Anonymous (via GotQuestions)
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S. Michael Houdmann
Supporter
Holiness is not only a possibility for the Christian; holiness is a requirement. "Without holiness no one will see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14). The difference between God and us is that He is inheren...
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Bruce Lyon
Supporter
The word saints in the N.T. Greek means holy ones and that is what we are in the anointed one Jesus. We are not holy but the spirit of the anointed one and the spirit of God is. We are not righteous, but the spirit of the anointed one Jesus and the spirit of God is. Notice: Romans 8:9-11: But ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if so be that the SPIRIT OF GOD dwell in you. Now if any man have not the SPIRIT OF THE ANOINTED ONE, he is none of his. And if THE ANOINTED ONE BE IN YOU, the body is dead because of sin; but THE SPIRIT IS LIFE BECAUSE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS [NOT OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS BUT THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD AND HIS ANOINTED ONE]. But if the SPIRIT OF HIM that raised up Jesus from the dead DWELL IN YOU, He that raised up the anointed one from the dead shall also make alive your mortal bodies by HIS SPIRIT THAT DWELLS IN YOU. JohN 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and WE will come unto him, and make our abode with him [by the spirit of God/the spirit of Jesus]. 2 Corinthians 6:16............ you are the temple of the living God; as God has said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Amazing grace. It is the indwelling of the spirit of God and the spirit of His beloved son Jesus that gives us a status of righteousness. It is all of them and nothing of us and yet the scripture says that if we have the spirit of God/spirit of the anointed one in us we are saints - holy ones. We all as followers of the lord Jesus and his God and his Father need to realize how much power we have access to by being indwelt by both our God and his precious son Jesus. Jesus said: John 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believes on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. When he went to his Father he sent down what he told the disciples to wait for and to use to do what he commanded them to do.... Luke 24:46-49: And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoves the anointed one to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but wait in the city of Jerusalem, until you be endued with power from on high. Do we realize that we all now possess this power from on high, that it indwells all who believe in the one whom God has sent and live by the message that he brought. So where is that power being used today? Where is the good news message being preached as Jesus preached it, with the sign that accompanied his preaching? Did he not say that we who go forth preaching the good news and living out his message would do greater works than he did during his ministry. Why do we not experience that same power working in us and through us? It is because we have so little faith to exercise what we have been given! Jesus said if we have the faith we can anything in him.... Luke 17:6 And the Lord said, If you had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you might say unto this sycamine tree, be you plucked up by the root, and be you planted in the sea; and it would obey you. If we are truly walking by the leading of the spirit of Jesus and God that indwells us we will be exercising faith obedience to all he has told us to do. We will be living our lives for him in everything and in doing so grow in faith as we experience the joy of walking on the narrow path that leads to new age life, resurrection life now. Do we not realize that the same power that upholds the universe indwells us and we are to use that power to do the works that God called us to do! Eph 2:10 For we are His workmanship as new creations in the anointed one Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them.
Danny Hickman
Supporter
I think we need to clarify some things regarding this statement in the question: "only God is holy." The word "holy" is first used by God to tell Moses the place he was summoned to come to and meet for the first time with Him is "holy" ground (Ex 3:5). The context this word is used in helps us to understand better what this often misunderstood word actually means. The Bible says that God is holy, and we know that only God is sinless, so, can it mean sinless? Lev 19:2... Speak to the congregation of the children of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy : for I the Lord your God am holy. Holy CAN'T describe the behavior of the saint; no MERE man is, or has ever been, sinless or anything close to it. The heart (essence of mankind) is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can know it? (Jer 17:9) If we read the 19th chpt. Of Leviticus we see that there are 37 verses and in those 37 verses God says "I am the Lord" 13 times. He tells us who we are and what being holy is all about. It's about being DEVOTED, dedicated to a purpose, consecrated or set apart from the rest of the herd for sacred service. There is holy ground (Ex 3:5), holy anointing oil (Ex 30:25), holy garments (Ex 39:1), a holy crown (Lev 8:9), holy instruments, vessels, places, habitations, the temple, a city, a holy mountain (Psalm 87:1), and on and on. These are all being said to be special because they have been separated from all the rest for God's service and purpose. The same is true of the people whom God has chosen to inhabit. The Spirit of God Indwells the believer and separates him/her from the world to be in service to the Lord. He/She is holy unto the Lord. God's holy people lived liked the world around them, and God punished them for their misbehaving, but they were STILL holy unto the Lord. Holy has never depicted the compliance or lack thereof of a person God has chosen to bring Him glory. It doesn't mean righteous. A saint is righteous by declaration and the same is true of his holiness. God has declared that those who are in Christ are holy unto Him and is the righteousness of Christ.... And because of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord" (1Cor 1:30,31). The church does a disservice when we boast of our "holiness" as if it has anything to do with our behavior, our victory over "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life" (1Jn 2:16). We are holy in spite of our weaknesses. There are saints who classify believers like me as "liberals". Well if that means one who tries to be honest about what it means to belong to a holy God, then I'm that.
Jack Gutknecht
Supporter
NET © Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness, 1 for without it no one will see the Lord. NET © Notes 1 The references to peace and holiness show the close connection between this paragraph (Heb 12:14-24) and the previous one (Heb 12:7-13). The pathway toward “holiness” and the need for it is cited in Heb 12:10, 14. More importantly Prov 4:26-27 sets up the transition from one paragraph to the next: It urges people to stay on godly paths (Prov 4:26, quoted here in Heb 12:13) and promises that God will lead them in peace if they do so (Prov 4:27 [LXX], quoted in Prov 4:14). Not only can we be holy but we must be holy if we ever hope to see God (Hebrews 12:14). In one sense of the word, all Christians are already holy in that we have been sanctified [made pure; cleansed] by the sacrifice of Jesus' body and blood, which expiates our guilt and covers our sins (Hebrews 10:10; 13:12). This holiness has to do with our status before God. Although we still have and struggle with a sin nature, the blood of Christ covers our sins so that God views us as holy in Christ. These Hebrew Christian readers were acquainted with the ceremonial ritual which made them ready to worship, and they knew that they had to be holy/clean to enter the temple. Sin always blocks our vision of God, so if we want to see God, we must renounce sin and obey Him (Heb. 12:1 -- otherwise sin would hold us back). And see Psalm 24:3-4. "One with clean hands and pure in heart, Holy and true and set apart. Who can approach You, Holy One? The soul that comes in Christ Your Son." -- "Psalm 24" - a song by Ken Bible Then, and only then, can we be holy, that is, Christ-like, set apart for God's glory. Let the Holy Spirit produce within you, Christian, holy characteristics (the fruit of the Spirit, Gal. 5:22-23). In this sense, you can't produce holiness yourself. But you can focus on Jesus (Heb. 12:2) -- "We must focus on Jesus, i.e. Yeshua, the source and goal of our faith" (GW, NOG). We focus; Jesus focused -- " Because his heart was focused on the joy of knowing that you would be his, he endured the agony of the cross and conquered its humiliation" (TPT). Christian, focus on Jesus through disciplines such as worship, sometimes agonizing prayer, service, witness and fellowship!
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