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By Rev. Roberto Bruno Be Ye Holy... I Know, I Know Already!Do We Really Know Holiness? You probably think this is going to be an article about hair lengths and pure thoughts, right? Ding, Ding, Ding, WRONG ANSWER! Though it is easy to pick on the Sisters about their cut hair and beat the Brothers up about their thought life, these subjects do not necessarily represent holiness. We confuse holiness with standards. They go hand in hand but they are not the same. The Concise Dictionary of Christian Theology defines holiness as; a condition of purity or freedom from sin or of being set apart to special service. Let me ask you a question; what is holiness? What would be your response?
When Peter wrote this, he was not insinuating a bunch of legal requirements for the Christian to follow to become holy. What Peter was saying was, we now have the ability to be holy because HE is holy. You ever wonder what made Moses' tabernacle in the desert so holy? (Use your imagination): We are nomads making our way through the Sinai desert. As we travel under the burning sun, we cross over a rise in the sand and we see The Tabernacle of God. A huge tent covered with animal skins. What is so holy about dead animals? Okay, okay! the inside of the tabernacle was beautiful. Decorated with its gold furnishings and multicolored fabrics, what a sight it must have been. But what is so holy about furniture? NOTHING! All the blood sacrifices, and the entire priesthood with their fancy clothes, none of that is holy. What made the tabernacle holy was the presence of God. When His glory came upon the tabernacle that's when things changed (Exodus 40:34-35). God's presence transformed the gold furniture, the fabrics, the dead animal skins into a holy place. In and of ourselves we are powerless concerning holiness. Why? Because we are fallen creatures, desperately wicked, and plagued by sin. But Jesus knows this and that's why He paid the price for our sins. His blood made us eligible to be holy. This is called sanctification. Because of the cross of Calvary, we can stand here today and say, "we are holy people". We as Apostolics are not holy because we have a dress code. Anyone can dress modest or be clean cut, but if they lack the cleansing power of Jesus' blood, they will never be holy. Holiness is also an attitude. If we do not have a godly attitude, then surly we will not have a godly standard on the outside. As Christians we must purpose in our hearts that we will not defile ourselves with the world.
Be ye holy; for He is holy.
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