Be Holy because I am Holy: What is holiness?

Hebrews 12:14-15 (NIV)

What is holiness?

In the verses below we can see that it has always been God’s intention for His people to be holy because He is holy. The Lord tells us to consecrate ourselves and be holy.

To consecrate oneself means to dedicate oneself to a higher purpose, for a Christian today this means our purpose is to dedicate ourselves to God through Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit. 

The Apostle Peter quoted this scripture in 1 Peter 1:15-16 and thus we know without a shadow of doubt that this instruction still applies to Christians today!

Lev 11:44 (NIV)

I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy.

1 Peter 1:15-16 (NIV)

But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

1 Timothy 1:9

He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time.

Holiness is a characteristic of who God is, and as such holiness should be of paramount importance to us as believers, because without it we will never see God!

Hebrews 12:14 (NIV)

Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.

Before we can look at what the Bible teaches on being holy, let’s first understand what the word means from the original Greek text of the New Testament.

Holiness in the verse above is from the Greek word ‘hagiotes’ meaning holiness or sanctity. Hagiotes is derived from the Greek adjective ‘hagios’ which means set apart (for God) for the specific purpose of being holy and sacred.

From this we can safely conclude that God expects us, as Christians, to set ourselves apart to be holy to Him. In fact, Hebrews 12:14 above states quite emphatically that the we won’t see the Lord unless we pursue holiness.

Also, as we endeavour to pursue holiness, we will experience a measure of pain as He chastises us for our own good, through the process of dying to self.

Nevertheless, this chastising process will yield within us the peaceable fruit of holiness and righteousness in Christ Jesus.

Hebrew 12:9-11 (NLT)

9 Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever?

10 For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness.11 No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.

In other words, that which is holy belongs to God, and conversely whatever belongs to God is holy. We are sanctified and "set apart for a holy use or purpose" by God, and to find out what our use and purpose is in Christ Jesus we need to live life in the Spirit.

God has selected us to be His servants and has called us to come out of this world, to be different and separate from the rest of the world. Jesus said,

John 17:14-16 (NIV)

14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.

The Christian must live in this present evil world, but his life must he different from the lives of the other people that are in the world – who are not born-again, who do not know Jesus as Lord and Saviour. In other words, our lives and the way and manner in which we live, must reflect God’s holiness

We, as born again believers in Christ Jesus, must come out from any of this world's ways that are sinful and evil out from the religious and spiritual "Babylon" that is this whole world.

Revelation 18:4 (NIV)

4 Then I heard another voice from heaven say:

“‘Come out of her (the world), my people,’[Jer 51:45)

so that you will not share in her sins,

so that you will not receive any of her plagues;

Making such a distinction and living by it is one of the many ways that God's true servants are different from the rest of the world.

Instead of being immersed in the lawless and sinful ways of the world, we should put our thoughts on better things:

Philippians 4:8 (NIV)

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

This scripture makes is very clear that we should avoid filling our minds with entertainment that is sinful: void of (God’s) love, lustful, sexually illicit or that is filled with murder, hatred, evil and all other such things.

We often justify our sinful actions by saying things like: "It’s only a song — it's only make-believe, it's only a movie, that’s who I am."

On the contrary, the Bible says this:

2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV)

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

We cannot call ourselves Christians and continue to walk in the ways of the world – we must walk in the way of the Spirit (be holy)! Christians need to be different from the rest of this world — to say no to sin, to evil and to wrong things as it is written:

2 Corinthians 7:1 (NLT)

Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God.

We will continue to be holy if we live a life of holiness. That is the way of obedience and conformity with God's ways and His Word. That is living life in the Spirit.

God wants a glorious Church without spot or blemish. Jesus gave his life for the Church in order to make her holy:

Ephesians 5:26-27 (NIV)

26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless

Prayer

Dear Father

In the name of Jesus I pray that you would continually fill me with your Holy Spirit and help me to be holy just as you are holy. Amen!

To Jesus belongs all glory, honour and praise

Jesus the Name above all names!

Remember: Reading this article is no substitute for reading and studying the Bible for yourself. My word is flawed the Bible is not!

What does a 'devoted' Church look like? Acts 2:42

The start of the Church just after Pentecost

The New Testament Church was started just after Pentecost with the first mass outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We can read about Pentecost and the Apostle Peter’s bold address to the crowd of his very first gospel message from verses 1 – 41. In verse 41 we read this:

Acts 2:41 (NIV)

Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

This was the birth of the Church of Jesus Christ. It was established in the power of the Holy Spirit. It was pure and, unlike today’s Church, without sect or denomination – just Jesus Christ and him crucified!

This is the model Church that today’s Church should be imitating in every way, but sadly does not!

It was the Church that God himself wanted, conformed to the image of His Son, our Lord and Saviour – the King of kings who never changes!

Hebrews 13:7-8 (NIV)

7 Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Let’s examine how the Church (including today’s Church) was structured and were ministering in faith and in accordance with the Word of God brought by the Apostles in the power of the Holy Spirit and let’s not forget these word spoken to the Apostles by Jesus himself.

John 14:26 (NIV)But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

The apostles’ teaching was directly from Jesus who is the Word – taught to them by the Holy Spirit!

The Fellowship of the Believers

What were these new believers doing? 

What did their lifestyle look like? 

How was the Holy Spirit binding them together in unity to bring glory to the name of Jesus? How did they respond to the Holy Spirit’s leading and to the apostles’ teaching?

Acts 2:42-47 (NIV)

42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

What does ‘devoted to’ mean

Verse 42 in Acts 2 starts off like this: “They (the Church) devoted themselves to……….”

Let’s examine what they were devoted to and how they were devoted.

Today’s dictionary meaning of ‘devoted to’:
Being devoted to something means being focused on that particular thing almost exclusively. When you are devoted to a cause, you work to achieve its goals. When you are devoted to a person, you place their needs above your own. Being devoted doesn't have to refer only to personal relationships.

So that’s how today’s modern dictionaries define ‘devoted to’, but in order to have a clearer picture of what the early Church would have understood by this we will need to examine the original Greek meaning of being devoted to.

Original Greek meaning of ‘devoted’ in Acts 2:42:

Proskartereo (pron: pros-kär-te-ray-o):

· to join together with

· to adhere to

· to be ready

· to give attention to

· to be fully committed to

· to spend much time together

· to be faithful

This is what the early church would have understood by the term ‘devoted to’ so let’s like at each term on an individual basis.

To join together with:

What were they joined together with?

• With Jesus as the head of the Church

• With each other as the family of Christ

• The Apostles and their teaching - The Word

• And through this they were being unified as one Church in the power of the Holy Spirit

To adhere to:

The early church stuck together and did not deviate from the apostles’ teaching.

To be ready:

They were being made ready to put into practice what they were being taught and to walk the Christian path as Jesus intended. A path of love, unity and self-sacrifice.

To give attention to:

They were focused on the Word, prayer, breaking of bread, fellowship with each other and with God.

To be fully committed to:

The were fully committed to God, to each other and to the teachings of The Word and in putting them into practice.

To spend much time together:

They spent a lot of time together – devoted to each other in the love of Christ. They didn’t shrink back from fellowshipping together as often as they could. They helped each other and encouraged each other.

To be faithful:

In all these things they were faithful as Christ is faithful to his Church! The unity of living life in the Spirit as Paul was later to describe in Romans 8!

What was the early Church devoted to – Acts 2:42?

1. The apostles teaching – The Word of God via the Apostles led and taught by Jesus, and by the Holy Spirit after the Lord’s ascension:

• Jesus – The Word – God

• Love for the family of believers – agape

• Salvation in Christ Jesus

• New Covenant (apart from the Law)

• Freedom in Christ

• The Holy Spirit

2. Fellowship – from the Greek word Koinónia, meaning:

• in partnership with

• Being a contributory help

• Participation in

• sharing in

• Communion with

• spiritual fellowship

• a fellowship in the spirit

3. The breaking of bread

Luke 22:19

And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.“

1 Cor 11:26

For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

In the verse above, Paul tells us exactly what we are doing, apart from remembering the work of Jesus on the cross, when we break bread together. We are proclaiming his death until he returns.

Now here it will be good for us to have a look at the meaning of the word ‘proclaim’ from the original translation of the word ‘proclaim’ comes from the Greek word ‘kataggello’.

Proclaim – Kataggello

• to proclaim

• to declare openly

• to preach

• to laud (praise)

• to celebrate

• to announce a message in a definite way

So, here we see that when we break bread together, at least two significant things happen that only the Church, the true born-again believer, can do.

a. We remember the significance of the pain and suffering the Lord went through on our behalf that we may become born-again and thus reconciled to the Father.

b. We announce to each other and to the world in an evangelical way that there is only way to the Father and that is by Jesus Christ His son and that we are committed to Jesus and to each other.

4. Prayer

· Corporate prayer

Acts 1:14

They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

• Corporate prayer by the Church in unity, ushers in the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.

Pentecost is our prime example!

When the Church is devoted to God and to each other in this way, supernatural things happen:

• People get saved, people get healed, people are delivered from demons!

Acts 2:47

praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

• We receive favour with the people

• Miracles signs and wonders follow us

Are you a devoted Christian and is your Church a devoted Church?

Today’s Church should look like the Acts Church for Jesus is the same yesterday, today and always! Amen!

Prayer:

Dear Father in Heaven

Help me by the power of the Holy Spirit and in the Name of Jesus to become a devoted Christian and to be devoted to a fellowship in which you place me. Help me, O Lord, to help my brothers and sisters in Christ to do the same and help us all to be good and faithful servants to you and each other out of reverence to Christ! Amen.

To Jesus belongs ALL glory, honour and praise!

Jesus the Name above all names!

Remember: Reading this article is no substitute for you reading and studying the Bible for yourself. I am flawed, the Bible is not!

Last update: 9 January 2023