“Because God is holy, I will devote myself to Him in purity, worship and service.”–Bill Bright
I will admit that I was somewhat stuck when I first looked at this attribute of God. How can I start to talk about, much less completely explain this concept? So in classic “preacher behavior”, I am going to distract you with Greek! There are three Greek words that we translate as “holy”. Each mean a slightly different kind of holiness.
Most New Testament references use the word hagios, meaning purity from defilement. This indicates that holiness in our sin-tainted world requires a “setting apart” of something. In Old Testament times, this was viewed through the lens of ritual and law. After the Crucifixion, this was viewed through the dedication of one’s desires and life to God’s Will.
Hieros, meaning formally consecrated, occurs twice in the New Testament, in I Corinthians 9:13 and II Timothy 3:15. In both places, the idea of separation is made more distinctly as both ministers and Scripture are viewed, at least from our human persepctive, as different from other callings or writings.
Finally is the word hosios, meaning right by intrinsic divine character, which is different from innocent in human terms (dikaios). This word for holiness is most important in our understanding because it is the term used for describing Christ in prophecy (in Acts 2:27 and 13:35, which are quotes of Psalm 16:10), in his role as Savior (Hebrews 7:26), and of His very nature (Revelation 15:4). Also hosios is used to describe how we should worship (I Timothy 2:8) and serve the church (Titus 1:8).
If the stories of the Old Testament teach us nothing else, they show us that our human effort is incomplete to achieve holiness. No set of laws or elaborate rituals is going to cleanse us of our sin nature other than the salvation that comes through Christ and His blood. Then when we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit as our Guide, we are transformed into this “intrinsic divine character” that hosios speaks of.
I encourage you this week to read over the passages I have listed, to fully wrap your brain around them, and to immerse yourself in their meaning. God desires purity in our worship and our service. He desires purity in our lives. He enables us to achieve this holiness through His holiness. Consider this mystery this week.
