On Sunday, Billy introduced us to the third wall of the church, the ekklesia. In the most general form, the word means, “gathering”. But when the word is used in the Bible, it almost always refers to a “called out” gathering, a “holy” gathering, or a gathering that is “set apart”. The Bible has much to say about being holy. In the middle of 1 Peter, the Apostle Peter wrote that we must be holy in all our behavior.
1 Peter 1:13–16
Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”
There are some who think that when Peter wrote this part of Scripture, he was quoting from Leviticus 19, and they would be right. The two verses match each other, word for word.
Leviticus 19:1–2
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: “Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.'"
But I don’t want you to think these are the only places in the Bible that talk about how we are to be holy for God is holy. They are not. You will find the similar language in more places in our Bibles. Check this out.
Leviticus 11:44–45 "'For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm on the earth. For I am the Lord who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God; thus you shall be holy, for I am holy.'” Leviticus 20:7 "'You shall consecrate yourselves therefore and be holy, for I am the LORD your God. You shall keep My statutes and practice them; I am the LORD who sanctifies you.'" Leviticus 20:26 "'Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine.'" Leviticus 21:8 "'You shall consecrate him, therefore, for he offers the food of your God; he shall be holy to you; for I the Lord, who sanctifies you, am holy.'"
I did not realize before how much God talked about how we are to be holy because he is holy in the Bible, besides Leviticus 19 and 1 Peter 1, that is. God said it repeatedly. I am thinking this message that God has for us must be very important to him.
Okay, so I know it is important for us to be holy as God is holy. But does it really mean what I think it means? This is where I can get lost. When I think of being holy, I think of being in a state of sinlessness. I don’t make mistakes. I won’t say the wrong things. I don’t get people mad. But isn’t God being a little too ambitious? We know God is holy. But how can you and I be holy? Did God just ask for the impossible?
Firstly, God understands it is not possible for us to be holy, even if we wanted to very badly, and we tried very hard. You and I are made of sin. We cannot change who we are. So when God commands us to be holy for he is holy, it does not mean that we are to be without sin as he is without sin. It cannot mean this.
Secondly, this is quite interesting, but you and I are already holy. The Bible says those who have accepted God’s gift of his Son receive complete forgiveness of their sin, and therefore, they are holy. Since we are already holy, God cannot possibly be saying that we must be holy in the sense we must be even more holy. One cannot become something he already is.
Thirdly, if you and I are already holy, and God commands us to be holy, it seems to me it means that we must be holy in the sense that we must discard our thinking and behavior, and put on God’s thinking and behavior. Check out the context of 1 Peter 1:16. He began by saying what being holy isn’t: “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance.” Then he added what it is to be holy: “But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior.” In other words, we are commanded to change our behavior to fit our identity. We are commanded to be holy to fit our holy profile. We are no longer okay with who we used to be. We are no longer okay with falling back into our old selves. We are to behave like new people. We are to behave like God’s people. Formerly, we didn’t want to have anything to do with God, and lived as if there was no God. Now, we know God. Formerly, we let ourselves go anywhere our desires took us. Now, we go where the Holy Spirit takes us. Formerly, we took matters into our own hands, and did whatever we felt was right. Now, we pray and ask God for next steps.
Are we a holy gathering? Must we be holy? Yes and yes.