Holy
In the past few lesson we’ve been discussing the nature of God. You might think this is a strange place to start a new believers Bible study, but my reason is simple. There is nothing more important in all of the world than knowing God. In fact, that is exactly how Jesus defined eternal life.
He said in John 17:3, “Now this is eternal life; that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”
Our first concern for your new walk with Christ is not so much that you know many things “about” God, but that you come to know God Himself as fully as possible.
Without question one of the most important attributes of God is that he is HOLY.
If someone asked you about one of your close friends, you might say, “He’s the most thoughtful person I’ve ever known.” How do you know? Because you have spent enough time with your friend to know he is thoughtful. The same is true of your relationship with God. As you spend more time with Him, learning about him and serving Him, you will realize that above all else He is HOLY.
The Bible tells us over and over again that God is holy.
The prophet Isaiah writes in Isaiah 6:3, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole world is full of His glory.”
Similarly, in the book of Revelation (Revelation 4:8) we find these words: “Holy, holy ,holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is , and is to come.”
Again, consider the words of Hannah. She prayed in 1 Samuel 2:2, “There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.”
The Bible speaks of God as holy hundreds of times.
So, what does that mean? What is the Bible trying to tell us when it says God is holy?
The idea of holiness carries with it two concepts which might seem contradictory, but are not. Holiness means both “Set Apart” and yet “With us” Separate and yet involved.
Hosea the prophet records God as saying:
Hosea 11:9, “I AM GOD, AND NOT MAN–THE HOLY ONE AMONG YOU.”
First, we see that GOD IS Set Apart or SEPARATE.
His nature is very different from ours:
God does not sin–we sin.
God is eternal— we all will die.
God is all powerful– We are very limited in power.
God knows all- We know so very little of all there is to know.
God is perfectly right in everything he does — we are often unfair toward others.
There is a very real sense in which God, by His very nature, is “separate” or “different” from man. As God says through Isaiah.
Isaiah 40:25,“To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?’ says the Holy One.”
Obviously, no one can be God’s equal because of the vast difference between God and man.
Second, we see that HE’S INVOLVED WITH US.
He describes Himself as “the Holy One among you.”
Although God’s nature and God’s ways are so different from ours, God still wants to be involved in the affairs of man.
He wants to make us holy!
Obviously, for us to be holy, it takes an act of God Himself!
There is no way, by our own power, that we can be holy.
But praise God! Because He is holy, He came in the form of Jesus Christ to take away our sins so that we might be holy!
2 Corinthians 5:21God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
At this point, you might ask an important question. “in what way am I really holy?”
You are not holy in our nature as God is but rather Your holiness is a shared attribute. God freely shares His holiness with you so that, as Peter says in 2 Peter 1:4, you “may participate in the divine nature”, or as Paul says in Ephesians 5:1, so that we might have the opportunity to be “imitators of God.”
This means that we too become set apart.
We no longer see the world as we once did
We are born again into a new family and a new way of thinking
You now have the promise of eternal life as we read John 3:16.
You now have turned away from a sinful way of living as revealed in Romans 6:11-14.
You now know everything that is necessary for a right relationship with God as we see in 2 Peter 1:3.
In your life and commitment you are now SET APART or different from others who do not know God. In this way we follow our heavenly father and as much as is possible demonstrate what it means to be holy.
Just as God’s holiness means that He is INVOLVED in the world, the same goes for you.
As one made holy, God calls you to be different than others.
He also calls you to be INVOLVED with others.
Jesus said:
Matthew 5:16, “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
The Christian life, lived in the imitation of God, is not a life of retreating from people, but a life of being involved with others so that they might come to know God as well.
How would you describe your God? He is HOLY! How would you describe your life since you have come to know Christ as Savior?
You are also HOLY! Not because of your own virtue, but because of the goodness of God. Because God is so good, we should live our lives consistently with what God has called us to be–HOLY!
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW AND STUDY
1. How did Jesus define eternal life according to John 17:30?
2. What does that Bible repeatedly say that God is? In other words, how does the Bible
describe God according to Isaiah 6:3 & Revelation 4:8?
3. What are the two concepts of holiness according to Hosea 11:8?
4. In what ways is God “separate”?
5. In what way has God been “involved” in your life?
6. Why does God share His holiness with us according to 2 Peter 1:4 & Ephesians 5:1?
7. As a person who has been made holy, in what ways are you now “separate” from our culture and world according to John 3:16, Romans 6:11-14 & 2 Peter 1:3?
8. As a person who has been made holy, in what ways do you think you can become “involved” in other peoples’ lives so that they might come to know God?
He said in John 17:3, “Now this is eternal life; that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”
Our first concern for your new walk with Christ is not so much that you know many things “about” God, but that you come to know God Himself as fully as possible.
Without question one of the most important attributes of God is that he is HOLY.
If someone asked you about one of your close friends, you might say, “He’s the most thoughtful person I’ve ever known.” How do you know? Because you have spent enough time with your friend to know he is thoughtful. The same is true of your relationship with God. As you spend more time with Him, learning about him and serving Him, you will realize that above all else He is HOLY.
The Bible tells us over and over again that God is holy.
The prophet Isaiah writes in Isaiah 6:3, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole world is full of His glory.”
Similarly, in the book of Revelation (Revelation 4:8) we find these words: “Holy, holy ,holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is , and is to come.”
Again, consider the words of Hannah. She prayed in 1 Samuel 2:2, “There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.”
The Bible speaks of God as holy hundreds of times.
So, what does that mean? What is the Bible trying to tell us when it says God is holy?
The idea of holiness carries with it two concepts which might seem contradictory, but are not. Holiness means both “Set Apart” and yet “With us” Separate and yet involved.
Hosea the prophet records God as saying:
Hosea 11:9, “I AM GOD, AND NOT MAN–THE HOLY ONE AMONG YOU.”
First, we see that GOD IS Set Apart or SEPARATE.
His nature is very different from ours:
God does not sin–we sin.
God is eternal— we all will die.
God is all powerful– We are very limited in power.
God knows all- We know so very little of all there is to know.
God is perfectly right in everything he does — we are often unfair toward others.
There is a very real sense in which God, by His very nature, is “separate” or “different” from man. As God says through Isaiah.
Isaiah 40:25,“To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?’ says the Holy One.”
Obviously, no one can be God’s equal because of the vast difference between God and man.
Second, we see that HE’S INVOLVED WITH US.
He describes Himself as “the Holy One among you.”
Although God’s nature and God’s ways are so different from ours, God still wants to be involved in the affairs of man.
He wants to make us holy!
Obviously, for us to be holy, it takes an act of God Himself!
There is no way, by our own power, that we can be holy.
But praise God! Because He is holy, He came in the form of Jesus Christ to take away our sins so that we might be holy!
2 Corinthians 5:21God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
At this point, you might ask an important question. “in what way am I really holy?”
You are not holy in our nature as God is but rather Your holiness is a shared attribute. God freely shares His holiness with you so that, as Peter says in 2 Peter 1:4, you “may participate in the divine nature”, or as Paul says in Ephesians 5:1, so that we might have the opportunity to be “imitators of God.”
This means that we too become set apart.
We no longer see the world as we once did
We are born again into a new family and a new way of thinking
You now have the promise of eternal life as we read John 3:16.
You now have turned away from a sinful way of living as revealed in Romans 6:11-14.
You now know everything that is necessary for a right relationship with God as we see in 2 Peter 1:3.
In your life and commitment you are now SET APART or different from others who do not know God. In this way we follow our heavenly father and as much as is possible demonstrate what it means to be holy.
Just as God’s holiness means that He is INVOLVED in the world, the same goes for you.
As one made holy, God calls you to be different than others.
He also calls you to be INVOLVED with others.
Jesus said:
Matthew 5:16, “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
The Christian life, lived in the imitation of God, is not a life of retreating from people, but a life of being involved with others so that they might come to know God as well.
How would you describe your God? He is HOLY! How would you describe your life since you have come to know Christ as Savior?
You are also HOLY! Not because of your own virtue, but because of the goodness of God. Because God is so good, we should live our lives consistently with what God has called us to be–HOLY!
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW AND STUDY
1. How did Jesus define eternal life according to John 17:30?
2. What does that Bible repeatedly say that God is? In other words, how does the Bible
describe God according to Isaiah 6:3 & Revelation 4:8?
3. What are the two concepts of holiness according to Hosea 11:8?
4. In what ways is God “separate”?
5. In what way has God been “involved” in your life?
6. Why does God share His holiness with us according to 2 Peter 1:4 & Ephesians 5:1?
7. As a person who has been made holy, in what ways are you now “separate” from our culture and world according to John 3:16, Romans 6:11-14 & 2 Peter 1:3?
8. As a person who has been made holy, in what ways do you think you can become “involved” in other peoples’ lives so that they might come to know God?
Posted in Basic Bible Study