What Is Holiness According To The Bible? Biblical meaning

The scriptures speak of holiness very often, more than a thousand times. It begins with the holiness of God himself, but when it talks about the holiness of the temple, sacrifices, worship and people, the Bible correctly shows his closeness to God, sanctification by his presence, consecration and exaltation. What is holiness according to the bible? is what we all ask ourselves at some point in our lives.

Commentators often claim that the essence of this holiness of God is otherness and separateness from the world. However, this is not exact. “Sacred” is not a taboo or something from another world.

Holiness is not associated with separation from the world, as it was later associated with the monks or in Judaism with the Pharisees – its own name is “separated” in Hebrew. Nor is holiness associated with human activity in the world.

We are inclined to proclaim holy Christians who have done something. The biblical perspective makes it clear that these may be fruits of holiness, but at the heart of it is its essence. He is close to God.

What is holiness according to the bible?

The word “holy” first expresses the very nature of God, the source of holiness, and especially his majesty. “For so says the High and Exalted, whose capital is eternal, and the Holy Name: I dwell in a high and holy place.” (It’s 57.15).

However, this does not mean that God is distant, as we continue to read: “I am with a repentant and humble man.” Holiness is associated with power and glory. “Holy” as one of the names of God often expresses the proximity of God as creator, redeemer, savior. “Great is the Holy One of Israel among you.” (Is 12.6); nor: “In the midst of you am I, the Holy One.” (Oz 11.9). Therefore, God is both high and near (cf. Deut. 4:7).

What is holiness according to the bible? Holiness has two faces. First: it involves participation in the life of the Holy God three times, that is, in the holiness of God.

Lin the face of Christian holiness; This holiness of being is manifested in life through good, holy and pious conduct. Objective holiness results in love, goodness, and peace. S t. Paul will say that faith in the Holy Three times results in love, it works through love. They are complementary faces and not alternatives.

A holy man is one who participates in the life of the Holy God three times and lives with blessings, love and goodness. It is not enough for him to be a good person and love people. You must also love God and participate in God’s holiness. The Bible calls the saints “men of God.” The saints are the people of God.

The second face of holiness is morality

Holy conduct, holy life. Participation in God’s holiness and love must bear fruit in everyday Christian life. Today’s Gospel points out this aspect of holiness. Saints in the evangelical sense are people who live blessings; Saints are the people of the eight blessings.

Blessings are a difficult and arduous path; it is the ladder that leads to the Throne of the Sacred Throne; It is a path of oppression, poverty, persecution and crying. However, it leads to the kingdom of God and glory.

Let’s look at at least a few blessings that lead directly to glory: “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy“(Mt 5,7); predetermined: they will be from God. To show mercy means to forgive, sympathize and sympathize with the poor and needy.

Mercy is the pinnacle of Christian subtlety. “B”Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Mt 5,8). The heart in biblical language means conscience.

Pure-hearted people are fair, crystal-clear, honest. Such people will look, they will contemplate the Holy Three times. In these people, ontic (living) holiness will meet moral holiness. Such people will show God with their lives. Like Jesus, they will be an icon of the Holy God three times.

“blessed those who suffer persecution for justice, because theirs is the kingdom of heaven“(Mt 5:10). Because the kingdom of heaven suffers violation and the violators win it (cf. Mt 11:12). These people include the martyrs of the Church.

John Paul II during the Jubilee year mentioned many martyrs of the Church in the 20th century. He beatified 108 Polish martyrs who were killed during World War II. In his last blessing, Jesus assures the persecuted of his great reward.

The New Testament refers to such a vision of holiness. He mentions God the Father as a saint; this is usually associated with prayer (Rev 4:8 to Is 6:3; Rev 6:10, cf. 15:4; 16:5; Lk 1:49; Jn 17:11). God is also the one who sanctifies and exemplifies holiness (Jn 10:36; 17:17; 1Thes 4:23; 1Tm 4:5; Rom 6:22; Heb 12:10).

Already in the Hebrew Bible, the spirit of God is called the spirit of holiness or sanctification (Ps 51:13; Is 61:10). This is very common in later Jewish texts. According to the New Testament, the Holy Spirit works in Christians. He is holy with the holiness of God and at the same time sanctifies people with his presence.

The holiness of people

According to the holiness of the people of God comes from their relationship with God. This applies to the religious community, sanctified by God, and not necessarily to its individual sinful members. “The whole congregation is holy and the Lord is in the midst of it.” (Lb 16,3). A nation is as holy as God’s property and a priestly people.

The holiness of people is mentioned in the Old Testament mainly in the plural. In addition to the sanctity of the people of God, which is a frequent theme, we will find statements about the cult of priests. Sanctification before worship also applies to common people and also refers to collective acts.

We are used to calling saints especially pious and moral living people or martyrs for the faith. So we may be surprised when we realize that Scripture says little about such people and rarely mentions individual holiness. Because it wasn’t until the fourth century that these people were called “saints.”

So the statement about John the Baptist is quite exceptional: “Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just and holy man.” (Mk 6.20). Other occasional mentions: Aaron is a “saint of the Lord” (Ps 106,16; cf. Syr 45,6). Elisha is “the holy man of God.” (2Krl 4.9).

The prophet Jeremiah was sanctified before his birth (Jer 1:5); the Book of Wisdom (Mdr 11:1) calls Moses “a holy prophet.” (cf. Syr 45.2.4). Several more such references use the word “Nazi” – dedicated, consecrated a charismatic.

This is in some contrast to the current individual understanding of the word “holy”, although at the same time it announces the idea of ​​the feast of All Saints. At the same time, he reminds us that God liked to sanctify the human community, that the Church is called to holiness, not just the chosen, individual saints. The saints are not isolated from their environment, they have received many gifts from God together with others or through others, and they go to God together with them.

The holiness of Jesus Christ

What is holiness according to the Bible referring to Christ? In the old testament Christ is mentioned as the person with the greatest holiness. As the holiness of his whole person concerns both his divinity and his humanity.

The holiness of God is related to an extract from the Apocalypse of Saint John (Revelation 3:7; indirectly Rom 1:4; 1P 1:15; 3:15; 1J 2:20; Lk 1:35). Other texts speak of holiness rather in terms of the role of Jesus, similar to the holiness of the great figures of the Old Testament (Mk 1,24; Jn 6,69; 10,26; 17,19; Acts 3,14 ; Acts 4,27.30). Let us list the imputation of chastity, impeccability, perfection to Jesus from the close references.

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