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We were chosen in Christ to be holy in eternity past; we are being sanctified, saturated with Christ as "the Spirit, the Holy," to be holy in this age; and we will be consummated to be the holy city in the next age and for eternity future (Eph. 1:4; 1 Thes. 5:23; Eph. 5:26-27; Rev. 19:7-9; 21:2, 9-10):
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Holy means not only sanctified, separated unto God, but also different, distinct, from everything that is common; only God is different, distinct, from all things; hence, He is holy, and holiness is His nature:
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He chose us that we should be holy (Eph. 1:4), and He makes us holy by imparting Himself, the Holy One, into our being, that our whole being may be permeated and saturated with His holy nature; for us, God's chosen ones, to be holy is to partake of God's divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4) and to have our whole being permeated with God Himself.
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This is different from mere sinless perfection or sinless purity; this makes our being holy in God's nature and character, just like God Himself.
Morning Nourishment
Eph. 1:4 Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blemish before Him in love.1 Thes. 5:23 And the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God chose us that we should be holy. The words holy and holiness have been spoiled by today's Christian teachings....In the Bible the word holy should not be understood according to our natural concept. Many think that holiness is sinlessness. According to this concept, someone is holy if he does not sin. This thought is absolutely mistaken. Holiness is neither sinlessness nor perfection. Holy not only means sanctified, separated unto God, but also different, distinct, from everything that is common. Only God is different, distinct, from all things. Hence, He is holy; holiness is His nature.
The way God makes us holy is to impart Himself, the Holy One, into us so that our whole being may be permeated and saturated with His holy nature. For us, God's chosen ones, to be holy is to partake of His divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4) and to have our whole being permeated with God Himself. This is different from mere sinless perfection or sinless purity. This makes our being holy like God Himself in His nature and in His character. (Life-study of Ephesians, p. 24)
Today's Reading
To be holy is to be separated from everything other than God. It also means to be different, distinct, from all that is not God. Thus, we should not be common but different. In the universe God alone is holy. He is different from everything else and is distinct. Therefore, to be holy means to be one with God. To be sinless or perfect is not the same as being holy. To be holy we need to be one with God because only God is holy (Lev. 11:44; 1 Sam. 2:2).Any place, any thing, any matter, and any person that is related to God is holy, for whatever is both of God and for God is holy (Lev. 20:26; Num. 16:5; Neh. 8:9; Exo. 30:37).
Furthermore, when the Spirit of God reaches us, He is holy (Luke 1:35; Matt. 1:20; 28:19; see Rom. 1:4). This is the reason that the term Holy Spirit is not used in the Old Testament. (The occurrences of this term in Psalm 51:11 and Isaiah 63:10 and 11 should be rendered "the spirit of holiness.") This term was first used when the Lord Jesus was about to be conceived in Mary (Luke 1:35). This signifies that holiness brings God to man and man to God. To go further, it also means to bring God into man and man into God. When God gets into us, we are holy. When we get into God, we are more holy. But when we are mingled with God, we are most holy. Thus, we become holy by having God in us, we become more holy by being in God, and we become the holiest by being mingled, soaked, and saturated with God.
The book of Ephesians calls the believers saints (1:1). Everyone who has believed in the Lord Jesus is a saint....When we are in touch with God, we are holy, for then we are under His saturation. But when we are away from God, we are not holy. I repeat, to be holy is not to be perfect or sinless; it is to be one with God. When we are saturated and soaked with God, we shall be the holiest.
In the Greek text of the New Testament many times the expression the Spirit, the holy is used (1 Thes. 4:8; Heb. 3:7)....I believe that the reason for this is that in the New Testament the emphasis is not only on the Spirit, but also on holiness. The Spirit is holiness. Therefore, the Holy Spirit is sometimes called the Spirit, the holy. Where the Spirit is, there holiness is also.
Today, the Spirit is not only in us; He is making Himself one with us and us one with Him. First Corinthians 6:17 says, "He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit." Therefore, holiness actually means to be saturated with God, to cause a common person to be fully saturated with the Spirit. (Life-study of Ephesians, pp. 24-28)
Further Reading: Life-study of Ephesians, msg. 3; CWWL, 1993, vol. 2, "The Spirit with Our Spirit," ch. 2