YOU SHALL BE HOLY (Part 2 of 7)

I. What is Holiness?
II. Holiness is a Behavior Not a Covering
III. Teaching Holiness Through the Laws of Cleanliness
IV. The Consequences of Not Being Holy
V. The Challenge for the 21st Century Church
VI. Living as a Holy Person
VII. Do Not Wear Cloths of Wool and Linen Woven Together

HOLINESS IS A BEHAVIOR NOT A COVERING

The phrase “You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy” occurs throughout scripture, but the most frequent occurrences are in the Book of Leviticus.  The phrase is the solution to the conclusion of Exodus, when the glory of the LORD filled the temple and no person, not even Moses, could enter, (Ex 40:35).  To enter a holy place and stand in the presence of a Holy God, the priests themselves would have to become holy.   

Peter’s statement “Be holy yourselves also in all you behavior; because it is written, ‘You shall be Holy, for I Am Holy’” (1 Peter 1:15-16), expresses the understanding that this responsibility is not limited to the priests alone, but remains in effect on the individual believer even in the Greek text.  "Be holy" speaks to individual responsibility, which the rabbis understood:

“If you make yourselves holy, I ascribe it to you as though you had sanctified Me; but if you do not make yourselves holy, I ascribe it to you as though you have not sanctified Me.” (Everyman's Talmud, page 24)

So how is the holiness of the priest achieved in the Book of Leviticus?   The call to “Be Holy, for I Am Holy,” is subsequently connected to an action that results in holiness, such as, 

“Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy. Every one of you shall reverence his mother and his father, and you shall keep My Sabbaths; I am the LORD your God.” (Lev 19:20-21)

It is obedience to the commandments, referred to as “holy and righteous and good” (Rom 7:12), that make the people of God holy, as it is written,

“Remember to do all My commandments and be holy to your God,” (Num 15:40)

Even the apostle Paul saw the attainment of holiness as a process achieved through the actions, not the faith, of believers.

“Let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” (2 Cor 7:1) AND

“Put on the new self, which is the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” (Eph 2:24)

In both of the statements, Paul saw holiness as an act manifested by the believer following the pattern of the Creator. Believers are called to serve the LORD God in a manner of holiness, as Zacharias prophesized at the birth of John the Baptist, we are called to “Serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days,” (Luke 1:72).

Holiness is not defined by a single action or group of actions, but, in the words of Peter, a "behavior" expressed in the words of Paul.

“Blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among who you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the world of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain.” (Phil 2:15-16)

(to be continued - Scott)