God's Holiness and the Local Church
How a Biblical view of the holiness of God affects our discipleship efforts in the local church
Romans 12:1-2 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. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. ESV
It is clear that all the New Testament writers and Jesus recognized the need for spiritual transformation in the lives of all believers. In John 17 Jesus prayed that we would be sanctified (the process of becoming holy), which means he knew all believers were in a process and in need of change. The New Testament writers were all writing to address needed change not only in local churches but also in the lives of their readers. This was the purpose of their writing.
The biblical idea of transformation or sanctification is clearly seen throughout scripture and especially in the New Testament. As Christians we are called to be changed and to become holy (Lev. 20:26; Jn. 17:17; Eph. 1:4; 1 Thess. 4:3; 1 Pet. 1:15). The question is, “What is our standard of change?” or what is our target? What does it mean to become holy?
The Standard
In Leviticus 11:44 it says, “For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:14-16 says, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but 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.” Both of these references communicate that our standard of holiness is God.
What is God’s holiness?
The primary meaning of the word holy is “separate” and “transcendent.”[1] As applied to God He is separate from us in his essence. In Psalm 50 the psalmist speaks of the separateness of God. He speaks of God being the Mighty One who summons the earth, the one who is perfect in beauty, who has a devouring fire before him and a mighty tempest around him. In verse 21 God asks, “you thought that I was one like yourself?” He is separate and different from us. He is transcendent beyond our limits of understanding. He is above and beyond us. He is separated from the rest.
God’s holiness is not another attribute in a long list of divine attributes. It encompasses all his attributes. His love is a holy love, his justice is a holy justice, his anger is a holy anger, his knowledge is a holy knowledge.[2] All of his attributes are distinctly separate and transcendent, they are holy.
Is God’s holiness something that we should pursue for ourselves?
When the Bible speaks of anything other than God that is holy it is clear that those things are not holy in themselves. They are holy because they have been sanctified by God for God’s purposes.[3] Only God is intrinsically holy (2 Sam. 2:2) and only God can sanctify or transform something from the mundane into the holy. In the experience of the Christian this is the work of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:11; Tit. 3:5; Gal. 5:22-23; 2 Cor. 3:18). And yet his work is done in cooperation with each believer.
The scriptures clearly teach that personal holiness is of God but needs personal exertion and work as well as faith.[4] Paul fought the good fight, pressed on, ran with purpose, and disciplined his body (1 Cor. 9:26; Phil. 3:12). The pursuit of holiness is not a “let go and let God” proposition but an active participation in the process of sanctification. We are commanded to put off the old self and put on the new. We are commanded to love one another. We are commanded to be just. We are commanded to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. All of these commands are commands to grow in holiness. Our love should be different than the world’s love. Our justice should be separate from the world’s justice. Our knowledge should be a holy sanctified knowledge.
The biblical call to holiness is a call to Christ-likeness. Many times Jesus challenged his disciples to “follow me.” This is nothing less than imitating Jesus. The writer of Hebrews (6:12; 13:7) tells his readers to imitate the faith of their leaders. Assuming their leaders met the biblical qualifications of leadership they would be imitating Christ. In 3 John 11 the apostle tells his readers to imitate what is good because anyone who does what is good is from God.
The reason that Jesus and the New Testament writers commanded believers to be Christ-like is because it is not natural for us. It is unnatural. Our tendency is towards sin and worldliness. We naturally fit in well with the world and with sinners but holiness for the believer is similar to God’s holiness in that we are to be separate and different than the world. In a sense, as God is separate from his creation so we are to be separate from the world. Being Christ-like is being separate from the world. 1 John 2:15 says, “Do not love the world or the things in the world.” In 2 Corinthians 6:17 Paul quotes Isaiah when he wrote, “Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord.”
Applying our understanding of God’s holiness to discipleship
It seems obvious that the demonstration of God’s holiness in scripture was a public affair. Is God holy in private? Scripture indicates he is (Is. 57:15). But the demonstration and transforming power of his holiness is generally seen in community. When scripture speaks of God’s holiness or there is a demonstration of God’s holiness in some way it is seen in the context of community. For example, the holiness of God demonstrated in his revealed word was delivered to the people of Israel in the Old Testament and to the church in the New Testament. The purpose of this demonstration was the spiritual transformation of God’s people. The demonstration of his holiness in the pillar of fire and cloud was witnessed by his people in the wilderness. This also was for the purpose of transformation. The holiness of Jesus was witnessed by the disciples for the purpose of transformation. In Romans 12:1-2 we see that Paul bases his call for spiritual transformation on the revealed mercies (revealed holiness) of God. When the holiness of God is revealed it seems it is always done so in the context of community for the purpose of transformation.
By extrapolation, and very important in the work of sanctification, spiritual transformation is done within the community of faith (Hebrews 3:13; and the many “one-another’s” of the NT). We are not saying that a personal relationship with God is not important but that we believe the sanctification in the life of individual believers is essentially done in community. It is the mutual responsibility of the family of faith to encourage spiritual growth in holiness of every believer (1 Cor. 5). The only way anyone knows they are lacking in love is when it is demonstrated publicly. The only way anyone knows that they are lacking in patience, service, harmony, kindness, hospitality, etc. is when this is demonstrated publicly. From there the community of faith rallies around the wanting believer to encourage them towards holiness (Heb. 3:13). This is impossible outside of the family of faith.
The elders of the local church are also an important part of this process and are called to shepherd the flock of God (Acts 20:28) towards Christ-likeness. The spiritual leaders of the local church are to be acquainted with the transforming power of the holiness of God so that they can lead the community of faith. These are all activities done in community (1 Thess. 4:7; 2 Tim. 1:9).
At Sun Valley Church we believe in the transforming power of the holiness of God as revealed in scripture. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” Since scripture is God-breathed and God is utterly holy then scripture is “profitable as a standard of intellectual and moral perfection for anyone who would be a ‘man of God.’”[5]
In John 17:17 Jesus said, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” Thus, our ministries, which are designed for spiritual transformation, must be based on the revelation of the holiness of God in the Holy Bible.
Our leaders must be constantly reminded of the centrality of scripture in their ministry and relationships. The holiness of God is the standard and scripture is the revelation of that standard. The leaders at Sun Valley Church must be in relationship with other believers so that the affect the holiness of God has had on them can in turn affect others. Our job as spiritual leaders at Sun Valley Church is to unveil the holiness of God to our people at every opportunity to encourage the transformation that comes only from being confronted with that which is infinitely separate.
1 John 2:6 Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
