I feel another tangent coming on. I’m already trying to understand the concept of the law in the Bible. I’m wondering about the word “righteousness”. Are covenants permanent and unconditional or are they conditional? I’ve got a lot of questions and today I may be getting another one if I can remember why I started down this path. Only time will tell if it keeps coming back to my mind.
My question today for myself, and indirectly for you is, “What does it mean to be holy?”
I come to this as I was thinking about the attributes of God. On my list, the first one I have is that God is holy. It seems like a good place to start a list of attributes of God. I think we all assume God is holy. This took me to contemplate Isaiah coming before God and seeing the seraphims as they sang out,
Isaiah 6:3 (KJV) And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.What surprised me when I looked into it is that there are only two places where you have this triple holy. The other is in Revelation 4:8. I thought the formula was more common than that. From there I looked up the word in the Greek and Hebrew. The definitions of the Greek and Hebrew words is almost identical, so I think I can assume that they mean the same thing.
So what does it mean to be holy? Or what does holy mean? It is the same meaning I think but might depend on how you ask the question. The list of definitions in both the Old Testament and the New have to do with being separate. I would have thought the root would be clean or pure but, no, it means set apart. I can see that in regard to God Himself. He is above creation. Yet, at the same time He is involved in creation because He is involved with us.
We are expected to be holy. We see that expressed in terms of being apart in a verse like this,
(2Co 6:17 KJV) Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,I would imagine this is part of the thinking of the Amish. Not knowing any Amish I am just guessing. I was raised in a denomination that considered itself of the holiness school and I know it is part of their thinking. It was certainly part of what God wanted for Israel when they moved into the Promised Land.
It must be possible or God would not expect it.
homo unius libri
I am surrounded by Amish where I live and one time I asked one of their elders about this and he replied that we are saved by the grace of God for those who repent, are baptized, and confess Him as Lord., I mentioned their lifestyle and he assured me they do not live the way they do to be saved but that we are called to a holy lifestyle which will look different among believers. (I think they appreciate getting rides in my car every now and then)
ReplyDeleteIsn't is easy to fall into stereotypes and not go to the source. I am currently looking at the meaning of holy and it seems to imply separateness more than perfect morality. I would guess the Amish have the same variety of people other denominations have. I sometimes think they have the right idea in the outward uniform rather than conformity to the current fashions.
ReplyDeleteGrace and peace
Amen! It sure is nice to have air conditioning though! It’s easy to see the inconsistencies in others and miss the log in my own eye. We all need more of Jesus!
ReplyDeleteAs someone once said, "Amen."
DeleteGrace and peace