Holy, Holy, Holy!

 

Another interesting podcast from Ligonier in the “Ultimately” series. I am only interested in commenting on what he says at the end of the podcast. Starting at 05:18 minutes he says the following:

“The Bible doesn’t say that God is mercy, mercy, mercy; or love, love, love; or justice, justice, justice; or wrath, wrath, wrath. But that He is holy, holy, holy. This is a dimension of God that consumes His very essence. When it is manifest to Isaiah, we read that at the sound of the voices of the seraphim, the doorpost, the thresholds of the  temple itself shook, and began to tremble [Isaiah 6:2-4 (also Rev. 4:8)]. Do you hear that? Inanimate, lifeless, unintelligible parts of creation in the presence of the manifestation of the  holiness of God had the good sense to be moved. How can we, made in His image, be indifferent or apathetic to His majesty? God alone is holy.”

Nothing wrong with those comments of course; but it would have been even more meaningful if he had included the following scriptures with it:

Leviticus 11:

45 For I am the Lord that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.

Leviticus 19:

2 Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy.

Leviticus 20:

26 And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.

Deuteronomy 7:

6 For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.

Deuteronomy 14:

2 For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.

Deuteronomy 28:

9 The Lord shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways.

1 Peter 1:

15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;

16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

Revelation 20:

6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Arguably, a more important consideration from our perspective is not only that God is holy, but that he wants us to be holy like him. Focusing on the holiness of God, while overlooking his desire for us to be holy like him, misses the point quite a bit.

And likewise the scriptures inform us that his angels, his habitation, his name, his sabbaths and convocations, his priesthoods and their garments, his covenants and obligations, his scriptures, his word and commandments, his prophets, his temples and sacrificial offerings, his anointing oils and ointments, the formula for incense, the hill of Zion and the city built on it etc. are also holy.

Ultimately no one can be “saved,” or expect to dwell in the presence of God in heaven, unless he is holy as he is holy, and righteous as he is righteous; and that is not achieved by “imputation”. It is achieved by living a holy and consecrated life. It is achieved by “keeping the commandments of the Lord thy God” and “walking in his ways” (Duet. 28:9); and by being “holy in all manner of conversation” (1 Peter 1:15). “Conversation” in that context, in the English of the KJV, means “conduct,” “behavior”. It means how you live your life in the world. That is how it is translated in more modern translations. It means to “purify himself as he is pure” (1 John 3:3). “Imputed righteousness” is another Calvinistic heresy. There isn’t any such thing. One must become righteous to be saved, not just “declared” to be such. And it is achieved by repenting of one’s sins, keeping the commandments of God, and living a holy and consecrated life thereafter.