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God is Holy
HOLINESS.
REASONS WHY THE BELIEVER
SHOULD BE HOLY.
Ⅰ. Because of what God is. “
I am holy.” Thomas Watson says, God is holy intrinsically. He is holy in His
nature; His very being is made up of holiness, as light is the essence of the
sun. He is holy in His word. The Word bears a stamp of His holiness upon it, as
the wax bears an impression of the seal. “ Thy Word is very times (Psalm 12:6).
Every line in the Word breathes sanctity; it encourages nothing but holiness.
God is holy in all His operations. All He does is holy; He cannot act but like
Himself; He can no more do an unrighteous action than the sun can darken. “ The
Lord in all His works” (Psalm 145:17).
Ⅱ. Because of what He has
done (Lev.11:45). Because God brought Israel out of Egypt, and delivered them
from Pharaoh, He had a claim upon their gratitude and obedience; even so has He
upon us. We love, because He first loved us; we serve, because He has served
us; we trust, because He has been true to us; we obey, because of His Word t
us; and we walk in His ways because of what He has done for us.
Ⅲ. Because He commands it
(Lev. 19:2). We are to be holy because the Lord tells us to be. He commands,
and we must obey; for obedience is the life of holiness. It is not for us to
compromise, or question as King Saul did in relation to Agag (1.Samuel
15:20,21), for to obey is better than sacrifice.
Ⅳ. Because of His
relationship to us. “ Sanctify yourselves, therefore, and be ye holy, for I am
the Lord your God” (Lev.20:7). Newberry, in the margin of his Bible, renders
the title, “ Lord,” “ Jehovah-Mekaddeshcem.” Wherever we get the title Jehovah,
it brings before us God in covenant relationship. There are ten different
aspects in which God reveals Himself as Jehovah. He is Jehovah-Jireh, to
provide for us; Jehovah-Ropheca, to heal us; Johovah-Nissi, to enable us to
conquer; Jehovah-Shalom, to calm us; Jehovah- Tsebahoth, to lead us;
Jehovah-Rohi, to care for us; Jehovah-Shammah, who is with us; and
Jehovah-Mekaddeshcem, to sanctify us.
Ⅴ. Because of His choice of
us. “ And ye shall be holy unto Me, for I, the Lord, am holy, and have severed
you from other people, that ye should be Mine” (Lev.20:26). Why has He chosen
us? To save us from hell? Yes, but
more than that; we are chosen in Christ that we should be holy, and without
blame before Him in love. Talk not of election, if there is not the evidence of
it in holiness of life. For, if we are like the Ephraimite, who said that he
was not an Ephraimite, but when put to the test by the Gileadite, who told him
to say “ Shibboleth,” betrayed that he was what he said he was not; in like
manner our life will soon speak out what we are (Judges 12:6).
Ⅵ. Because of our
relationship to Him. “ They shall”—the priests—“ be holy unto their God” (
Lev.21:6). Aaron and his sons were to be holy because they were priests. We are
royal priests to shew forth the praises of Him, who has called us out of
darkness into His marvelous light for that express purpose. How careful in
demeanour, how courteous in manner, and constant in attendance the Queen’s
servants are. And why? Because they are the Queen’s servants. We are servants
of the King of kings, and that is the reason we are to be holy.
Ⅶ. Because He promises to do
it. “ He shall be holy unto thee, for I, the Lord, which sanctify you, am holy”
(Lev.21:8). We may be sure of this, that when God tells us to be, to do, and to
suffer, He will meet our need, even as in the case of Paul, who prayed thrice
that the thorn might be removed, but the Lord answered by saying, “ My grace is
sufficient for thee.”
── F.E. Marsh《Five Hundred Bible Readings》