We Are Made Holy

"Holiness affects unholiness and not the other way around."

GOD IS HOLY. Through Christ, because we are saved, we are made holy. This is a definite thing and not something friable. Flimsy. It is sure. A foundation on which we build God’s house. Solomon’s temple was made holy. So, too, the one Nehemiah and the Israelites built. But come Ezekiel’s day, we read His vision where it was filled with sin. A building is an object. Objects are neither holy nor unholy. What made the temples holy was the Presence of God in them.

Jesus spoke of the temple as His Father’s house then threw out the moneychangers, whose buying and selling within its walls was unholy (John 2:16). When He died, God ripped the veil, surrounding the Holiest Place, in half from top to bottom, so that no one could claim they had done it (Matthew 27:51). Holiness had left the building, so to speak, and now lived in men. We are the temple of God (1 Corinthians 6:19). What was required of sacrifices to maintain holiness in God’s building is no longer needed. The Holy Spirit lives in us.

We should know this. Many don’t. Nor do they know why holiness matters. It’s seen as difficult to maintain, which is the farthest thing from the Truth. Holiness affects unholiness and not the other way around. Or the Spirit would not be on the earth. He makes men new creatures through His holiness (2 Corinthians 5:17). We were dead in sins, our spirit man dead, but now, because we confess Jesus died and rose again, we are saved or made new. There is a greater truth to this when we include the fulfilling of the Old Covenant. Because God knew His people, how they would react and defend their traditions. He prepared the way for them to find His salvation in His written Word. The Gentile church has not seen this. I include it here so that we are not condemning Jesus’ beloved. To rubber stamp my point, we should remember Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as well as King David and millions of others are in heaven, though they died thousands of years before Jesus.

Hebrews 11 tells us they were made righteous. Righteousness, a churchy word, is holiness. Righteousness makes us holy. Holiness makes us righteous. Both are inseparable from God. He lives in His children, so we are filled with His nature, His goodness. And this matters for eternity, length of life, and for eternal life, quality of life. We are made holy to enjoy living. It is our security. Not just of life after physical death, but also of this physical life. We are healed by God’s holiness. We remain healthy by God’s holiness. It stamps us as His. And guides our behavior.

Holiness keeps us holy. It always forgives. It always heals. It never fails. It is a gift of God. We walk in it, relying upon it, no longer at the whim of sin nor afraid of our behavior. God in us greater than all that comes against us (1 John 4:4).


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com