• Can anyone tell me what the word “holy” means
  • give me some synonyms
  • So describe a Holy person to me?
    • (usually people will say pure, separate, undefiled etc.)
  • Almost universally misunderstood

1. Holiness is not the same as moral purity

• I was brought up to think it meant “not sinning very much”

• first record of the word in the Bible is in Exodus 3:5 where God says to Moses:
  “Take your sandals off your feet for the place where you stand is holy ground”
  • Was the ground particularly clean or pure?
    • No, it belonged to God because his presence was there
  • If you were to go into a clean-room (hospital, lab)
    • would they tell you to take your shoes and socks off so as to be clean?
    • Were feet cleaner in those days?
• Shoes = Imagery of possession
  • Abraham walked the land
  • Joshua
  • Man who refused to take responsibility for his brother’s widow
• To take off shoes was to humbly acknowledge posession by another

Holiness ≠ moral purity

• Things could be holy
• Here is a metal cooking pot
  • What is the opposite to clean?
  • It this capable of being clean or unclean? (yes)
    • What do you think might make it unclean? (if you found a dead mouse in it)
    • Could it then become clean again?
      • Yes, it could. Here is the procedure (actually referring to a dead lizard rather than a mouse—this is the desert!)

• So what happens if something clean touches something unclean?
  • the clean thing becomes unclean

• If the opposite to clean is unclean, what is the opposite to holy?
  • hint: holy=special, consecrated, dedicated
  • “ordinary”, “unconsecrated”
  • In the tabernacle there was a flame that was burning all the time, a special flame
    • God had commanded that all sacrifices and offerings must be lit from the special holy flame
      • NOT from ordinary fire
    • It seems from later on in the passage that two of the high-priest’s sons were drunk and decided to grab any old fire to light their incense
    • So what happens if something holy touches something non-holy?

• So what kinds of things were holy?
  • Everything to do with God’s presence

• Everything
  • from a mountain
  • to the Ark of the Covenant was the special place of God’s presence
    • it was so holy that no-body could touch it, so it had to be carried with two long horizontal poles, one either side
    • Later on there is a story of a man called Uzza who touches the ark and instantly died
  • The priests were specially holy—there was a long process
    • There was a long process of symbolically making them clean and sacrificing for their sins
    • Then they were to hold out their hands and some holy things, including a piece of holy bread, taken from God’s very presence were placed on them. (Ex 29:22-25)
      • What would happen now?
      • They would either live, and now be 100% dedicated to God
      • or if they had been careless about following the process they would die
    • Aren’t you glad you don’t live under the old covenant but under the new?
  • But to an extent the whole nation were holy in that they were dedicated to God

• Being devoted to God meant staying “clean”
• As you look through what defiled God’s temple, or other holy things, the worst thing was the worship other gods
  • This is because it was the opposite of dedication to God alone

God’s Holiness

• can you sum it up for me?

4. Holiness in the New Covenant?

• What is Holiness in the New Covenant?
  • Do you remember six months ago we talked about how Jesus re-defined holiness?
  • In the O.T. it was defined in terms of external consecration
  • In his death on the cross, Jesus re-defined holiness to be self-giving love
• The holy person is the one who “takes up their cross and follows Jesus”
  • If you are a Christian, you don’t have to somehow work up this love
  • This love is already in your heart by the Holy Spirit
  • You just have to co-operate with him and allow him to produce this fruit in you
• Your call is to much more than purity
  • you are marked out as a special people
  • you are consecrated
• You are not just “one of the people” but you are a priest, able to enter God’s presence, the holy of holies (Heb 10:19)

1Pe 2:5 you yourselves, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood and to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

• You are “chosen to proclaim his praises” 1 Pet 2:9
• What does this mean in practice?
  • Jesus’ mark is upon us
  • We live dedicated lives
  • Some people believe that as long as something is not actually sinful, then it’s fine to do it
    • my career, where I live, how I spend my money and time
  • Did you know that the Levities were not actually allowed to own land!
    • God himself was their inheritance
    • We must not get entangled by the persuits of this world
• you are not secular, but sacred!
  • You are not free to devote yourself to secular life
  • Every other devotion subservient to devotion to Christ
  • But we can make our career “sacred” by dedicating it to Christ
    • e.g. the CEO of Yahoo! Marissa Mayer:
    1. God, 2. Family, 3. Yahoo
  • Marissa Ann Mayer is President and CEO of Yahoo!. Previously, she was a long-time executive and key spokesperson for Google. Mayer was ranked number 14 on the list of America’s most powerful businesswomen of 2012 by Fortune

• I was once leading a discussion on Money and the Christian
  • if we give 1/10 to God
  • Do homes belong to God
  • Time, energy, enthusism,creativity
• Of course there is a connection between holiness and not sinning
  • Being totally dedicated to God means that impurity has no place
  • If you are in love with someone, you don’t go after other others but are faithful
  • Devotion to Christ means wanting to live faithfully to him
• Becoming a Christian is simply offering Jesus your life
  • Making Jesus your Lord means dedicating your life to him
  • He says “whoever loses his life for my sake will find it”
  • He will give you new life if you follow him
    • You lose your own commitment to yourself
      • and gain his commitment to you.
• Be 100% committed, ruthlessly dedicated to God, passionate dedication