HF148 - Holiness in the New Covenant
To: Hebraic-Foundations@yahoogroups.com
From: "Pastor Buddy Martin" <Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org>
Date: Fri Aug 26, 2005
Subject: Bible Study HF148 - Holiness in the New Covenant
Hebraics,
Believers who come from a works righteousness background are often confused over the issue of holiness. For them holiness speaks largely to certain standards of dress. While to dress modestly is important for believers, that in itself is not what holiness is about. In this study we want to deal with the very heart of holiness.
This is Bible Study HF148 - Holiness in the New Covenant.
Laying aside all the technical aspects of holiness let's simply say that holiness if what God is. The Spirit of God is called the Holy Spirit. Then we have this, "You shall be holy, for I am holy."
The concept of holiness in the former testament had to do largely with closeness. The closer you were to God, the more holy you were. This is why the prophets were spoken of as 'holy men of God,' Israel was called 'the holy land,' and the holiest place in all the land was known as 'the holiest of holies.'
Talmudic Judaism brings this out in the Mishnah [Kelim - Vessels - 16:9]: "The land of Israel is holier than any other land ... The walled cities of Israel are still more holy ... Within the wall of Jerusalem is still more holy. ... The Temple Mount is still more holy. ... The rampart is still more holy. ... The Courtyard of the Women is still more holy ... The Courtyard of the Israelites is still more holy. ... The Courtyard of the Priests is still more holy. ... Between the porch and the altar is still more holy ... The Sanctuary is still more holy ... The Holy of Holies is still more holy, for none may enter therein except only the High Priest on the Day of Atonement in the time of the Temple service."
So we can see how holiness began with the land, but the closer to the temple the more holy was the journey. Thus the journey of holiness reached a point where only certain ones could make the next progression of holiness, that is, being near to God. To go beyond the allowable limit was to invite death.
During the time of Jesus the temple was laid out so as to make this distinction on degrees of holiness. Gentiles were allowed only in the great courtyard to the south of the sanctuary. A sign of warning caution them about going further. The next courtyard was for Jewish women. Next came the courtyard for Jewish males. At the central area was the place for priests alone. Finally you had the holiest of holies where only the high priest could enter.
I shared all this to give some background for how the new covenant brought these degrees of holiness to a halt. It is so important to understand this. Listen to these Scriptures:
(1) "For Him Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall. ... for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father." (Eph2:14,18)
The dividing wall was the wall that separated the Gentile 'on pain of death' from coming any closer to other temple areas. Now we all have direct access to the holiest of holies by the Spirit.
(2) "For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Gal3:27,28)
Notice now how all the walls are torn down. No more limited status for women, or the common priest, etc. But pay special attention to the last of this portion; "For you are all one in Christ Jesus."
There are no longer are degrees of holiness. The reason is because God has placed every believer in Jesus Christ. Paul calls this being 'one new man.' This means that was Jesus is, we have become. And this is the great mystery of the new covenant. [Not thing needs to be pointed out -- Paul here is not speaking of offices or special callings. This issue is about salvation and our nearness to God.]
So when we read the Scripture where God says, "You shall be holy for I am holy," we should not look at this in dread. It is a promise. We have been made holy in Christ. His holiness is our holiness. When Jesus entered into the heavenly holiest with His own blood, He brought us with Him.
What is the point? The point is that holiness is not simply an issue of what you do in life. It is the issue of who you are in Christ. Certainly we are told to cleanse ourselves from all unholy conduct and unholy attitudes, but the basic premise of holiness remains the same. In the new covenant all believers have been made holy in Christ. Holiness is our standing with heaven.
I realize this is hard to grasp, but it is very necessary in order to understand the other ramifications of holiness. Think about it. Why are believers called 'saints' in the New Testament? The word 'saint' means a holy one. When Paul wrote a church that was filled with the flesh, he yet addressed them as, "saints by calling." (1Co1:2) The reason is because neither holiness nor righteousness are things that we can earn. The come to us through the cross.
Jesus so perfectly identified Himself with us that He took us to the cross, and through the cross, then took us right into heaven, and had us seated with Him in the heavenly places. This is why John wrote, "By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; BECAUSE AS HE IS, SO ALSO ARE WE IN THIS WORLD." (1Jn4:17) The apostle went on to say that the one who fears punishment has not yet been perfected in love.
The perfect work of love is God's work for us in Christ. Jesus actually exchanged His life for ours. He took the whole of our sinful life to the cross, and gave us the whole of His righteousness for the whole of our life. It wasn't simply our past sins that were nailed to the cross. The total of our life was judged in Christ. Is this an excuse for sin. Never. We will talk about that a bit later.
This is where the book of Hebrews can help fill in the gaps. The apostolic writer quotes from Jeremiah concerning the new covenant, and says in part, "I will effect a new covenant ... For all will know Me, from the least to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more." (He8:8,11,12)
Again listen:
(1) "And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, HAVING BEEN OFFERED ONCE TO BEAR THE SINS OF MANY, will appear a second time for salvation WITHOUT REFERENCE TO SIN, to those who eagerly await Him."
Note that the second coming of Jesus has no regard to sin for believers. Why is this? It is because all our sins were placed upon Jesus and judged at the cross. Not just past sins, but now sins, and future sins. Again this is not a issue of being able to sin with no consequences. (On this later.)
I realize that some of you will wish to jump around in the book of Hebrews to bring out Scriptures that seem to speak contrary to all that I have shared. That is alright. We can talk about it. But the problem with doing this is that many believers do not understand the purpose of the book itself.
(2) "By this will [Jesus body on the cross] WE HAVE BEEN SANCTIFIED [made holy] through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ ONCE FOR ALL." (He10:10)
Notice that our sanctification is through the work of the cross. Peter says it comes with the blood of Jesus. Every believer has already been sanctified, or declared holy before God. How? Our life is hidden in Christ. To judge us, the Father would have to judge Jesus Christ again. But keep in mind that the cross came from the heart of the Father; "For God so loved the world..."
(3) "...but He, having offered ONE SACRIFICE FOR SINS FOR ALL TIME, sat down at the right hand of God." (He10:12)
Did you catch it? One sacrifice for all sins for all time. You cannot add to this. You cannot take away from it. The price has already been paid. In another place, Paul quotes David, in saying, "Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven and who sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account." (Rom4:6-8)
Paul is speaking for the righteousness that is placed on our account apart from any works. If you try to earn your standing with God, you are in fact setting aside the cross. This is why the most victorious Christians are always those who love by a simple devotion to Jesus Christ.
(4) "For by ONE OFFERING He has PERFECTED FOR ALL TIME those who are sanctified." (He10:14)
Notice that our perfection is for all time. Keep in mind that sanctification does not come through any works on our part. It comes with the cross. We are make holy because Jesus Christ is holy. He has given us His holiness. (To repeat this is good. It needs to find its way deep into our conscious thought life.)
Once this message is clearly understood, then we are able to go on to the other aspects of the cross and where a personal walk of holiness does figure into the picture. Yes, there is an issue of cleansing ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit. This cleansing belongs to the experiential side of the finished work of the cross.
Let me show how the Lord drove this home quite a few years ago. God has often visited me in dreams and in visions. Many times these visits are for my own instruction. Nor do I share them to speak of my spirituality. Anyway, I've shared this in the past, but it needs to be shared again:
In the dream of the night --- Jesus is standing at the pulpit. I am behind Him to His left. I am unable to see His face, but I know it is Jesus. We are in a former church that Betty and I had pastored. The difference this time is that the congregation was made up mostly of people of whom I had conducted their funerals.
Don't get in fear, just listen. The Lord had a dear sister stand. All eyes were on her and then on Him. He had a large book opened in front of Him. As He began going through her life, all we heard were praises. He just kept commending her. Yet, everyone knew that there had been a major sin failure in her life.
I found myself becoming anxious. I loved this dear sister and I did not want to hear the Lord speak about her failure. He was getting closer all the time. When the Lord came to the place in her life where He would have to deal with it, I caught my breath. But I heard nothing. When I looked over at the book, the place was white. Nothing was written there. He just kept on praising her.
When I awoke the dream was lingering in full color on my thoughts. That's when the Scriptures became to come. A number of Scriptures came, but there was one in particular, where Paul said, "Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts; AND THEN EACH MAN'S PRAISE WILL COME TO HIM FROM GOD." (1Co4:5)
Did you catch it? No hint of condemnation. Only praise. It was out of that dream that the Lord began taking me to the next level of understanding the finished work of the cross. It hasn't been easy. The Lord has had to help me not to judge people, but only to realize that what I see and what He sees is not always the same. (May the Lord forgive me for every thought of judgment that I've ever passed against any of His children. This was also part of his turning my heart to a deeper love for UPC people.)
The reason there can never be any condemnation upon any believer is because Jesus Christ was condemned for our sake. Listen to Paul while I add the emphatic; "Therefore there is now and can never be any condemnation, that is, any damnatory sentence for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death." (Rom8:1,2)
Now we come to the big one. Someone may say, 'Well, if I've been given the holiness of Jesus Christ, then it really doesn't matter what I do. I can sin all I want and nothing can be charged against me.' The answer to that is that the work of the cross has both a positional side and its experiential side. The positional side is what God Himself has decreed through the cross. The experiential side is what the Holy Spirit works in the believer.
Listen to Paul: "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? ... knowing this, that our old self was crucified with him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin." (Rom6)
Without taking up much more room with this study, let me say it this way --- For any person who is truly born again, sin is contrary to his or her own righteousness nature. Can we sin? Absolutely. Does is affect us? Absolutely. No person on this planet has a conscience as sensitive as that of a true believer. The very least of spiritual contaminations affects us. A sinner sins by nature. A child of God sins by temptation.
And this is why John says that a believer is unable to continue in a life of sin. He may get in the pig pen, or have a relapse for a time, but this is not who he is. Every believer has deep in his inward man something called 'the Spirit of holiness.' And until we are cleansed of any unholy conduct, we grieve in ourselves. This grieving is the parent of repentance. The grieving is from the Holy Spirit.
Let me leave my part of the study off for now. Feel free to make contributions or ask questions.
The Lord bless you,
Buddy
Lawrence E. (Buddy) Martin, HF Host
email: Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org
Web: http://www.christianchallenge.org/
"See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled." (Heb12:15)