Exploring Holiness

Holiness is a distinctive quality of God, that relates to His character, nature and being, a quality He shares with us. It is the very life of God manifested in man (Heb.12:10). It appears to be the most compelling quality or attribute of our God. When the Lord revealed Himself to Isaiah, the angels that surrounded His throne underlined His holiness. Isaiah was immediately overwhelmed by a sense of unworthiness (Isa.6:1-5). Again, when the Lord revealed Himself to John, the angels that surrounded His throne did the same thing ceaselessly (Rev.4:8). Peter, in response to the miracle of catching fish after several failed attempts, had this to say to the Jesus: “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Lk.5:8). The expression “the beauty of His holiness” implies that holiness is beautiful and attractive (Rev.4:8, 1 Chr.16:29, Psa.96:9, 110:3). The Bride of Christ becomes beautiful and attractive when adorned with garments of holiness (Psa.50:2).

As noted above, uncleanness is the opposite of holiness. When a man is unholy, he is unclean or filthy (2 Cor.7:1-2, 1 The.4:7, Eph.5:3-6, Jam.1:21). The standard of uncleanness under the New Covenant is not the same as what obtained under the Old. This is amply illustrated by the following examples:

• Under the Old Covenant, some animals were permanently unclean, while others were clean (Lev.11:1-31). In the same way, some categories of people, based on their appearance, physical disability or state of health, were forbidden from approaching the sanctuary of the LORD, even when they were Levites (Lev. 13:1-46, 21:17-23). In the same way, some individuals were considered unclean until they shaved, washed or indulged in some other ritual (Lev.11:24-44). Under the New Covenant, this no longer obtains (Ac.10:10-16).
• Under the Old Covenant, the list of holy things was more extensive than what obtains under the New. For instance, the Old Testament saints had the holy place, the most holy place, the holy city, the holy anointing oil and the concept of holy ground. Under the New Covenant, the emphasis has shifted from the physical to the spiritual, from the outward appearance to the heart of man (Jn.4:23-24, Rom.2:28-29, Phil.3:3, Gal.4:22-26).
• Under the New Covenant, provision is made for holy persons, namely God, angels, the believer and the Church (1 Pet.1:14-16, Rev.4:8; Matt.25:31, Lk.9:26, Ac.10:22; Lk.1:70, Eph.1:4, 3:5, Heb.3:1). Provision is also made for some holy things, including holy members (meaning the human body or parts of it), holy temple, holy covenant, holy calling, holy Scriptures, holy acts (Rom.12:1, 1 Tim.2:8, Jn.4:23-24, 1 Cor.3:16-17, 6:19-20, Eph.2:21, Heb.9:1, Rom.16:16, 1 Cor.16:20).
• The combined implication of Acts 10:10-16 and John 4:23-24 is that a new day has dawned!
• There are only two categories of unclean persons in the New Testament: the unbeliever and the believer that has ‘fellowshipped’ with the unfruitful works of darkness or ‘touched’ the unclean thing (Eph.5:1-6 & 11; 2 Cor.6:17).
• Details of what the unclean thing refers to may be found in 2 Corinthians 6:17. It speaks to unrighteousness, darkness and idols. We must remember that an idol is anything that takes the place of God, or competes with Him for our attention and devotion.
• In order to remain holy, we must keep some distance between us, on the one hand, and unclean persons and things, on the other hand: “Wherefore come out from among them (unclean persons), and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing (unclean things); and I will receive you (2 Cor.6:17).