HOLINESS, HOLY – Encyclopedic Dictionary of Bible and Theology

type, DOC

see, SANCTIFICATION

vet, A. According to biblical revelation, holiness is: (a) A fundamental quality of God and His Spirit; (b) an indispensable virtue of every true believer; and (c) an attribute of certain places, objects, days, dates, actions, etc. B. The term Heb. “kadosh” means pure, physically, ritually, and especially morally and spiritually. Sometimes it should be translated “separated”, set apart, consecrated (cf. Lk. 2:23, citing Ex. 13:2). Certain authors present the concept of separation too exclusively, but it is true that purity consists in being separated from all contamination of all sin (cf. Lev. 19-22 where the order to be holy is repeated on several occasions) When Isaiah heard the seraphim proclaim: “Holy, holy, holy, Jehovah of armies!” Isaiah cried out: “Woe is me, for I am dead, because being a man of unclean lips, my eyes have seen the King …” Then was their iniquity removed and their sin atoned for (Isa. 6:2-7). Here we have expressed the purification to be holy. According to 2 Chron. 29:15 the Levites sanctify themselves in order to purify the house of Jehovah. Being holy is the opposite of being polluted (Hag. 2:12, 13; cf. Lev. 11:43, 44). C. The NT uses the term “hagios” which also sometimes means separate, consecrated, set apart (Luke 2:23), but more often “pure.” To be holy is to be without “spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing” (Eph. 5:26-27). And in 2 Cor. 7:1 we read: “Let us cleanse ourselves from all contamination of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” If sometimes it is a matter, in the OT, of questions of essentially ritual holiness, we have in it shadows that develop into teachings of profoundly spiritual and moral principles of holiness. In the ritual sanctity of the OT there are holy objects: places, dwellings, cities, garments, but, in a very special way, the Tabernacle and the Temple with everything that was used for worship. There were also holy convocations, a holy nation and people, etc. (Ex. 20:8; 30:31; 31:10; Lev. 21:7; 23:4; Num. 5:17). D. Our holiness is closely related to God’s. “You must therefore be holy to me, because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the peoples to be mine” (Lev. 20:26). If this passage mentions separation, the entire chapter also speaks of purity of conduct. E. About the holiness of God, the Bible declares the following: The holiness of God is the absolute and fundamental quality of him. His absolute purity, his immaculateness, manifests his dazzling and eternal glory. “Holy, holy, holy, Jehovah of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory” (Is. 6:3; 57:15). This holiness prompts us to worship: “Exalt the Lord our God, and bow down before his footstool; he is holy!” (Ps. 99:5; 103:1). “Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous, and praise the remembrance of his holiness” (Ps. 97:12; cf. Ex. 15:11; Is. 12: 6). God’s holiness is manifested both in his justice and in his love. His justice obliges him to punish the sinner; but it is inseparable from his love, that he wishes to save him. “I will not execute the fierceness of my anger, nor will I return to destroy… I am God… the Holy One…” (Hos. 11:9). A justice without love would not be holy; the implacable justice of a court is not. But a love without justice is not holy either; it is not the love without severity of a weak mother. The ark of the covenant illustrates this very well: the mercy seat, the golden cover on which the atoning blood was sprinkled, symbolizes the grace and love of God; but under this mercy seat was kept the scroll of the Law, which represented the justice of the God who forgives. Because God’s goal in forgiving is the restoration of the moral order. This is the essence of holiness, over which the two golden cherubim symbolically watched over. There are numerous biblical passages that closely associate justice and the love of God, the notion of holiness always being understood, at least in the context. The terms used are sometimes “faithfulness and kindness”, “wrath and mercy”, “punishment and grace”. The Decalogue affirms that God punishes iniquity, but also that he shows mercy (Ex. 20:5-6). Ps. 78:38; Isaiah 54:5-8; 57:15-18; 60:9-10; Ps. 98:1-3. The Lord reproaches the Pharisees for neglecting “justice and the love of God” (Lk. 11:42). Paul affirms that grace reigns through justice, and that “The fulfillment of the law is love” (Rom. 5:21; 11:22; 13:10). God’s holiness, on which ours depends, is thus in reality a combination of absolute justice or purity with infinite love. This leads us to verify that the supreme manifestation of the holiness of God comes to be the atoning death of his Son. Calvary’s cross is the sublime expression of the unity manifested between his severe justice and his redeeming love. Regarding the importance of the holiness of the believer, it is necessary to remember that Christ will return “to be glorified in his saints” (1 Thess. 1:10). (See SANCTIFICATION.)

Source: New Illustrated Bible Dictionary

1. Old Testament. Of qāḏôš“holy”, and qōḏeš, “holiness”, which appears more than 830 times. Of obscure etymology, the radical idea of ​​the Hebrew word, religiously considered, is that of separation and consecration: separation from what is common or unclean; consecration to what is divine, sacred, pure.
2. applied to god. It means (a) his separation from all creation and his transcendence over it; in short, his supremacy, majesty, and reverential glory, as in Ex. 3:4, 5; and (b) the immaculate character of his character as in Lev. 11:44, repeated at 1 Pet. 1:16.
3. Applied to objects and institutions. They are “holy” not in themselves, but in their use as things out of common use and dedicated to the service of God. Typical is the repeated use of “holy” in Exodus and Leviticus with reference to objects as diverse as the tabernacle and its furnishings, offerings, water, priestly garments, and the earth.
4. applied to humans. In these cases, “sanctity” usually points to a sanctity ceremonial which comes from having performed proper acts or rites of consecration, as in Ex. 29:1ff. On other occasions holiness points to a deeper level, and refers to the ethical justice of the human being, as in Ex. 19:2; Ps. 15:1ff.; Isaiah 57:15.

It is mainly the Psalms and the Prophets that depart from the ceremonial meaning of the word “holiness” in order to enrich the concept with a moral reality.

1. New Testament. It is expressed with the word hagiosits derivatives and cognates.
2. Usually: develops and completes the spiritual ethical aspect of OT holiness.
3. Specifically: 1. The state of those who, by faith, have been united with Christwhose perfect justice is imputed to them. Cf. 1 Cor. 1:30. However, this imputation of righteousness is not considered valid unless accompanied by that imparted holiness which must result from the believer’s union with Christ, who is described as himself being the denial and destruction of sin. Cf. 1 Jn. 2:1–6. two. The moral quality of character and actions of those who, because of the indwelling of the Spirit, partake of the nature of Christ and consent to be governed by him. Rom. 6:22; 2 Cor. 7:1; 1 Thes. 5:23; 1 Jn. 1:7; 3:6–9. Implicit in the moral nature of the Christian’s relationship with Christ is the moral impossibility of voluntary continuation in sin. Christ and sin cannot be at peace in the same heart. Note: The measure of holiness available to the Christian (whether in terms of the extent to which he partially and progressively extirpates, effectively counteracts, or entirely expels evil from human nature) is a question on which the theological tradition is divided, the main variants being Calvinist Augustinianism and Wesleyan Arminianism. 3. The implicit and ideal character of the whole body of Christ, the church, in that the corporate mark of holiness is seen in the fact of the church’s relationship to God through Christ. Cf. Eph. 1:4; 1 Pet. 2:9.

III. Church history. The following are the particular emphases found in the teaching and practices of Christian groups:

1. hidden holinessas in the case of early Gnosticism, in which the material order was considered evil and sanctity lay, therefore, in a certain perception or gnosis imparted to the initiate, namely, that the sanctification of the soul consisted in its exaltation above the sensory world, and its immersion in the pleroma or divine fullness.
2. mystical holinessas in the experience of those who exalt union with God in pure feeling and vision over the instrumentality of the Word of God, or even over the mediation of the Son of God.
3. sacramental holinessas in the case of Roman Catholicism with its teaching of grace objectively provided in the sacraments, and meritoriously achieved in the process of sanctification through works.
4. ascetic holinesslike that of monasticism in which it is argued that a life of retirement is holier than a life of work or a common vocation.
5. positional holinessin which the Christian is seen as “holy” by virtue of being “in Christ,” though inescapably sinful, but still submitted to Christ to strive for full sanctification through the means of grace and obedience to God. commandments.
6. experiential holiness. This point of view tries to walk the fine line that divides the concept of holiness as a perfection without sin (which is repudiated because it belongs only to Christ), and holiness as a perfection with sin (which is rejected because it does not do justice to Christ). the NT passages of deliverance and victory). This position teaches that it is now possible to achieve a pure heart, which is achieved by the power of the Holy Spirit, in communion with God in love.

Note: Those who wish to evaluate both sides of the question as to whether the holiness of the believer as presented, for example, in the First Epistle of John, is at best just a religious ideal with demanding implications, or whether it is an experience that can be achieved within the limits of human frailty, should read RN Flew, The Idea of ​​Perfection in Christian Theology, Oxford University Press, London, 1934, p. 92–117; G.G. Findley, Fellowship In The Life Eternal, Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1909, p. 253–269, and Charles Gore, The Epistles of St. JohnJohn Murray, London, 1920.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

HERE, Vol. 6, p. 731–759; A. Koeberle, The Quest for Holiness, p. 84–136; Harold Lindstrom, Wesley and Sanctification, p. 120–125; WE Sangster, The Path to Perfection, p. 113–117, 161–184; George Turner, The More Excellent Way.

Paul S Rees

HERE Hastings’ Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics

Harrison, EF, Bromiley, GW, & Henry, CFH (2006). Dictionary of Theology (558). Grand Rapids, MI: Challenge Books.

Source: Dictionary of Theology