What Makes Us Holy?
By Jonathan Mitchell
According to Robert Young (Analytical Concordance to the Bible), the definitions of both the Hebrew and the Greek words which are normally rendered "holy," are simply "separate," or, "set apart." We do not find this word or concept in the book of Genesis. It is first used in Ex. 3, when Moses was leading and feeding a flock of sheep, close to the wilderness, and he came to Horeb, the "Mountain of God." Then a messenger from Yahweh
"appeared to him in a blaze of Fire from the midst of a thornbush" (vs. 2).
The bush was not being burned up, so Moses decided to check it out. And then we read:
"When Yahweh saw that he approached to see and discern, Elohim (God) called to him from the midst of the thornbush and said, 'Moses! Moses!' So he answered: 'Behold me! (LXX reads: What is it?)'
Then He (i.e., God) said,
'Do not come near here! Drop off your sandals from your feet, for the place on (or: within) which you are standing is (exists being) holy ground (or: a set-apart territory).'" (Ex. 3:4-5)
We are not told why that ground, or territory, was set-apart, or holy, but from the fact that the bush was burning, and that God spoke to Moses
"from the midst of the thornbush,"
we may conclude that it was the manifested presence of God, in that place and situation, which made it "holy."
We later find this word applied to the first of Israel's Feasts, following their deliverance from slavery in Egypt, where the Feast of Passover is called "a holy meeting" (Ex. 12:6), and then, in Ex. 19:5-6, Yahweh instructs Moses to tell the Israelites,
"And now, if you folks will hear My Voice and keep My arrangement (covenant), you will proceed being a people being encircled around [Me], laid up as a super-abounding acquisition of property for Me (or: with Me), set off from all the ethnic multitudes and nations - for it follows that all the earth exists being Mine. Now you, yourselves, will, for Me, proceed being a kingdom of priests (or, LXX: a royal priesthood) and a holy (set-apart) ethnic group (or: nation)."
Now this category of Israel being a holy ethnic group was the result of a decision made by Yahweh. The people did nothing to become this, for God. It was simply an arrangement that He inaugurated. But there was a stipulation: they must hear His Voice, and keep His arrangement.
These two pictures, from Israel's ancient history, offer us a basic concept of what it means to be holy (the manifested presence of God, and an arrangement that sets people apart from other categories). Part of the arrangement for Israel was that they could construct a tent of Yahweh to be present among them.
We find that category, or quality, referred to throughout both the OT and the NT. This short essay will not present an exhaustive investigation, but will simply tie the basic concept to its use in the Messianic, called-out communities of the new arrangement, and to us, as now being God's House (Temple - 1 Cor. 6:19; 2 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 2:21) and the firstfruits of His Family (Jas. 1:18), so as to be the Light of the aggregate of humanity (Mat. 5:14-16).
Paul made reference to Israel in Rom. 9-11. In 11:16, he used two analogies with regard to being "holy":
"Now since (or: But if, in view of the fact that,) the Firstfruit [is] holy (set-apart and consecrated; sacred; [cf Lev. 23:10-14]), the kneaded mixture (the result of the lump which is mingled and reduced to a uniform consistency by treading, kneading or beating; [cf Nu. 15:18-21]) also [is]; and since (or: if, as is the case,) the Root [is] holy (set-apart, sacred, different from the norm), so also [are] the branches (the shoots; the boughs)."
That said, he expands his metaphor of "the branches" to include the entire olive tree (a figure for Israel), as this passage continues:
17. Now since some (or: if, as is the case, certain ones) of the branches are broken off (or: were at one point broken out of [the Tree]), yet you yourself, being a wild olive tree of the field or forest, you are (or: were) grafted in within (or: among) them, you also came to be (are birthed; are become) a joint-participant of (a partner and partaker taking in common together with; a sharer-in-common-being from) the Root and of the Fatness of The Olive Tree (or: = of the sap, or the oil from the olive). [cf Jn. 15:1-10; note: broken ones may = 10 Northern Tribes - Israel]
18. Stop boasting against (or: Do not be constantly vaunting or exulting over) the branches! Now since you are habitually boasting and exulting (priding yourself), you yourself are not bearing (supporting; sustaining; carrying) The Root, but rather, The Root [supports] you!
19. You will say (or: proceed declaring), then, "Branches are broken off (or: were broken out of [the tree]) to the end that I, myself, may at some point be grafted in." [cf Gal. 3:1-29]
20. Beautifully [put]! (Ideally [said]!; Well [conceived]!) In the lack of faith or trust (or: By means of [their] unbelief; With that lack of allegiance) they are broken off (or: were broken out of the midst), yet you yourself stand in the Faithfulness (or: by means of this trust and faith; with [His] confidence). Stop being haughty (Don't constantly have high self-opinions, or continually think of lofty things, or about [your] high status), but to the contrary, [be constantly having] an attitude and mindset of respectful awe (or: reverent fear; healthy respect)!
21. For you see, since (or: if, as is the case,) God spares not (or: was not thrifty with) the natural branches (the branches down from, or, in accord with, nature), then somehow, perhaps, neither will He continue sparing yours (or: [branches] from you; = you)! [comment: vss. 17-24 personify the Gentiles as one person]
So, from Paul's teaching in this passage, being "holy" and "set-apart for God" involves being either a growing part of the olive tree (here, Israel) which believed in Christ, or being "grafted into" the living, believing Israel that had been set-apart at Mt. Sinai (Ex. 19, above). From the time of the coming of the Christ, His ministry, death and resurrection, Paul's olive tree analogy equates to the new arrangement of being "in Christ," as Paul elsewhere specifies (e.g., 2 Cor. 5:17).
We read, in 1 Cor. 3:17b,
"for you see, God's Temple - which you folks, yourselves, are (exist being) - is set-apart (holy; sacred; different from the common; [cf 1:2, 30, above; 6:2-8, 15-20; 7:19; 10:17-22; 11:27-31, below])."
And so Paul speaks to this called-out community about
"being set-apart (holy; sacred; different from the profane) - both in body and in spirit" (1 Cor. 7:34; cf Eph. 1:4).
Jesus said the same thing in Jn. 15, where He referred to Himself as the Vine, and to His apprentices as His branches. The key to their holiness, and to their ability to produce the Fruit of His Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23), was to abide (remain; dwell) in Him (the Vine - Jn. 15:4-13). Notice that Jn. 15:10 gives the qualifier, and echoes Ex. 19:5, above:
"Whenever (or: If) you folks can take note of, watch over, guard, preserve, keep in view, and maintain, My implanted goals (impartations of the finished product within; inward directives; interior purposes and destinies), [by this] you will continue remaining (abiding; dwelling) within the midst of, in union with, and centered in, the Love which is Me (My love; the acceptance and urge toward union, from Me), correspondingly as (or: to the same level as) I, Myself, have watched over, taken note of, guarded, and now keep and maintain, My Father's implanted goals (impartations of the finished product within; inward directives; interior purposes and destinies) and continuously remain (or: dwell) within the midst of the LOVE, acceptance, Self-giving, and urge toward reunion, from, and which is, Him." [cf 1 Jn. 4:8]
Jesus and Paul taught the same message. Being born (Jn. 1:12-13; 3:7-8) into Christ, or, existentially experiencing the Christ Event of being buried with Him and then raised up in union with Him (Rom. 6:3-14) is what sets us apart from the domination Systems of our world of cultures, religions, economies and governments. A picture of the condition of being set apart (or, holy) can be observed in 1 Jn. 5:
19. We have seen and thus absolutely know that we are continuously existing from out of the midst of God, yet the whole Domination System (or: the entire ordered realm of the religious and the secular; the aggregate of humanity) is continuously lying outstretched (remains lying as asleep, idle or dead; is constantly reclining) within the gush of misery (in union with the disadvantageous, laborious and worthless situation; centered in the sorry plight; in a sphere of wickedness and evil; in the midst of the misery-gushed attitude and existence),
20. yet we have seen and absolutely know that God's Son has arrived and is continuously here, and He has given, so that we now possess, a thorough understanding (input throughout the mind; comprehension; faculty of thought; intelligence; intellectual capacity) to the end that we continuously and progressively know [other MSS: so that we would constantly know] by intimate experience, and insight, the True One (or: the true, the real, the genuine), and we constantly exist within, and in union with, the True and Genuine One (or: centered in the Real [situation or sphere]; in the midst of Reality): within His Son, Jesus Christ. This One is the True (Real; Genuine) God, and Life pertaining to, and having the qualities of, the Age (or: life from out of the Age [of Messiah]; eonian life; Life of, for, and on through, the ages).
21. Little children (or: Young born-ones), keep yourselves in custody (or: guarded)! - away from the idols (the external appearances; the forms; or: = false concepts)!
1 Pet. 1:15-16 offers the following instruction:
"corresponding to (down from; in accord with; in the sphere of; in alignment with and after the pattern of) the One calling you [being] set-apart, you folks, also, let yourselves be made to be (or: be birthed and become) ones set-apart in the same way, in all behavior and manner of life (within every conduct), because it has been written, and is now on record: 'You people will continue being set-apart (or: sacredly different and holy), because I Myself [am] set-apart (or: holy; different from ordinary).'" [Lev. 11:44, 45; 19:2; 20:7]
In 1 Pet. 2, on offer are admonitions regarding the life of holiness, which is to say, being set apart for God:
2. as recently born infants, at once intensely yearn (crave; form a longing) for the non-baiting (undeceitful; guileless; honest; unadulterated) milk belonging to the sphere of, pertaining to the nature of, and which contains the qualities and characteristics contained in the message of, the Word
(or: the Rational, Blueprint-like, Flow of Information that is a pattern-forming, influencing Milk which transfers and conveys Meaning; [cf Isa. 28:9; Heb. 5:13-14]) - to the end that, within It (centered in union with It; within the sphere of It), you folks can (or: would; may) grow and increase into health, and with a view to wholeness (or: deliverance; rescued safety; salvation; preservation; restoration),
3. since (or: if, in view of the fact that) you folks, "by nursing or in sipping, tasted (= personally experienced) that the LORD [= Yahweh or Christ] [is] excellent and usefully kind (or: pleasant; nice; well adapted, suitable, obliging and profitably gracious)!" [Ps. 34:9; cf Lu. 5:39]
4. Continuously approaching toward (or: Progressively coming forward to be face to face with) Whom - a Living Stone, on the one hand being One having been, and still being, thrown away (rejected; disapproved) by mankind (humans; people), as the result of a test; yet, on the other hand, a Picked-out and Chosen One, a Precious (Inwardly-valuable; held-in-honor) One, to God (side-by-side with God; in the presence of God; in God's view and estimation) -
5. and you yourselves, as living stones, are continuously being erected (or: progressively constructed and built up) into a spiritual house (a building with its source being the Spirit, with the characteristics of a Breath-effect): [built] into a set-apart priesthood
(or: a holy, sacred, and different from the ordinary, effect of a body functioning as priests) to bear back up (or: carry back and offer again) spiritual sacrifices and offerings [that are] pleasingly acceptable toward, with a view to, and face-to-face with, goodness, ease and well-being in God (or: by God; to God; for God; with God), through Jesus Christ,
In Rom. 13:12-14, Paul presented the set-apart life in terms of contrasting things that could be worn:
Many other examples could be cited, but these should suffice to show us the imperatives that populate the texts of the NT. They speak of a lifestyle that is the result of the Grace of God functioning by the power and ability of God's indwelling Spirit. Because of being joined to the Lord (1 Cor. 6:17) we can live our lives of following the Path, the Truth and the Life of Christ. Paul put it this way, in Rom. 8:1-2,
"Nothing, consequently, [is] now a result of condemnation in (or: a commensurate effect of a decision for; a corresponding result of a negative evaluation which falls in line with or follows a pattern which divides [folks] down into a negative verdict for) those within Christ Jesus (or: In that case, therefore, [there is] now not one thing [that is] really an effect of a downward-judging to, in or with the folks in union with or centered in [the] Anointing of Jesus)! [A, D & later MSS here add: {They} are not habitually walking around (= living their lives) in accord with (or: corresponding to) flesh]; [Aleph2, D2 & later MSS here add: but to the contrary, in the sphere of spirit and attitude (or: Breath-effect; or: {the} Spirit).] For the principle and law of, from, and which is, the Spirit and attitude of 'The Life within Christ Jesus'(or: For it follows that, this Law of Life's spirit, joined with [the] Anointing of Jesus; or: For you see, the Spirit's law of the life centered in Christ Jesus; or: because this principle and Law [= Torah] from the Breath-effect, which is the Life in union with [the] Anointed Jesus,)frees (or: freed) you away from the Law of the Sin and of the Death
(or: immediately set you [other MSS: me] at liberty from the principle of The Failure, or of The Missing of the target, and from the Death; exempts you from this Code involved with error and deviation from the goal, as well as from this Death; emancipated you from this law from the Mistake and the Derangement, and which is the Death)."
[comment: This law from sin and from death refers both to the principle of the old Adamic life and to Israel's Torah; cf 1 Cor. 15:53-54; 2 Cor. 3:6; 5:4; Gal. 3:21]
In the final analysis, it is God, in Christ (2 Cor. 5:19), who makes us holy... it is not our religious or humanitarian works (Eph. 2:8-9), as good as they may be. We find a concise statement about our being set apart (made holy) in Heb. 13:12,
"Wherefore Jesus also suffered (and/or: had experiences of His bodily senses and emotions) outside of the gate [p46 and others: the Camp], so that He may set-apart (or: would make holy and sacred) the People through His own blood."
Jonathan
PS: Upon previewing this article, John Gavazzoni points us to Abraham as an example of someone whom God "set-apart" by calling him to come away from his family, his religious culture, and his home country. God's covenant with Abraham set aside a lineage that would later be designated as "holy," because of the Promise that was made to Abraham. Let us consider what Heb. 11 records:
9. In faith, by trust, with confident loyal allegiance, he sojourned (lived alongside as a temporary inhabitant [without the rights of citizenship]) settling down into a land - of, and pertaining to, the Promise - as [in a land] not his own, dwelling in tents (or: he resided as an alien in a foreign country, fully taking up residence - into the midst of a territory from the Promise - as in tents belonging to another person) with Isaac and Jacob, the joint-heirs of the same Promise. [cf Gen. 12:7; 13:15; Gal. 3:16-18, 29]
10. For you see, he continued taking with the hand from out of (or: reaching in and receiving, then taking away from within) the City continuously having the Foundations - whose Craftsman (or: Technician; Artisan) and skilled Worker for the people (or: Producer of a People; Architect of a public corporate entity) [is] God.... [cf Heb. 12:22; Gal. 3:7-9, 13-14]
13. Down from, following the pattern of, and dominated by, faith (or: In line with confidence; Corresponding to trust; In the sphere of loyal allegiance and faithfulness), all these folks died off, not taking hold of (or: receiving) the promises, but still, after SEEING them forward at a distance, hailing and drawing them to themselves, even clinging to them [cf Heb. 9:28], and then speaking alike (confessing in verbal agreement) that they are, and continue being, strangers and sojourners (or: foreigners) upon this Land. [cf Jn. 8:56]
Dan Kaplan points us to the life of Moses as another example of being set apart (separated from his former life) to become a servant of God, for his people.
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