Exactly Who is Holy?

In my last blog, I wrote about how I have experienced a shift in my views on a number of pivotal matters over the past few years. I indicated that I would be writing about some of those changes in my thinking in blogs to follow. I described how I have moved away from the Calvinist perspective I held for over twenty five years when I began to try to reconcile the fact that "God is love" with the viewpoint that Jesus actually only died for the elect. My opinion then was that not everybody is elect. It was by realizing that the Greek word for "all" actually has two legitimate definitions and the only thing I needed to align my understanding of salvation (soteriology) with my view of God's nature (theology)was to recognize that "all" does indeed mean every person, not every type of person, as I had previously held. (You can read my last blog to see my thoughts on that matter.)

Now I'd like to set forth another change in how I think now from the way I understood a matter in the past. It's about the issue of who is holy and who isn't. God has shown me that I shouldn't call any man unholy. That's right. Nobody. If me telling you that causes you to want to click a new link to get away from this blog, read the next paragraph first. Then if you still want to go away, well - okay.

When I say that God has shown me that I shouldn't call any man unholy, I am actually quoting a Bible verse. When speaking in the house of Cornelius, the Apostle Peter said this: "You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean" (Acts 10:28,emphasis added). Peter was referring to Cornelius, a man who was not a believer at the time Peter said those words. In essence he said, "God told me not to call Cornelius unholy." Let's back up and look at the context of his statement.

In Acts 10:9-16, God gave Peter a vision of a blanket descending from heaven with all kinds of animals in it, both clean and unclean. The Lord spoke to Peter and told him to kill and eat the animals. Seeing the unclean animals there and being a devout Jew who would never eat any kind of unclean animal, Peter protested. "There's no way, Lord! I've never eaten anything unholy or unclean!"

The key to us understanding this vision is to recognize that God wasn't trying to teach Peter something about animals. He was teaching him something about people. He was about to direct Peter to the house of Cornelius, a Gentile. That commission was going to take some advance preparation if Peter was to go there. As he pointed out to them when he got to Cornelius' house, it was unlawful for a man who was a Jew "to associate with a foreigner (Gentile) or visit him" (Acts 10:28). Gentiles were considered to be unholy and unclean and no respectable Jew would go into a Gentile's home. But Peter had something to learn about how far reaching God's grace is.

His response to being told to eat the animals was in perfect alignment with his religious training. Jews don't eat pork. It's that simple. But God is interested more interested in people than pork, so He didn't mince words when He told Peter not to call unholy what He had made holy.

Peter got the message and about that time there was a knock at the door. "Go downstairs and accompany them without misgivings, for I have sent them Myself," God told Peter. (Acts 10:20) So off this Jewish evangelist went to a Gentile's house. With a new mindset and a message Cornelius needed to hear.

Cornelius was what we often call today "a seeker." He wasn't a believer when Peter got there. In fact, when he came to the door and saw Peter he fell down and started to worship him until Peter made him get up. (See Acts 10:25-26) It's important to understand what I just wrote: Cornelius was not a believer when Peter arrived at his house. Later, when Peter was explaining why He went to there and what happened, he described what Cornelius had said to him about how an angel appeared to him and told him that Peter "will speak words to you by which you will be saved, you and all your household" (Acts 11:14). Again, once more for emphasis, I encourage you to take note that Cornelius was not a believer when Peter came to his house.

Peter walked into his house and once inside, the first thing he said to the group was, "You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean." In other words, "I know you're all wondering why I'm breaking the rules about coming into the house of an unholy and unclean man. Well, here's why: God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean."

Was Cornelius a believer at the time Peter said that? No, he was not. Was he holy when Peter spoke those words? I think the Lord had made that quite clear to Peter already, don't you? The man was already holy, before he believed.

Let's go back to the statement I made at the beginning of this blog: God has shown me that I shouldn't call any man unholy. If it bothers you for me to suggest such a thing, what are you going to do with the fact that He showed Peter the same thing?

In an earlier blog, I wrote about the vocabulary we use in regard to faith and how we need to make sure we are using the right definition when we use words to define and describe our faith. "Holy" is a word that is widely misunderstood in the church world. Many think it refers strictly to the way a person lives. It is generally associated with a squeaky-clean lifestyle like one might imagine a monk or a nun or maybe a really great pastor to live. (I won't take the time to ruin your illusion about that opinion right now.)

The word "holy" isn't a word that refers to a lifestyle as much as it denotes something else. For instance, we refer to the "Holy Bible" but realize that a Bible isn't holy because it behaves a particular way. It doesn't behave any way. It's a book.

Holy is the Greek word, hagios and means "to be set apart; to dedicate or consecrate." It is the same word that is often translated as "saint" in the New Testament. The word has to do with God's choice of a person, not how a person behaves.

So Cornelius was a holy man because God had set His heart on Him to have him for Himself. That's what make anybody holy. If God has chosen to love us, we are holy. If He has set us apart as somebody He wants, we are holy. Many believe (as I did for years) that God only loves the elect and does not love those who are not the elect, but the good news of the gospel is this: In Jesus Christ you are elect! Your God wants you! He has dealt with the sin of those He has chosen and that makes them holy, regardless of whether they know it, believe it, feel it or act like it. We don't make ourselves holy. He does. If Christ came to save you, then you are holy. Who did Jesus Christ come to save? He came to seek and to save those who are lost. (See Luke 19:10) He gathered up Adam's race into Himself and dealt with our sin, once for all. That makes us holy. "He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy . . ." (Colossians 1:22). This verse suggests that anybody who has been reconciled has been made holy and "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself" (2 Corinthians 5:19).

We must reject the idea that holiness is contingent upon how a person behaves or even believes. That view is legalism in its most raw form. Holiness comes from what Christ has done for us. If He died for somebody, He has chosen that person and if He has chosen them, they are holy. After all, did Jesus die for anybody He doesn't really want? Of course not!

Hebrews 10:10 says, "We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (NIV). Who has been made holy? We have. Who are the "we" in this verse? Those for whom Jesus sacrificed His body. And who is that? Once for all.

I know this teaching can raise questions that stem from misunderstanding, so I will state a few disclaimers here in an attempt to avoid being misunderstood.

I am not saying that everybody is a Christian. A Christian is one who expresses faith in Christ. I am saying that everybody is included in the work of Jesus at the cross and has been made holy by God but for that reality to have personal meaning to us, we must believe it. But we are holy whether we believe it or not. God's truth is not nullified by our unbelief. The Apostle Paul asked, "What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it?" (Romans 3:3) What Jesus did, He did, whether we believe it or not.

Some will say that Acts 10 is about how that all people groups, and not just Jews, are those God wants. Their argument is, "This is teaching that it's not only Jews who are God's chosen people now but all nations and ethnic groups have been chosen by Him." I wouldn't disagree that all nations have been chosen, but it's not just about nations. It's individual people for whom Jesus died. Peter said that God showed him not to call any man unholy or unclean. Jesus didn't just die for people in every people-group. He died for every person. That makes every person holy.

What difference does it make whether we see every person as holy or not? The difference is that we will either see people the way our Father sees them - included in the work of the cross, loved, having great value, and being chosen by Him (made holy), as evidenced by the fact that Christ died for them - or we will see them as standing on the other side of a line we have imagined in our minds. It's an imaginary line that divides the "haves" from the "have-nots."

The truth is that there are no haves and have-nots in God's economy. We are all included in the finished work of Jesus at the cross. It wasn't just for those who have believed it. He tasted death for everybody. (See Hebrews 2:9) Our joy is to declare to every person that their Creator loves them and has chosen them for His own. As we proclaim that good news (the gospel), we will draw people in as opposed to repelling them, which is what religion does.

As we proclaim to them what Jesus has already accomplished for them and they believe it, those who are lost will discover they have been found and those who are blind will begin to see. Those who are dead to what He has done will come alive to the truth of being in Christ. In discovering and seeing and coming alive to what Jesus has done for them, they will be "born again" and begin to enjoy the Life that is ours in Christ. They will delight in knowing that they were holy before the messenger ever got to their door. They will thrill in knowing that God demonstrated His love toward humanity in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (See Romans 5:8) And when He did that, everything changed for everybody. The work of the cross is so much bigger than we have known!

Let's tell others about this and watch what happens. There is indeed power in the proclamation of the finished work of Jesus Christ for mankind. Tell people about it and you'll see for yourself.