HOLINESS IN MAN

In the previous study consideration was given to the Holiness of God in an endeavor to answer the oft-asked question, "What is God like?" In this message we will turn our attention to another and somewhat related question: "What does God expect of us?" The basis for the discussion of this question is found in the statement of the Apostle Peter: "But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy" (I Peter 1:15, 16).

Along with the revelation of the holiness of God in the Scriptures, there is also the revelation of God's requirement for man, "Be ye holy." Other statements emphasizing this fact are found frequently, such as, "Ye shall be holy." "A holy nation." "Called unto holiness." It is evident, even to a casual reader of the Bible, that it is the purpose of God to bring into existence a new order of manhood, holy men and women; people who by the grace of God will conform to the likeness of His character.

What Is Holiness In Man?

In a sense holiness in man is the same as holiness in God for there are not two kinds of holiness. The quality of this holiness is the same, in quantity there is a vast difference. Holiness in God is absolute, holiness in man is relative. Holiness in God is infinite, holiness in man is finite. But in each case holiness is real, it is one kind of holiness. If man is holy, it is because he has been made a partaker of God's holiness; for man's holiness is not something of his own attainment; it is the gift of the grace of God, it is the communication of the Divine life, it is the power of the Holy Spirit resting upon and dwelling within him, it is the impartation of God's holiness to his life.

This truth is so mighty, so profound that it is difficult to comprehend. An illustration may serve to clarify this thought. Several years ago while visiting in the home of a pastor, he showed us a four-ounce bottle filled with water. He startled us with this statement, "The Jordan River is in that bottle."

What was the fact back of that statement? It was this: A short time previous, he with several friends had made a tour of the Holy Land. While there he had obtained a quantity of water from the river Jordan, bringing it back with him to use in the dedication of infants. The four-ounce bottle which he displayed was filled with water he had taken from the Jordan River -- yes the Jordan River was in that bottle. Of course, not the whole Jordan River was in that small bottle, but what was in the bottle was as much the Jordan River at the time he took it from the river as was the much larger body of water within the river's banks. If subjected to a chemical analysis the qualities of the Jordan River in the bottle would have been the same as water found at that place in the river when the bottle was filled. But the quantity was vastly different.

Much like that is the holiness of God and holiness in man related. Man is the four-ounce bottle filled with holiness; God, the vast Jordan River flowing on unceasingly. The quantity is vastly different; the quality is the same; for according to the capacity of man, the vessel, to receive, he is filled with the holiness of God. "The Jordan River is in that bottle" -- the holiness of God is in that life.

The Scriptural Meaning Of Holiness

There is almost universal agreement among Bible scholars that the primary meaning of the words, "holy," "holiness," and their kindred words, in the original language of the Scriptures and in the translations, is

Devotedness to God or Separateness

This thought of devotedness or separateness is conveyed by the word "holy" in whatever connection it is used in the Scriptures, whether used in reference to persons, or things, or places. That is holy which God specially claims for Himself and which in a special sense belongs to Him.

This phase of holiness has been called by some Bible scholars a "ceremonial holiness" in contrast to "moral holiness" which in a special sense can be related only to persons who are made holy by the grace of God.

It will be most profitable to give some special consideration to this ceremonial holiness by calling attention to the following scriptural examples.

The Sabbath is holy because it is especially claimed by God and has been specifically "blessed and sanctified" by Him. The fact that the Sabbath is holy does not impart any particular moral quality to that day; in fact, there is nothing inherently different in the Sabbath day from the other six days of the week: it has the same number of hours, the sun functions in the same manner and the natural elements may be as favorable or unfavorable on the Sabbath as on any other day, etc. Nevertheless the Sabbath is holy because it is claimed by God as His day; it is specifically blessed by Him, and therefore has a special relation to Him. It is ceremonially holy.

The holy ground (Ex. 3:15) at the burning bush was holy, not because it was different in quality from the other desert ground around it, not because it possessed any special moral quality; it was holy because it stood in special relation to God as the place of His manifestation. It was ceremonially holy.

Mount Sinai is called the holy mount, not because it possessed a moral quality which the other mountains of the range did not possess; it was holy because it was the mount of God's revelation of the law. It had a special relation to God which no other peak of the range had, hence because it was the place of God's special revelation, it was holy.

The Tabernacle of the wilderness journeyings was holy, not because the materials of which it was made -- gold, silver, brass, wood, linen, skins, etc., -- differed in quality from the same kind of materials found elsewhere; it was holy because it was especially related to God. Built according to the plan God had given to Moses on Mount Sinai, specifically dedicated to God, it became the place of God's special manifestation to Israel. Because it was thus claimed by God, was dedicated or devoted to Him, was possessed by Him as His dwelling place, the tabernacle was holy -- ceremonially holy.

Ceremonial holiness is used in relation to certain persons. The first born of the nation were holy (Ex. 13:2; 22:29, 30). The reason these first born were holy is stated by God, "Because all the firstborn of the children of Israel are mine, both man and beast: on the day that I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for myself" (Num. 3:12, 13; 8:16, 17). The first born were holy because they were claimed by God and thus bore a special relation to God.

The whole nation was called a holy nation, for God had claimed the nation for Himself through the covenant made with Abraham and later confirmed to Isaac and Jacob, and by virtue of the fact that He had delivered the nation from their bondage in Egypt (Ex. 19:4-6; Lev. 11:44,45).

The priests were holy because they were especially chosen of God to perform in the office of the priesthood, and because they had been definitely set apart or dedicated to that office. Because of God's claim and through the act of consecration they became God's possession, they were especially devoted to God (Ex. 19:22); they were holy.

But all of this holiness, even though related to persons, was a ceremonial holiness, for at no time in the history of Israel were all of these -- the first born, the whole nation, the entire priesthood -- morally holy, although in some instances there seems to have been a moral holiness wrought by God in the hearts of some of these people because of the special personal and voluntary relation of those individuals to and their faith in God.

The offerings were holy for they were especially given to God. "Whatever touches the altar shall be holy" (Lev. 6:18); for by that touch the offering became God's possession -- no longer man's possession, no longer to be used by man; it was God's and was to be used exclusively as God directed. It was holy.

By a study of these examples it is seen that the primary idea of holiness in the Scriptures is devotedness to God or separateness. Objects or persons are holy because they are especially claimed by God and therefore in a special sense they belong to God.

Nothing Can Abrogate God's Claim

Nothing could abrogate that claim of holiness. Whatever man did with that which was claimed by God, that act of man did not repeal the claim of God upon it, it was still holy because it was claimed by God. Men may profane it, may desecrate it, but they did not destroy the claim, it was still holy. "The Sabbath, the temple, the priesthood, were holy, however polluted. To pollute them was sacrilege, and defiance to God" (J. Agar Beet in Exposition on Romans, page 47).

This devotedness to God as the primary idea of holiness in the Scriptures meant more than that certain objects or persons were claimed by God and that in a special sense they belonged to Him. This claim of God made definite demands upon man. It demanded of man that he actually and definitely devote or separate to God those objects or persons which He claimed as holy. Therefore man must keep the Sabbath day holy, must dedicate to -God such objects as the tabernacle and its furnishings which were specifically made for God and for His worship, must consecrate to God those persons qualified to be and claimed of God as priests, must present such sacrifices and offerings as God claimed as His own. Thus man concurred with the will of God by separating or devoting these holy objects to God, in recognizing them as belonging to God and therefore not to be used as man would purpose but exclusively as that which belongs to God, in the way and for the purposes which God designed.

Holiness considered as devotedness to God includes the claim God has upon certain objects and persons, and it demands of man that he consecrate to God all these holy things, and that he henceforth recognize that these consecrated or holy things are to be used exclusively for God's purposes and according to His plans.

All Are Claimed By God

When God makes the demand upon man, "Be ye holy, for I am holy"; it means in this ceremonial sense that God claims all men for himself. And further, by the work of redemption in Jesus Christ, He considers all men as peculiarly belonging to Him; "Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price" (I Cor. 6:19, 20). This claim is recognized also in His statement to Israel, "I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine (Isa. 43:1). All men are claimed by God to be holy.

Further, this demand, "Be ye holy, for I am holy," lays upon all men the obligation to recognize themselves as being claimed by God, as belonging to Him, and therefore the necessity of separating themselves from all sin, from all that is unholy, and devoting themselves fully to God. For man to use his life and talents for himself alone -- for self is the antithesis to holiness -- is to profane that which God has claimed for Himself, that which is holy.

In this claim of holiness God looks upon man as being capable of choosing God, of separating himself to God, and of pursuing God's purpose in his life. The contrast therefore is, devotedness to God or serving self -- mine or God's.

This phase of holiness is found in the New Testament in the fact that God reiterates His claim upon all people and again makes the universal demand, "Be ye holy, for I am holy" (I Peter 1:16). It is stressed further in God's demand upon all Christians to be morally holy, and in the fact that as Christians they are in Christ and they thus stand in a special relation to God.

An example of this may be noted in Paul's letter to the Corinthian Church. He addressed them as "them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus" (I Cor. 1:2); yet later he described the carnal or unholy state of these Christians which was manifested by envying, strife and division among them (ch. 3:1-4). How then were these Christians "sanctified in Christ Jesus?" They were sanctified in Christ Jesus not in the full sense of moral holiness, but in the sense that in Christ Jesus -- through His incarnation, death and resurrection -- God claimed them as His own; and, because of their initial relation to God as His children, although they were yet carnal, they belonged to Him, they were not their own for they had been bought with a price, therefore they were to glorify God in their bodies and spirits which were God's (ch. 6:19, 20). Thus He claimed for Himself -- though in practice because of their carnal state He then did not have -- the full devotion of their lives. To use the term used with reference to things and people in the Old Testament, though it has a deeper meaning in the New, they were ceremonially holy but not morally holy. It remained for them to make real in their lives a moral holiness for which as temples of the Holy Ghost God claimed them. How were they to make real this moral holiness? Only by a full consecration of themselves to God and by faith in Him that He by His grace would bring them into the experience and state of moral holiness.

The first step of man toward this devotedness to God is the repentance of sins and the surrender of life to God. A deeper step is taken by the child of God when in full consecration the whole life is given to God, a consecration involving the giving of self, of all the powers of soul, of the possessions, and the whole man in full devotion to God without reservation of any kind.

This full devotement of the life to God is not only the recognition of God's claim upon man and the acknowledgment of His call to holiness, it is also the deep response of a loving heart bringing to God the costliest offering man can give and laying that gift upon God's altar as a love offering to Him. This consecration is not exclusively an act of man for God's power must also work in man to assist him to bring to God the full devotion He claims.

Such a full devotement is not a partial or gradual response, it is an immediate, substantial and complete offering laid upon God's altar for sacrifice or service, for time and for eternity. Thus the primary idea of holiness as devotedness to God or separateness becomes an essential part of the Christian life in the act of entire consecration of the whole life to God and in the continuation of this devotion as an abiding and substantial fact of life.

The second meaning given in the Scriptures to "holy," "holiness," and their related words is

Purity Or Cleansing

This idea of holiness as purity or cleansing permeates much of the Old Testament thought. That which was claimed by God as holy, which was dedicated to Him or for His service, was sanctified or cleansed and kept from defilement.

The use of the blood of the sacrifices emphasized this thought of cleansing as it is related to holiness. This is stressed by the writer of the letter to the Hebrews, when he says, "If the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh" (Heb. 9:13).

In the Old Testament when God claims for Himself as holy any object or person in a defiled condition, their being made holy or their sanctification involved their purification or cleansing from all uncleanness. The work of purifying is associated with that of sanctifying the temple during the reign of Hezekiah: "The priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord, to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the Lord into the court So they sanctified the house of the Lord" (II Chron. 29:5, 15-18). And further, this divine principle is stressed by the ancient prophet in these words: "Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord" (Isa. 52:11).

The idea of purity or cleansing in relation to holiness has a prominent place in New Testament thought. Jesus stated the blessedness of the pure in heart: "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God" (Matt. 5:8). Peter testified to the work of God in purifying the hearts of the disciples and others at Pentecost when they were filled with the Holy Spirit: "And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; and put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith" (Acts 15:8, 9).

Paul emphasizes the primary work of redemption as Jesus giving Himself for His church, "that he might sanctify and cleanse it that it should be holy and without blemish" (Eph. 5:25-27). The writer to the Hebrews states the contrast between the ceremonial cleansing of the Old Testament and the actual or moral cleansing wrought by the blood of Jesus: "For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living and true God?" (Heb. 9:13, 14). He further pictures Jesus as the great sin offering "that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffering without the gate" (Heb. 13:12). The Apostle John states emphatically that "the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth from all sin" (I John 1:7).

Moral Holiness

This aspect of heart purity or cleansing marks the difference between ceremonial holiness and moral holiness. The life that God claims as His own, the heart which is to be fully devoted to Him, must first be cleansed or purified before such a full devotement to God can exist as a state of life.

Moral holiness or heart purity is the work of God by which the heart of the consecrated and believing Christian is cleansed from all sin or inner impurities, is delivered from all inner antagonisms to God and to the doing of His will and from every inner condition that keeps him from being fully devoted to God, and is made free from the inner strain which has hindered him in giving undivided response to God and to the leadership of His Spirit. This moral holiness is the work of God in which He purifies the heart of the child of God in response to a definite act of faith in Christ, the Redeemer. It is the crisis experience of faith known as entire sanctification.

The heart of a holy man is pure; there is no sin in the center of his life. This purity is not exclusively a negative excellence. It is the purity of renewed character. It is a moral holiness which produces Godlikeness in character and disposition and righteousness in conduct. The pure in heart live "holy in all manner of conversation" or human relationships.

A third meaning given in the Scriptures to "holy," "holiness," and kindred words is

Spiritual Wholeness Or Soundness

The person who is holy is morally sound or healthy. Holiness when thought of in terms of purity or cleansing stresses the work of God in the removal of all moral corruption and the destruction of the carnal disposition and affections, but holiness as spiritual wholeness emphasizes the bringing of the inner life or heart into a state of spiritual health or soundness. Dr. Daniel Steele says, "The great work of the Sanctifier . . . . is to rectify the will, poise the passions aright, hold in check all innocent and eradicate all unholy passions, and to enthrone the conscience over a realm in which no rebel lurks" (Milestone Papers, page 134).

Holiness as spiritual wholeness or soundness is sometimes called Christian perfection. In considering the holiness of God we noted that holiness in Him is His infinite moral perfection. Holiness in man is the perfection of his moral relationship with God. Holiness, however, cannot be a mere relationship; that tells nothing positive about the personal character of the related parties. Holiness is a moral perfection, the finishing by God of His new creation, it is the harmonizing of the will, the affections, the whole of life with the will and purposes of God; thus it is the perfection of the moral relationship with God. "The term perfection," says Dr. Daniel Steele, "is the best word in the English language for expressing that state of spiritual wholeness in which the soul has entered, when the last inward foe is conquered, and the last distracting force is harmonized with the mighty love of Christ, and every crevice of the nature is filled with love, and every energy is employed in the delightful service of the adorable Saviour, and the soul is 'dead indeed unto sin However fractional the man may be in other respects, he is in one sense an integer: love pervades the totality of his being" (Milestone Papers, page 32).

In divine holiness we have the highest and most inconceivably glorious revelation of the very essence of the Divine Being. In the holiness of man we have the deepest revelation of the change by which the inmost nature is renewed into the likeness of God. This spiritual wholeness does not consist solely in conformity to an ideal standard, it is primarily likeness and devotion to God.

Fullness Of The Holy Spirit

Holiness in man, this spiritual wholeness or perfection of the moral relationship with God, suggests a more positive fact; namely, a living vital fullness of the Holy Spirit in the life. Soul health or spiritual soundness exists because the Holy Spirit in His abiding fullness expels from the heart all moral disease, and fortifies the Christian against the evils of the world. There is spiritual wholeness because the Holy Spirit abides; He rules, He strengthens, He empowers, He keeps. Just as cleansing or purity is the work of God through the Holy Spirit, so is the maintaining of the state of soul health or spiritual soundness the work of the Holy Spirit as He abides in the life and as Christians co-operate with Him in obedience and fellowship.

Holiness as spiritual wholeness means that God through His Spirit dwells in the life that is fully devoted to Him. Because He controls the center of life there is an inward harmony and a normal co-ordination of the powers of life until without strain all activity of life may be related to the one supreme goal of doing the will of God and of glorifying Him through the full devotement of the whole life to Him.

A discussion of holiness in man would not be complete without considering the aspect of

Holiness And Service

In our study of the holiness of God we noted that holiness in Him included the active employment of His infinite love in providing redemption for man. Holiness in man means the active employment of his redeemed powers in definite service to God and to his fellow men. Holiness as spiritual wholeness, or devotedness to God, is "not the limp resignation that lies devoutly in the road and waits for the steam roller; but it is a total concentration on the total interests of God, which must be expressed in action" (Evelyn Underhill, in The Spiritual Life, page 87). Speaking of holiness in man, Dr. J. Agar Beet says, it "implies the most intense mental and bodily activity of which we are capable. For it is the employment of all our powers and opportunities to work out God's purposes; and this implies the use of our intelligence to learn how best to do His work, and the bodily effort which His work requires" (Holiness, Symbolic and Real, page 117).

Just as holiness in God is manifested in its active and sacrificial love in redemption, so holiness in man finds its deepest expression in sacrificial love and service to men. A holy person will do something to oppose sin and to save the sinner. He will actively employ all his redeemed powers in bringing others to Christ.

Holiness in man must be and is the work of a holy God. In the holy God may be seen both the reason and the source of holiness in man. Because God is holy, He requires man to be holy, "Be ye holy, for I am holy." Because God is holy, He can make men holy, for the central purpose of the manifestation of His holiness in redemption is to make men holy. Someone has said, "If man fails to be what God calls him to be (that is, holy), it must be because he is not taking God to be what He is (that is, holy)."

What does God expect of man? The Apostle Peter stated this requirement when he quoted God as saying, "Be ye holy, for I am holy." This holiness in man in quality differs not from holiness in God, for man becomes a partaker of God's holiness; the difference is between the infinite and the finite; between the absolute and the relative; between the Creator and the creature.

Holiness in man brings him into a state of full devotement to God, to an experience of heart purity or cleansing from all sin, to a spiritual wholeness or perfection of his moral relationship with God where inner antagonism to the will of God is gone and a state of inner harmony and integration exists, to the abiding fullness of the Holy Spirit in his life, and to the privilege of making full use of the whole life in the loving service of God and men.

The story is told of a devout Negro man, of unusually dark skin, to whom an admiring friend presented a beautiful white rose. The whiteness of the rose stood out in great contrast to the blackness of the man's skin.

As he held it in his hand, admiring it, he remarked: "There is quite a contrast between what you can see of me and the whiteness of this rose. But if you could see my heart and my character, you would find that by the grace of God, they have been made as white as this flower."

A man who is fully devoted to God, a man who is pure in heart, a man who is enjoying a perfection of his moral relationship to God and is conscious of a spiritual wholeness, a man who is filled with the Holy Spirit, a man whose redeemed powers are being used in loving sacrificial service to God and his fellow men is holy in the scriptural sense of that word.