward behavior and appearance. But holiness is actually the BEAUTY of the Lord on display. So I want to study what EXACTLY holiness is!
Holy Defined
Holy Defined
The first place in the Bible that the word holy is used in the Bible is tied to Presence.
5 Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.”
Holy is “qodes” in the Hebrew and is “a holy thing, holiness, and sacredness. The word indicates something consecrated and set aside for sacred use only; it was not to be put into common use, for if it was, it became profaned and common, not holy…the Word is also used when referring to holy places. God’s presence is what makes any place, anything, or anyone holy.”
This is KEY. Holiness comes from Presence not principles even if the principles are good. In fact, principles minus Presence are formulas and laws that puff up. Principles can be followed apart from Presence but Presence REQUIRES relationship. Presence is following the Voice of God for each situation even if it’s the same or similar to a previous one. I.e. you understand that what He said to do in one circumstance may not be what He’s saying to do in another. This lifestyle requires Presence.
Here’s the next important idea: If God’s presence is what makes a place, thing, or person holy and we have Holy Spirit, then we are HOLY APART FROM ANYTHING WE DO meaning, again, that it’s not laws, rules, and regulations that make us holy. It’s His presence in us that makes us holy. This requires that we adjust our thinking.
For example, instead of saying, “I better do this or that so I can be holy,” you can say, “That I do this or that because I am holy.” It’s the cause and effect idea. One is from the idea that you must attain holiness by works so your works because the CAUSE or SOURCE of holiness. The other is that because you are holy, you do good works meaning that the CAUSE or SOURCE of your life choices are from the fact that you are already holy. This makes a world of difference because one assigns holiness to your own efforts much like principles can be followed apart from holiness. The later assigns holiness to the work of Jesus Christ on the cross who made us holy!
You Are Not Common!
You Are Not Common!
We see from the Hebrew definition of holy that anything set aside for sacred use was not to be put to common use or it would become profaned. Profane means “unholy.” But here’s what’s interesting. It also means “to misuse, debase, employ unworthily.” In the definition of profane is a key, which is that those view themselves as common and unworthy are more likely to misuse and debase themselves because HOLINESS IS AN IDENTITY ISSUE NOT A BEHAVIOR ISSUE.
37 Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
The context of this passage is a lawyer of the religious class of the Pharisees asked Him, “Which is the great commandment in the law?” And that’s what legalists do—reduce everything to principles and laws but the Lord directed them to LOVE. The degree that you love yourself is the degree you’re empowered to walk in holiness. This reveals that holiness is also A SELF-LOVE ISSUE NOT A BEHAVIOR ISSUE. IF YOU DO NOT LOVE YOURSELF, YOU WILL TREAT YOURSELF AND LIVE AS COMMON.
Interestingly, the word profane originally meant “outside the temple.” We profane ourselves by living life outside the temple. Now what makes us the temple? Presence of the Holy Spirit; therefore, you could say that we live common lives when we live outside of Presence implying that a consciousness of His Presence in ALL aspects of our lives is key. If we have Presence, our businesses are holy. If we have presence, our homes are holy. If we have Presence, our marriages are holy. Because He lives in us, we take Him everywhere with us until we lose the consciousness of presence and reduce Christianity to principles.
19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.
19 I’ve used the familiar terms of a “servant” and a “master” to compensate for your weakness to understand. For just as you surrendered your bodies and souls to impurity and lawlessness, which only brought more lawlessness into your lives, so now surrender yourselves as servants of righteousness, which brings you deeper into true holiness.
I wanted to share TPT of this scripture because when we see the word flesh, we automatically think of being sinful thanks to doctrines in the church. But here he’s just referring to their ability to understand a concept; therefore, he puts it in familiar terms for them.
Now I want to look at something here. The word presented means “to make something available to someone without necessarily involving actual change of ownership.” It’s to make yourself available and to present to someone or something. I.e. you’re saying, “Here I am” either to uncleaness and lawlessness or to righteousness FOR holiness.” The word “for” is very important.
For means “for the purpose of.” The very first definition of purpose at dictionary.com is “the reason for which something exists or is done, made, used, etc.” Slaves means “to be completely controlled by someone or something.” We are to present ourselves to be completely controlled by righteousness because holiness, which is being set apart to God, is the reason we exist!
20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
TPT says that when we were servants to sin, we were free from any obligation to righteousness. Why? Because we weren’t holy, and we were in the image of the devil. He was our father. Free means independent. We were independent of righteousness because we are only righteous when we are born again when He imparts His righteousness to us. Now we are dependent on His righteousness not our own because it’s as filthy rags. JUST LIKE HOLINESS IS APART FROM WHAT WE DO SO IS RIGHTEOUSNESS. AND JUST LIKE WE ARE TO ORDER OUR THOUGHTS, EMOTIONS, AND BEHAVIOR WITHIN THE SPHERE OF ALREADY BEING HOLY, WE ARE TO ORDER OUR THOUGHTS, EMOTIONS, AND BEHAVIOR WITHIN THE SPHERE OF ALREADY BEING RIGHTEOUS.
