But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. (1 Peter 1:15-16)
In my early years I unwittingly took these verses to say “Do holy.” Do this, don’t do that. This left me with an attempt to fit into a box of my understanding of what holiness should look like. Inevitably, this leads to an external perspective of holiness as primary.
In those days some of us thought we had a corner on holiness. In our zeal we were going to be farther to the right than the right. Then one day I met the Amish. They had us beat on externals—by a long shot. More importantly, over the years the Lord has shown me that holiness is accessing the Holy One to animate us. Any attempt at doing holy without being holy can only produce the form of godliness that denies its power.
The Scripture plainly says Be holy. What a difference! Then it explains how. God says, “Be ye holy; because I am holy.” Be holy because I AM holy, and since I am in you, you can be holy.
The imperative to be holy is in the passive voice. This means this is not something we do, but something we allow to be done. This grammatical point describes faith. Allow yourself to be holy by depending on the Holy One who indwells you to impart His holy life to you.
All of this indicates our focus must be on the object of faith: Jesus. The focus must not be on a list, because a list, as good as it may seem, has no power to enable. Do holy leads to flesh-dependence. Be holy leads to Spirit-dependence for Spirit-enabling. Since genuine holiness is the Holy One leading and living in us and through us, we must embrace a heartbeat for the Holy One.
John Van Gelderen
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Wouldn’t being Holy lead to a Holy Spirit dependance led list? For example, not cheating on your wife? Every Christian has lists, I’m sure it’s on your list to not cheat on your wife. How do you tell the difference if you don’t cheat on your wife because it’s part of a list and if it’s a Spirit led conviction and as a result you do the Mike Pence rule? You’re right, you usually can’t tell the difference. I say the focus on lists is a cop out to holy living and a put down to those following Spirit led… Read more »
I am happy to respond if you reveal your name.
Enjoyed the thoughts about being holy. I was just reading this morning from 1 John 3, specifically “In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.” In the previous verses he emphasizes “as you abide in Christ, you will not sin,” but in this verse the emphasis is made on the absence of righteous actions. One who is abiding in Christ will manifest the nature of Christ within by righteous doing. Seems to be a good balance. These verses beginning from… Read more »
Excellent points!
The article concludes by saying:
“Since genuine holiness is the Holy One leading and living in us and through us, we must embrace a heartbeat for the Holy One.” I’m a bit puzzled how this could be taken to imply deemphasizing doing right. Jesus living in us and through will always be doing right as a result of our being holy by accessing His holy life.
Sorry if I misread you on that. The very title of the article itself made it seem like you were pitting these two against each other. I see now that your view is balanced, and that you’re just emphasizing the origin of true holiness. Interestingly, James focuses on the opposite! Not the origin, but the outcome of our faith. So I think both are important. Sometimes Paul said, “I rest,” and other times he said, “I press.” Peter said “Let God make you holy,” and then “giving all diligence. A nice happy married couple!
I appreciate this article very much. I completely and enthusiastically agree that an external list does not automatically reflect God’s holiness. Although the outside does reflect to a degree the inside, it is not the main focus of God’s continued work of sanctification in a believer’s life. On the other hand there are lists in Scripture that does indicate whether a person is walking in the Spirit. One such list is found in Galatians 5 where the fruit of the Spirit is contrasted with the works of the flesh. Again, to the point of the article, the inspired list is… Read more »
Good thoughts! Galatians 5:22-23 is a great example of a right perspective. It is “the fruit of the Spirit” (not us), which implies the being holy through walking in the Spirit (Gal. 5:16) precedes any real manifestation of genuine holiness. The focus is not a given outcome or list (imitation holiness), but a walking in the provision of the leadership and power of the Spirit, which in turn manifests the character of Christ (impartation holiness).
I’m impressed with the idea of holiness being “something we allow to be done.” Thank you, Brother, for this jewel! Come, Holy Spirit!
The balance between (1) Spirit dependence and (2) individual exercising of the will is very important. In the New Testament, there are nearly 1,000 present, active, imperative commands, most of which are directed toward believers. (In 1 John, I believe the writer is emphasizing the latter of these two dynamics.) Holiness as a thing done by the Spirit upon a believer and holiness as a thing a believer does in active obedience to Christ were never meant to be parsed or divorced, but rather in a happy union. Thus James tells us, “Faith without works is dead.” Is it possible… Read more »
I was too long at the “do” stage–trying so hard to please God and those around me. I don’t think I’ve changed what I do very much. Now, in the “be” stage, I find that I’m often taking a step back to CHOICE. For me, the choosing, whether choosing to allow or to do or to be or to “look unto Jesus” (as Brother John just mentioned) has brought a lot of freedom and joy. I’m not into debating or criticising…just being thankful. I love Jesus, and I’m excited about what I see Him doing today!
Beautiful testimony!
I see what you’re saying. Clearly, someone who is trying to please other people by doing religious things is not being holy in any sense of the word. Holiness is a result of the Holy One living through us as we choose to actively obey His commands in the simple faith that He indeed is empowering us as He promised. If the “do stage” means that you’re trying to please God without an eye of faith to Him, that is bad (I’ve been there!). So, I see that. However, there’s nothing wrong with trying so hard to honor God and… Read more »
I think you are right.
As I said earlier, the article concludes by saying: “Since genuine holiness is the Holy One leading and living in us and through us, we must embrace a heartbeat for the Holy One.” This does not divorce the two, it reveals the key to doing holy is first being holy. There is no holiness apart from accessing the Holy One. Trusting to obey, not just obey. That is, trusting the indwelling Christ to impart His holy life to us so that our obedience is Spirit-enabled being holy, not merely imitating holy. The wording in 1 Peter places the focus on… Read more »
So would you say the answer to the question “Be Holy or Do Holy” is “Yes” since they are not divorced? As you said, “Trusting to Obey.”
Since God is quoted as saying “Be holy,” the answer must be “Be holy” from which the doing has the right source of life. One must flow from the other. This keeps the focus Christ-focused. In this precise sense, they are not on par with each other, one flows from the other.
How bout a compromise? “Be holy (1 Peter), so you can do holy (I John 3)” Is that fair?
😊 That works because allowing yourself to be holy keeps the focus on the object of faith who is the source of life for the doing.
Awesome!
It would be interesting to me to discover how many passive imperatives there are in the New Testament and how many active imperatives there are as it concerns Christian living. I’m thankful God does not deal with us on an ideal that ignores human frailty. Perhaps knowing the proportion of focus on passive imperatives to active imperatives would reveal something about us Christians and where we tend to falter most. Thanks for letting me be part of the discussion. Sometimes I get bored in Africa and just like to be part of hashing it out. I love living in the… Read more »
I’m grateful God meets us where we are—in our humanity. And He is glad to be with us there.
Me too! This morning, I read a Puritan prayer that seems to have such a good balance. “Grant that I may never trust my heart, depend upon any past experiences, magnify any present resolutions, but be strong in the grace of Jesus: that I may know how to obtain relief from a guilty conscience without feeling reconciled to my imperfections.”
Thanks Ruth! Holiness is not our attempt to do, but rather allowing Christ to lead and live through faith.
Amen!! It was so good to have you with us recently (even though I had to forgive you again for not bringing MaryLynn along). And God is still working here!!! It’s our own little revival, Brother! … Miracles and answered prayer! We are now at the edge of the evacuation orders for the Persimmon Ridge fire. We’ve prayed for opportunities for more outreach into our community and God is answering in His own way. We won’t be able to have in-house services in a couple of days because there is no room in our parking lot and yard — being… Read more »
Wow! I didn’t realize you were so close to the fire area. Thanks for your testimony of God working!
This comment responds to several of the comments. If you focus on holiness so you can do holy, it will either evade you or you will have the form of godliness that denies the power thereof. But if you focus on the Holy One and thus by faith access His life imparted to you, you will be holy and have holiness as a byproduct. Thus, the fruit of the Holy One will be manifested, not imitated. This is the point of the article. The “doing” is not divorced or separated from “being.” But the “doing” must flow from the “being”… Read more »
I John 3:1-7 seems to be clearly saying that our sonship with God and the focus/faith in that is for the very purpose of doing righteousness (holiness). “Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness (do holy) is righteous, even as he is righteous.” We are being told that our Lord’s plan from the beginning was to destroy the work of Satan, which was to bring sin into God’s perfect world. Praise God Christ has accomplished that plan in us through the impartation of His nature (seed). Now we can bring God’s kingdom to earth by living righteously.… Read more »
First John 3:1-7 is a great passage! It is worth noting that the doing righteousness of verse seven follows (outflow) the abiding in Jesus (abide is the picturesque term for dependence) of verse six. I do not think the emphasis I am making is overanalyzing. God said “Be holy” for a reason. It is legitimate to desire a good outcome. No debate. The question regards what our focus should be to get there. Since the law has no power to enable us, it must not be our focus, and therefore, object of dependence. If we focus on a list/law, then… Read more »
The focus of 1 John 3 is not on positional righteousness, but practical living righteousness. Yes it must flow from our position, but John focuses MORE on the outcome. This happens often in the Scriptures. People can have a tendency to fall into a passive sleep that they feel is “resting in faith in the Lord,” while going days and weeks and months without sharing the Gospel with people going to hell. Yet if you ask them, they will tell you “I’m resting in the Lord and waiting on Him.” We need to be careful of this, especially when it… Read more »
A correct theological position and emphasis will lead to a spiritual mindset and life like our Lord lived.
There is such a thing as dead orthodoxy. Life comes from Life Himself. I know this is your heart.
Love and appreciate what you and what your ministry there in Africa.
I have seen the difference between those who:
1 Depend on Jesus
and those that
2 Focus on depending on Jesus
and my personal experience is that the second one tends to be unhealthy, inactive, confused, and unproductive.
Well, it’s later in Africa than it is in America, so I’m signing out for the night!
The key is focusing on Jesus.
You mean a correct focus…Jesus.
Yes!
Passivity is a deception. But true Jesus focus never leads to passivity.
In 1 John chapters 2 through 4, the word “abide” occurs over 20 times. This keeps the focus on the Person from which the practical living flows.
So if believers are not actively obeying the Great Commission, are they abiding?
They may be abiding/trusting for other aspects, but obviously not for the Great Comission.
Do you believe that the “tests” found in 1 John are tests to prove whether or not a believer is truly abiding in Christ?
But my statement was that I John 3 is emphasizing practical righteousness, and that is still the truth.
Jesus focus: “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me and to finish His work.”
His focus was on the Father, as ours is to be on Him.
Yes, and it’s impossible to separate a focus on the Father from the doing of His will, just as it is impossible for us to separate a focus on Jesus from the doing of His will. 1 John 3:21-22 “Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we (1) keep his commandments, and (2) do those things that are pleasing in his sight.” We know from the following verse that His commandments are to believe and love (the Christian life in a nutshell). There is a second thing… Read more »
I quoted from John 4, and your response seems to be a correction of my quote. I think this simple Scripture can stand by itself. The Word of God does not need my clarification when it is very simple and straightforward. It is not healthy to take all Scriptures and shape them to make the point you are trying to make from another passage. Let each stand as they are meant to be understood.
To be specific and true to the verse, it says His focus was on doing the Father’s will. If a clarification was needed or important to the truth He was conveying, I trust He would have given it.
I’m going to move on, but I will conclude with this. Jesus would not have known the Father’s will without first looking to the Father. Again, the doing followed (as the outflow of) the being in fellowship with the Father. I believe this is the proper balance.
Sounds good. Thanks for the nice discussion.
Well said!!
The difficult thing here is that this is not always a choice someone is making (to focus on a list). Sometimes people sincerely want to honor God and don’t know exactly how to do that—how to “be holy.” I remember hearing your brother preach on this topic years ago at Marquette Manor and going into the office afterward to ask—how do I do this. I think I was searching for a formula of some kind because I didn’t understand. Sometimes people think this means following a list or checking a box because this is the only way they have seen… Read more »
You’re exactly right! Somehow accessing the person of the indwelling Jesus is missed or not emphasized, leaving people with doing without first being. Being holy is Jesus imparted to us and animating us. When Jesus is left out of our understanding, it results in the idea that being holy is doing this and not doing that. But unsaved moralists can do that too.
In the book of 1 Peter, there are 2 passive imperatives and about 15 active imperatives. From this, we can see just how important dependence on Christ for holiness is, as well as active exertions of the will to obey commands. Yes we must “look unto Jesus” as Hebrews 12 says, but we must also “run the race that is set before us.” I like how Hebrews 11 puts this together in one phrase, “By faith, Abraham obeyed…” When Peter says “Be ye holy…” he is quoting from three passages in Leviticus. All three of these passages are followed by… Read more »
F B Meyer – “Holiness is wholeness–that is, the whole-hearted devotion of a whole nature to God, the consecration of every power to His service. This leads us to lean hard on God, and to seek His companionship and fellowship.” Found this to be a very balanced statement