Throughout the Pentateuch God shows that He demands a standard of holiness from His people. When Adam and Eve violated His standard there was an immediate consequence. The same was true of Cain who took it upon himself to kill his brother. These decided it was more important to follow after their own whims rather than present themselves holy before the Almighty God. This meant that they pulled away from God thereby setting up a “world” order that God was not pleased with. It meant that any devices that came to man’s heart would be fulfilled no matter the offense to the God of holiness.
Leviticus 19:1-2 reads, “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy.” This is a call for the children of God to separate themselves from the many forms of sin that were eminent in that day. There was the turning to false gods, idolatry and hosts of other things that God not only frowned upon but warned against in multiple ways from the time of man. Yet man saw reason to ignore the Creator of all and do all the evil he could imagine in his heart. But the love of God proved to be more eminent than the sin man chose to live in. God continued to urge His people to live a holy life. But, what is holiness?
Holiness is being separated and set apart from the world. It is that simple. Yes, there will be some that tout holiness as some distant, mystical aspect of Christianity that but a few are able to acquire. Yet the above Scripture shows that holiness is for all the people of God. It is not an aspect that is suitable only for the preacher and deacon but all are required not to bend to the world order rather the people of God are required to lean on the basic principle of holiness. This is to say that God called for His people to be separate and apart from the world order because He is above and cannot be touched by the world order. Therefore the people of God must not pervert the holiness of God with the mess of the world.
More evidence of God’s holiness is found in Deuteronomy 23:12-14; “Thou shalt have a place also without the camp, whither thou shalt go forth abroad: And thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon; and it shall be, when thou wilt ease thyself abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which cometh from thee: For the Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy: that he see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee. Said in more modern vernacular God saying here to cover your mess. God is so holy that He does not want to see that which comes out of you. The instructions are clearly show that God’s holiness does not mix with mess.
Even so many that call themselves Christians have no problem relieving themselves and leaving their mess in the open. By this many “Christians” cuss and quickly ask God’s forgiveness even though the cussing is part of the norm in their lives. Others steal and declare that God knows their hearts. And the mess continues on with these as though there is no Holy God. The problem is that holiness and mess just don’t mix and this matter is further evidenced in Galatians chapter five. Even more the questioned is posed and answered, “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid” Romans 6:1-2). The fact is that mess is nothing more than works of the flesh and those that indulge in works of the flesh will not inherit the Kingdom of God. Among the works of the flesh is reveling (Galatians 5).
Reveling, in part, is dancing in the street. Reveling historically was in honor of false deities and took place in the evening. Today many not only dance in the streets in honor of some “hero” or other reason but also bars and clubs are filled with drunken celebrations. Some may well be physically sober but drunkenness of the mind is just as dangerous. This mess is an atrocity to the Word of God and does not mix with His holiness. Our bodies are not to be used as instruments of unrighteousness, or mess, rather we are to glorify God in our bodies. There is no way to do both at the same time. The fact is holiness and mess just don’t mix.
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The epitome of holiness is when a follower of Jesus decides to do everything so as to be found in Jesus. I am not deterred by the confusion and falsehood that goes on in the name of Christianity. Paul said in Philippians 3: 9 that he wants to be found in Christ. this is not a cassock type of attitude where you put on a cassock that does not belong to you and so does not fit you. Jesus made us understand that a man can say that he is a christian whereas he has not been accepted for what he claims. John 2:24-25 is a warning to the one who claims to be a follower of Jesus but lives in sin. Holiness means being like HIM. That is what we were created for and that is what we were redeemed for. Agents of darkness have made proselytes out of converts by saying that once born again, born again forever. This is a gospel from hell for the Bible says without holiness no man shall see God.
There is a devilish way of condoning sin in this part of the world where I live. It is never said that he committed a sin. It is said that he fell into a sin. My question to them is: was the ground slippery for him to fall? There is nothing like falling into sin. Adultery is adultery. It is well planned, premeditated with the place well chosen. We should stop fooling men for God cannot be fooled. Our sins caused Jesus His blood and so there should be no messing with sin.
You have provided an excellent retort on sin. Yes, too many make excuses for sin yet throughout biblical text God has no tolerance for sin. Some suggests that Jesus had a tolerance for sin yet we find Him continually exhorting to “go and sin no more.” Yes, to be holy one must disdain sin just as the Godhead does.