It is written, "You shall be holy; for I am holy." - 1 Peter 1:16, World English; see Leviticus 11:44.
The Church must be holy; else God would never deal with them. This principle also applies to the angels; they must be holy in order to have the favor of Jehovah. And so mankind must become holy before they can be pleasing to the Father or have any fellowship with Him. God has a will for the sanctification of the whole world of mankind. But He is not exercising that will at present; He is now seeking only the class which is to compose the glorified Church of the future. -- Excerpt from "Church Called to Sanctification", Sermon by C. T. Russell.
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The Greek word for "holy" signifies "set apart", meaning something that is set apart for some special purpose. The same word is also often translated as "saint", which refers to one who is consecrated / dedicated to the service of God. While many may consecrate or dedicate themselves for this or that purpose, or even to God, in the end, it is God Himself, through Christ, that makes one truly holy (consecrated). Our own holiness or consecration to Jehovah, our God, can only be through our heart, as we always seek to bring every thought into subjection to Jehovah's will. (2 Corinthians 10:4,5) Such consecration involves constant attention in all our waking hours. It is not something that can be put on for a few hours of this or that service a week. While our minds can have such complete submission to the will of God, we will still, however, fall short in our flesh, because our flesh still has the frailties of the sinful flesh, made sinful due to the disobedience of Adam. Nevertheless, at the same time, what we think, what is found in our heart, will affect our conduct in the flesh, so that the closer we come to perfection in holy thinking, the more our flesh will respond in that direction. (Luke 6:45) Thus, the goal of our mind should be absolute holiness, a mind that is constantly set on and trusting Jehovah and His son. -- Isaiah 26:3; Philippians 4:7; 1 Corinthians 1:9. -- Ronald R. Day, Sr.
Other comments:
Jesus, through his life, and through the things he taught carried a message of mercy, a message of peace, and even to the Jews who failed to keep the law, he said they were to be holy. The Jews, however, had been for centuries trying to be holy through obedience to law, but they had failed since sinful flesh will always fall short of the glory of God. Now, however, their Messiah had come, and things were different. Jesus' sacrifice of himself provided a way that those Jews could become dead to law, but regenerated as a child of God. -- RRD.
As new creatures in Christ, we can be fully holy. Nevertheless, this does not mean that we in our bodies of sinful flesh are able to keep God's law in the absolute sense, any more than the Jews. The child of God does not keep God's Law in the sense that we totally and fully no longer have any imperfection of word, thought or actions. Through faith in Christ's sacrifice for us, however, all our imperfections, all our sins, are counted as being canceled due to faith in Christ. Thus, in God's sight, they do not exist. God looks upon us as sinless new creatures apart from the sinful flesh, and thus the new creature keeps the spirit of the Law in the heart, although the fallen flesh will fall short in doing so -- RRD..
As new creatures in Christ, we can be fully holy. Nevertheless, this does not mean that we in our bodies of sinful flesh are able to keep God's law in the absolute sense, any more than the Jews. The child of God does not keep God's Law in the sense that we totally and fully no longer have any imperfection of word, thought or actions. Through faith in Christ's sacrifice for us, however, all our imperfections, all our sins, are counted as being canceled due to faith in Christ. Thus, in God's sight, they do not exist. God looks upon us as sinless new creatures apart from the sinful flesh, and thus the new creature keeps the spirit of the Law in the heart, although the fallen flesh will fall short in doing so -- RRD..
