We need to be Holy
“The unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit.” (1Cor 7:34)
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ… [who] chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.” (Eph 1:3-4)
“Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her… so that He might present the church to Himself in splendor… that she might be holy and without blemish.” (Eph 5:25-27)
“As He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’.” (1Peter 1:15-16)
Should - Shall - Please?
Paul assumes that we will want to be holy, and are becoming holy. (1Cor 7:34; Eph 1:4, 5:27) He also says in those verses that Jesus is at work making us holy. Since that is happening, we ought to be holy. Not meaning, “push really hard and see if holy pops out,” but meaning that if Christ is at work in us doing this thing and it’s assuredly happening, then it ought to be.
Peter says simply, “As He who called you is holy, be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘Be Ye Holy, for I am Holy.’” (1Peter 1:15-16) Since God is holy, His people ought to be holy. Here Peter does in fact mean, “push really hard.” (I like to imagine Peter as a pirate, sword waving ominously, shouting squint-eyed at me, “Be Ye Holy!” Perhaps that’s not the spirit with which he wrote those words, but it’s kind of how it feels whenever the words “holy” and “be” appear in a sentence together.)
We do need to be holy. Sigh. Another call to holiness. Here we go again.
Well, I’m hoping something different occurs to us together over the course of these contemplations, and something different is born within our spirits as a result. But let’s not shirk or shift past the simple, direct, phraseology of these two New Testament giants: Christ is at work in our lives, making us holy, and therefore we ought to (and do) desire holiness, and yet we sometimes need to be directed to pursue holiness. And so, putting that picture in reverse, as we are challenged to holiness, we somewhat long for it, and this is the Spirit of Christ at work in us, working through the admonition and through the lacking-longing, to make us holy (holier).
We should be holy.
We shall be holy.
We long to be holy.
I’m not going to belabor the subject of holiness. But that is the frame around what later I’ll be writing. We are not talking about something here that is a counter-balance to holiness; we are talking always about holiness, though we will soon cease from using that word overmuch.
But before we go further, let’s simply observe, simply hear and receive, that we ought to be holy, that we want to be holy, and that Christ wants for us to be holy too. The union of these three forces—command, desire, and the heart of Christ—not only promise powerful results in holiness, but they also must shape how we understand holiness. Holiness is not the raging accusation of Sinai against weak humanity. Holiness is the ache and longing of our essential humanity and the passionate heart of the loving Christ for His people. We want to be holy; He wants us to be holy. What does that mean must be true of holiness? It must be grand!
So with that—something of a hint, something of a hope—let us begin (again, anew) with prayer. Praying along with these Scriptures we ask:
Father, please make me holy, by the Spirit of Christ. Please stir within me the longing to be holy, to be with You, with You in some measure as You Yourself are. Please give me good ears to hear the commandment, to love it, to welcome it, that it may work Your will in me. And then, again, by the work of Your Spirit, give me the strength to obey it, the endurance to continue in holiness. For Your Name’s sake, in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen
Photo by Ivana Cajina on Unsplash
