SETTING THE STAGE
In the beginning God spoke all things into being with the mere utterance of his voice. There was not a thing that was made apart from His sovereign decree. One creature, man, was the pinnacle of God’s creation. For man was created in the image and likeness of his creator. God gave man full dominion over the earth and issued a blessing upon the man (and woman). In this blessing God told man to be fruitful and multiply throughout the land. This was a divine decree ordaining man as the steward of all that God had created. Man was to reign under God, while in perfect harmony with God. This set man apart from all of the created creatures, for no other creature was created in God’s image and given dominion over the earth.
There was shalom in Eden. God walked with man, and man with his creator. Together they resided, in perfect harmony. However, there was one creature, the serpent–who was the most cunning of the wild creatures. The serpent enters the scene and tempts Eve–thereby causing Adam to disobey God’s direct command not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. As a result of this act of defiance, the perfect harmony which existed between man and God was shattered. Man could no longer walk in the presence of God for by defying the Lord’s command, man violated the purest manifestation of God’s glory–His holiness. As this was direct defiance of an infinite God, man was separated from God by a chasm of infinite proportions–sin.
While many speculate as to why the serpent was in the garden and why God allowed such a creature to exist, it is clear that God fully intends to reveal his nature as redeemer; the redeemed creation will experience a love which rests solely upon the work of the redeemer. This encounter in the garden leads to the fall of humanity from shalom (the intended order)–God the creator walking with man the created being, in harmony. Throughout the Biblical narrative, God desires a people restored to this original shalom (Leviticus 11.44 ESV). In order for such a people to exist, they must be freed from the curse of sin unleashed by Adam; in essence this people will need to be consecrated and made holy in order to restore the Creator-Creation relationship to shalom. It has been debated that the truest definition of “holy” in Hebrew is “set apart” as it is the direct opposite of the word meaning “to profane”1. Applying this definition, we see a stark difference in the relationship of man and God from before the fall to after. Man went from being set apart and blessed by God (Genesis 1:28 ESV) to being driven from the very presence of God (Genesis 3:22-24 ESV). In a moment of time man went from being set apart as a holy vessel of God, to being driven out a cursed and broken shadow of his former nature.
COVENANT
Somehow this void between the all holy creator and unholy man must be bridged. It is at this point in the Narrative that we are introduced to the idea of covenants. A covenant is a solemn agreement between two parties2 which occurred when two persons (or two groups of people) reached an agreement whereby each participant pledged to fulfill an obligation to the other party. A covenant was not exclusive to the Israelite people, in fact there are many secular accounts of such agreements occurring. Why then did God use a covenant so similar to the secular nations for his people? One specific type of covenant often occurred between a king and a conquered people whereby a conquered people would be bound in submission to a king. This type of covenant was prevalent by as early as the 7th century B.C. It is also significant to note that this was a contract made between two entirely unequal members3, one in submission to another. God sets the stage for such a covenant when he delivers the people from slavery in Egypt. In effect, God reveals himself through such a covenant in order to make plain to his people that he is wholly other, set apart, holy. They are dependent on Him; for it was by His gracious act of redemption that they were rescued from captivity. This gracious act of God was intended to stimulate a desire to follow the stipulations of the covenant just as a conquered king would remind the people of his power by having them be obedient to his command.
As continually displayed through the wilderness narrative, the people are entirely unwilling to do what the Lord desires– obey. At Mount Sinai the Lord makes a covenant with the people in order to establish a means by which they [the people] can dwell in His presence akin to how God dwelt with Adam in Eden. Under this covenant the people were to obey the commands given to them and in effect God will dwell (tabernacle) in the midst of His people. Also, God establishes a priestly order to serve as intermediaries between unholy man and Holy God. This priestly order would offer sacrifice for the sins committed by the people in order that for a time they could be in close proximity of the Lord and not fear destruction (Leviticus 4:1-5:13; 6:24-30). Let me reiterate that God desires a holy people–by this we mean a people who obey His commands and are restored to the harmonious Edenic relationship. Much of this portion of the Biblical narrative is devoted to God commanding His people, and His people disobeying His command (reflecting the disobedience of Adam). Ultimately, both God’s desire for a holy people and man’s inability to be holy leave the reader wondering; is such a dramatic restoration possible? How can the Edenic shalom be restored if man is seemingly incapable of fulfilling God’s commands? Through the Suzerain/Vassal Covenant God established with his people it is evident that this bridge must extend from God to man; God is the conquering king and man the conquered being. God does this to ensure that man is aware of his inability. Any man made bridge will be constructed with similar self centered motives and will not be successful. If this is ever in doubt, the people of Israel remind the reader through their constant dissention. Time and time again throughout the Exodus narrative the people of Israel break their side of the agreement. Only by the pleading of the prophet Moses are they spared from sure and total annihilation. Moses is only able to spare the people by reminding the Lord of His side of the covenant. The Lord has by no means forgotten. On the contrary, the Lord desires His people understand that while their efforts may fail, His efforts on their behalf will not; though their stubborn neglect of the Lord is a constant thread, it will not surpass the thread of the Lord’s faithfulness to His side of the covenant.
GOD’S HOLY NATURE
While the covenant offers one perspective on how God is wholly other, set apart, from humanity. There are other encounters with God in the Exodus narrative which offer a glimpse of the holy nature of God and show how unholy man is by his own merits. We gain a clear image of the vastness of this chasm separating the nature of the Holy Creator from the nature of unholy man when the Lord appears to Moses in the burning bush and tells Moses to remove his sandals “for the place on which you are standing is holy ground” (Ex.3:4-6). The Lord possesses such a holy aura that the very ground in close proximity to his being is made holy. This is an indication that God is able to impute his holiness to those who are close to him. Again, in the Exodus narrative the cosmic chasm is made apparent when God’s chosen people are encamped at the base of Mount Sinai. Moses goes up on the Mount (which is indicative of the Lord being wholly other, set apart) where he is instructed to keep the people away from the Lord lest He [the Lord] break out against them. As strange as this may seem, it reveals that by his very nature the Lord is holy to the extent that anything unholy is incinerated by his mere presence. If by the encounter Moses had with God making the very ground holy we are given a glimpse of God’s ability to make, or impute his holiness then it is this warning ushered by God to Moses on Mount Sinai which gives a clear indication that the people do not have the ability to become holy in and of themselves.
On Mount Sinai, Moses says to the Lord, “Now show me your glory” (Exodus 33:18 ESV). While such a claim seems odd, it again offers a glimpse at God’s nature as wholly other. God grants this request by allowing all of His “goodness” (v.19) to pass before Moses. However, there is one stipulation; Moses is unable to view God’s glorious face. No unholy creature can see the face of the pure and Holy Creator and live (Exodus 33:19 ESV). God’s glory is the manifestation of his holiness4 and so the Lord is entirely separated from His creation by the mere fact that He is the source of holiness. As such, His holiness consumes all things which are of the opposite nature, unless they are somehow able to reflect this holiness. In this manner the Lord reveals his nature to Moses as supremely other, Holy beyond comprehension.
THE PROMISE OF REDEMPTION
Along with this constant cycle of God desiring his people to be holy and the people being unable to fulfill this command, there lies a subtle anticipation. This anticipation is of one who is to come who will restore the Edenic relationship.
In a vision by Isaiah the prophet (Isaiah 6:1-6 ESV) the Lord brings Isaiah into His holy presence. In the presence of the Lord, the angelic beings are singing “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts” (Isaiah 6:3 ESV). Upon seeing the full holiness of God, Isaiah succumbs to anguish for he is well aware of his own rebellion, and the rebellion of Israel. Isaiah is also very much aware of his unclean nature, specifically his unclean lips. This must be taken to mean his heart, for out of the abundance of the heart flows the mouth. Isaiah has become aware, in the presence of holy God, that he is unholy.
Yet by His mercy, the Lord does not consume Isaiah. God’s mercy is again found hand in hand with his holiness. This presents an interesting contrast. In both the account of Moses and Isaiah, God extends mercy by holding back His holy fire. Yet in the instance of Korah who offered improper worship to God this was not the case. This contrast points to a key truth while understanding imputed holiness. God can choose to share mercy to one, and choose to consume another. While this may procure the argument of injustice, we should note that what God wills is just. Who are we to question the almighty? Will the fallen creature claim injustice on the part of the almighty? By no means. Rather these contrasts work to point us to God’s will to impute holiness on whomever he wills.
As Isaiah’s response shows a stark resemblance of when Moses was unable to see the face of God we are again left with a clear image of God’s nature. He is wholly other in nature, to the extent that sinful man is at risk of being consumed by his mere presence. However, just as God showed mercy to Moses by hiding him in the rock, God extends a coal from the altar of incense (by means of a seraph) and sears the lips of Isaiah. By this act, the Lord grants mercy and pardon to Isaiah, thereby revealing the hope of future redemption. It is only the searing coal administered by God himself that man will be reconciled. This is not a new concept, for God revealed a similar imputation of His holiness to the ground on which Moses stood in the burning bush, as well as to the ground which Joshua stood when the Lord visited Him. In like manner God is telling His people Israel that He will provide a propitiation in order that they may be reconciled to Him.
While the Lord is both holy and righteous and his judgment of sinful man deserving, He is also merciful, granting pardon to the undeserving as He wills. For what is mercy but non-justice. Imputed, unmerited favor, bestowed by the creator on whomever he pleases (Exodus 33:19 ESV). The Lord extends His grace to those whom He chooses thereby setting them apart as his own. The administering of the coal of holiness by God is the only means by which man will stand in the presence of the Lord as he did in Eden. One question remains to be answered, how will God administer such a “coal” to man?
THE REDEEMER
The one who will come to fulfill the demands of God will be ordained by God’s Spirit, and will cause all the nations of the earth to praise and rejoice. But even more significant is that this “redeemer” will create a people who will “dwell in God’s holy presence” (Isaiah 62:9 ESV). This people will be no ordinary people; this people shall be called “the holy people, the Redeemed of the Lord” (Isaiah 62:12 ESV).
All of this anticipation culminates at the arrival of Jesus of Nazareth in the first century A.D. Jesus declares that he fulfills the role as redeemer ordained by the Spirit of God when he reads from the scroll of Isaiah in the Synagogue (Luke 4:17-21 ESV). During Jesus’s earthly ministry he is recognized as being the “Holy One of God” (Mark 1:24 ESV). While one may be tempted to overlook such a seemingly minute detail, it’s implications are significant to the theme of holiness. This title means that Jesus is the first in the lineage of Adam (since Adam himself) to live in a perfect relationship with God the Father; God the Son is holy as God the Father is holy thus fulfilling God’s decree, “Be holy as I am holy” (Leviticus 11:44 ESV). Jesus as the “holy one of God” is the first citizen of this new people; a people wholly set apart by their creator.
Yet, how will others become citizens of this holy kingdom? Jesus fulfills God’s call to holiness as he is the only one capable. Jesus himself says that he is in the Father and the Father is in him (John 14:11,20 ESV). So while Jesus was fully human, he was also fully divine and thus capable of this perfection. Yet how can fallen man be holy? As displayed by the people of Israel, man in his fallen state is incapable of fulfilling the call to holiness and thus restoration with God; unless the source of this holiness is from God, man has no hope of fulfilling the call to holiness. Recalling the redemption of the Israelite people from bondage in Egypt, God required them to sacrifice an unblemished, spotless lamb. Then they were required to put the blood on the door frame. This was symbolic of their obedience to His decree, and of a future sacrifice of blood. Likewise, Jesus took on flesh and dwelt among us. He offered himself up as a sacrifice without fault or blemish, just as the Passover lamb (1 Pt.2:22-23 ESV).
As Christ is the only one capable of fulfilling the demand of God to be holy, he is thus the source of holiness for man (akin to the coal in Isaiah’s vision). As the priests offered sacrifices so the people for the cleansing of unrighteousness and for restoration to God, so also Christ is the high priest for His people. It is by His one-time sacrifice on the cross that the chasm between Holy God, and unholy man is bridged for eternity. So how then do Christ’s chosen people reflect His holiness before God?
THE HOLY SPIRIT
The coming of the Holy (ἅγιον) Spirit is significant, for it is by this administering of the Spirit that such a holiness is imparted to us. We must begin by contrasting the Old and New Testament occurrences of the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament, when God resided with his people Israel under the Mosaic covenant, God’s Spirit often chose specific individuals to come upon and would make them able to fulfill God’s commands. Such an occurrence happened to Saul the first King of Israel, as he was passing by prophets of the Lord. The Spirit of God came mightily upon him and he began to prophesy. The Spirit again comes down on King Saul before he defeats the Ammonites in battle. Likewise, the Spirit comes down upon the Judges of Israel. The Spirit is said to have come “powerfully” upon Samson, and physically empowered him to fulfill God’s retribution on the Philistines at Lehi.
The Spirit is the empowerment given by God in order that man may accomplish the purpose God has set before him. Thus it is of no surprise that the Spirit is needed in the process of making fallen man holy before God. Turning back to the New Testament we see that while on earth Jesus makes reference to the coming of the Spirit of truth whom the Father will send after the death and resurrection of Jesus (John 14:15-31,16:7 ESV). The Spirit is the source of empowerment bestowed by God upon those He chooses. However, after the death and resurrection of Jesus, this is altered. Rather then the temporary offerings–thereby the temporary dwelling of the holy Spirit on certain people–Jesus offers an eternal propitiation for sin whereby the Spirit is able to return to man and God able to walk with man as in Eden.
The Spirit resides for as long as the atoning sacrifice is acceptable and received by God. Yet the question still remains as to the means by which the chosen people will reflect this holiness which God desires them to have.
In the Apostle Paul’s second letter to the church at Corinth he defines one of the roles of the Holy Spirit as transformative. By this we understand that the Spirit comes upon a person who is called by God to faith in Jesus Christ (John 6:44 ESV), by this belief the person is thereby counted among the people of God. As a member of the “redeemed” this person receives the result of Christ’s atoning work on their behalf–the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit then begins a process of sanctification. We are slowly made to resemble the perfect holy nature of Christ. We are also provided with the strength (as Samson was) needed to fulfill God’s decrees. Focusing on this act of being made holy we see that it is an ongoing process, yet it is also a completed act.
The Greek word ἡγιασµένη is used in Scripture to refer to this process (Rom.15:16 ESV) and is translated as “having been sanctified” by the Holy Spirit. Given that it is in the perfect tense, it’s aspect is focused more upon the completion of the action rather then the start, or time elapsed. With this in mind Paul is emphasizing the result of Christ’s Spirit coming upon the Gentiles which is that it sanctified those who believe. This is no meant to denote that they were instantaneously made perfect before God. In fact, as we see throughout Paul’s writings, the Christian walk is a constant battle. Paul wishes for us to press on enduring all things. However, we press on knowing that the work needed to make man holy has been done by Jesus on the cross.
Again we are faced with the clear idea that this sanctification (or being made holy) is a result of God’s redemptive act, and not on the merit of man. We are imputed by the righteous nature of Christ and as a result when God looks upon us, He sees the holiness of Christ. It is only because God looked upon Christ on the cross and saw (for an instant) unholy man deserving of His wrath and justice that we are restored. We are counted as holy through the one time offering of Christ Jesus our Lord at Calvary.
Furthermore, it is by the sanctification of the Holy Spirit who was imparted to us the moment we believed that we are conforming to the image of Christ. The Holy Spirit is the mirror by which we reflect the righteousness, and holiness of Christ.
CONCLUSION
As we stand in ministry we must always bring to mind that if not for God’s gracious act of redemption, we would be unable to attain the call to holiness. Throughout the Biblical story we see the constant theme of man feebly attempting to earn a righteous nature that can only be given by God.
God desires a holy people, and throughout the Old Testament narrative we see that he is efficaciously revealing to them that they are incapable (Galatians 3:24 ESV). God was never unsure as to whether or not the people could live in perfect holiness. God knew they were unable. But it was through this incapability that God desired to reveal to them that He will always remain faithful and merciful. Just as the serpent was allowed in the garden that God might reveal the glory of his redemptive nature, it is in this narrative of constant failure by the people of Israel that we see the gracious hand of God preparing to provide for us the very thing we cannot earn–holiness.
Once we come to understand that holiness cannot be earned, but rather is given from God, we are brought to humble gratitude for such a merciful act. Again, mercy goes hand in hand with holiness. For it is the unearned pardon from the wrath of God’s holiness that we are restored to Him. Now that we believe in the death and resurrection of Christ, we have the Holy Spirit. As a result we have been sanctified. It is by the one-time sacrifice of Christ Jesus that we are able to enter back into shalom.
While we will not walk in the same Eden as Adam and Eve did, we will walk again in a restored relationship with God in a restored Eden. This new Eden will be filled with the praise of the glorious redeemer, Jesus, by a people reflecting the glory of His holiness. The residents of this new Eden will walk in the restored presence of God, and they will finally gaze upon the holy face of the God that redeemed them (Revelation 22:1-5 ESV). All praise and glory to His name for saving us by His grace and mercy, and restoring us to holy standing. For it is by His grace we have been saved, for the glory of His name forever.
REFERENCE LIST
1Alexander, T. Desmond, and Brian S. Rosner. 2000. New Dictionary of Biblical Theology. InterVarsity Press.
2Kugler, Robert, and Patrick Hartin. 2009. An Introduction to the Bible. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing.
3Oswalt, John N. 2005. Called to Be Holy: A Biblical Perspective. Warner Press.
4Peterson, David G. 2015. Possessed by God: A New Testament Theology of Sanctification and Holiness. InterVarsity Press.
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