It will come about that he who is left in Zion and is left in Jerusalem will be called holy – everyone who is recorded for life in Jerusalem. Isaiah 4:3.
God wants us holy. God purges and purifies, and wants us to purify ourselves.
But this purifying process is not intended to be a perpetual lifestyle. Once purged, we are holy and are to live as such. To be sure, at times we may need to return for a washing, as Jesus washed the disciples’ feet. But we move on. We walk in the new identity of that cleansed state. We are named as “holy.” For that is what we are.
LORD, may I walk in this new identity of holiness.
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Hey my amazing brother, really enjoying your blog which I don’t get to read as often as I would like. Your writing in this post really caught my attention as it highlights one of the topics that I wrestled with for a long time while I was on the journey of becoming Catholic. It is so very true that we are made holy by God’s wonderful gift of salvation and have been given a new identity in Christ through no merits of our own. I would ask, however, how it is that you believe our purification is not intended to be a perpetual lifestyle? Does it really have to be either – or? When you step back and look at all that scripture has to say about holiness and salvation, I think it becomes clear that it is both – and. We are both saved by God’s free and unmerited grace AND must preserve what we have been given by obedience. It is the tension of already and not yet. God has already done everything necessary for our salvation and yet we must choose to cooperate with HIs work in us on an ongoing basis because we have not yet arrived. Justifiecation refers to an entire life of faith, eg Abraham who was justified by faith expressed on more than one occasion (leaving his homeland, offering Isaac, act of circumcision) . Think about passages like Phil 2:12 “Work out your salvation . .. . ” or I Cor 9:26-27 where Paul describes how he disciplines himself to avoid being “disqualified” . For much of my early Christian walk I viewed so many scriptures through the lens of what I had been taught, explaining and rationalizing away many truths they contain, and what has been the consistent teaching of the church since the earliest church fathers. There are lots of other scriptures to consider including Colossians 1:21-23 “in order to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him, provided that you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast. . . .” , I Cor 15:2 “Now I would remind you brethren, in what terms I preached to you the gospel, which you received, in which you stand, by which you are saved, if you hold it fast – unless you believed in vain.” and of course Hebrews 10:19-39.
Just a little food for thought, offered in love,
your sis
Thanks so much for you thoughtful comments. I agree that sanctification, literally “holification,” is a life-long on going process. The man in the mirror continually reminds me how much holification there still is to do.
I think you put it well by referring to the tension between the already and the not yet. My problem is I tend to spend most of my conscious awareness on the “not yet” side of that coin. What was revelational to me about the Isaiah passage was the reminder of the “already” identity we have. That is is easy for me to forget.
Saul’s name was changed to Paul. Simon to Peter. Jacob to Israel. There is something motivational and aspirational about being given a new identity, even if the fullness of that identity is not yet realized.
Kate Middleton and Prince William just had a baby whose royal title is His Royal Highness the Prince of Cambridge, heir to throne. It will be quite a while before anyone sees anything princely about him. And to be sure he could end up squandering or even refusing that status. But one would expect that his identity, inherited and bestowed, not earned, will be a profound influence on the choices he will make in how he lives his life. His title is both a present reality and something to grow into.
Peter struggled with this already and not yet. In John 13, once confronted with his need for his feet to be washed by Jesus, he pleaded for his whole body to be washed. No, you are already clean, exhorted Jesus, because of the word I have spoken to you. What was needed was essentially maintenance.
Holiness is our new normal. Even if not yet typical. Even if not yet fully lived out.
This is motivational for me because then everything not holy is inconsistent and in conflict with that new given identity. And so it has to go.
Wrote Peter, “… like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves in all your behavior, because it is written, ‘You shall be holy for I AM holy.'” And then, “you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession.” You shall be holy. You are holy. You’re right. It’s both.
Indeed, it is precisely because of the already holy identity that we are to walk as such. I want to be aware of this identity so that I can more and more conform to it, paradoxical though that may be. That is what I was trying to say.
Thoughts?
Thanks for your thoughtful reply that very much enlightened what you meant to say in your post. . . . it was helpful to better understand you meaning. Very excellent thoughts indeed.
Love,
D
great insight and reminder!