Exploring Holiness--Galatians

Analysis

The Greek words used in Galatians and Ephesians in which we will be studying are as follows:

ἅγιος: 1. as adjective pertaining to being dedicated or consecrated to the service of God

1. in the cultic sense dedicated to God, holy, sacred, i.e. reserved for God and God’s service:

ἁγιασμός: personal dedication to the interests of the deity, holiness, consecration, sanctification. Kittle: sanctifying, i.e. a process.

ἁγιωσύνη: Holiness.  Kittle: “This rare word, formed from the adjective ἅγιος by extension of the o to ω after a short syllable as an abstract term of quality, in the same way as δικαιοσύνη is formed from δίκαιος, is not found in pre-biblical Greek.  It means ‘sanctification’ or ‘holiness’ rather than ‘sanctifying’, but as a quality rather than a state.”

ἁγιάζω: 1.  set aside something or make it suitable for ritual purposes, consecrate, dedicate of things.  2. include a person in the inner circle of what is holy, in both cultic and moral associations of the word, consecrate, dedicate, sanctify.  3. to treat as holy, reverence.  4. to eliminate that which is incompatible with holiness, purify

Inferred Holiness Passages

The most surprising thing about Paul’s letter to the Galatians is that not one of our words appear in his letter!  The letter represents Paul’s argument that a christian can’t complete his/her salvation by performing the works of the Jewish law.  Holiness is inferred throughout the letter.  We will look at a few of the passages.

Galatians 1:6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—  7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.  8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse! 

10 Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant (slave) of Christ. 

We will find out later that these people were from the church in Jerusalem and they were telling the Galatians that they had to start observing the Jewish law.  Paul calls this “a different, perverted gospel” and the ones who teach such a thing should be accursed and it doesn’t matter who it comes from!

Galatians 3:1 You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? 4 Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain?  5 So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?

One of my favorite Pauline expressions is Ὦ ἀνόητοι Γαλάται (O foolish Galatians), but what we call foolish here really means “unintelligent” or even “dull-witted” as the word is derived from νοῦς (the mind/intellect/understanding).  With the alpha in front of the word, we get the opposite of “the mind/intellect/understanding”.  I hate to say this, but this expression fits many Christians today!  Why would anyone think that by “doing things”, they can complete salvation?  Of course, one must obey what God has given us to obey, but the contrasts between observing the Jewish law and living in the Spirit can’t be overlooked!  The Galatians received the Spirit by what they heard, and not by performing the Jewish law.  Paul’s point is that no one can complete their own salvation by doing “stuff”.  We can only do what we first did when we received the Spirit, that is to walk in the Spirit.  The argument here is that the Galatians didn’t receive the Spirit by performing the law, so why would they think that performing the law now affects their salvation in any way?

Galatians 3:10 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” 11 Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.” 12 The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, “The person who does these things will live by them.”  13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.”

In this passage, Paul quotes four OT passages.  The first one is from Deut. 27:26.  The second one is from Hab. 2:4.  The third one is from Lev. 18:5.  The last one is from Deut. 21:23.

Paul’s point is that no one under the law could keep the law.  Therefore, the ones who try to keep the law are under a curse because they couldn’t keep it.  This goes back to the teaching in Romans chapter 7 where the sinful nature of people turned God’s holy law into a curse.  The law enticed people to sin.  In other words, when Paul heard the law say “don’t covet”, he then started “coveting everything”!  The only way out of this was the ultimate sacrifice, Jesus, who because a curse for us so that we could be redeemed from the curse.  Trying to keep the law only leads to death because no one can keep it fully.

Galatians 4:8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. 9 But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? 10 You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! 11 I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.

This precedes Paul’s allegory on the “free woman” and the “slave woman” where Sarah represents the “Christians not under the law”, or “the Jerusalem above” who is free from the “law”, who had Isaac by way of God’s promise.  Hagar represents “Jews under the law”, or the “Jerusalem now”, who gave birth Abraham’s son Ismael, who was not by the promise.  This is important to understand in order to understand Paul’s “set-up” here.

Paul refers to the Galatians’ pagan past and how they were “slaves” in that life-style to idols that were not really gods at all.  Now that they know the one true God, Paul wants to know why they would want to go back to being slaves under the same “weak and miserable forces”, thus being slaves again to something much like the paganism which they came out of.   As indicated in the holiness studies in Romans and 2 Corinthians, Paul places Judaism in the same boat as paganism.  Here it is the same.  The Galatians are so embedded into Judaism that they had started keeping the Jewish calendar which makes me wonder why some of us hold to that tradition.

Galatians 4:12 I plead with you, brothers and sisters, become like me, for I became like you. You did me no wrong.  13 As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you,  14 and even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself. 15 Where, then, is your blessing of me now? I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me.  16 Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?

When Paul first came to the people in Galatia, he had some type of illness, possibly in his eyes.  The Galatians looked past this and completely accepted Paul in spite of his illness.  But now, the Galatians are doing something quite different.  They have let their “flawed theology” stand in the way of how they should treat Paul.  And yes, “flawed theology” is appropriate here.  The Galatians have become so convinced that the law will complete their salvation that they are now opposing Paul!  When they first were “living by the Spirit”, the Galatians loved Paul for who he was, but now while “living by the law”, they see Paul as the enemy!  This really hits home that a little perversion can turn people so quickly.

Galatians 5:13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.  14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. 

16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.  24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. 

As was stated in the 2 Corinthians Study, we can’t make ourselves holy, but we can stand in the way of the Holy Spirit’s refining work in us.  Paul warns the Galatians that their freedom from the law doesn’t give them the freedom to do whatever they want to.  He goes through a long lists of “do nots” that represent their pagan past.  He makes it very plain that people who do such things, can’t inherit the kingdom of God.

Life in the Spirit, on the other hand, produces fruit in a person.  The passions and desires of the past have been crucified with Jesus.  Paul then reminds the Galatians that they shouldn’t be conceited or as BDAG defines κενόδοξος: “pertaining to having exaggerated self-conceptions, conceited, boastful”.  When my wife was growing up, the young people had coined a phrase for such people.  They would say “that girl thinks herself yeah!”  The same is true today.  God is the one at work in us and deserves all of the glory for it.  We are only his tools in the kingdom.

Galatians 6:1 Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.  2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. 4 Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, 5 for each one should carry their own load. 6 Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor.

The final passage that we will look at is found in Chapter 6.  Paul now shows the biggest difference between the Jewish law and the Christ’s law.  To put this perspective, one must compare what Paul says here about what to do if someone is caught in sin to what would have happened if they were caught in sin under the Jewish law.  Let’s just look at one:

Leviticus 20:10 “ ‘If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress are to be put to death.’ ”

What should be obvious from 6:1, is that Christians who live in the Spirit should not treat people caught in sin the same way that the Jewish law did.  Where under the law, an adulterer was killed, under Christ’s law, one is corrected and restored “gently”.  That is, don’t outcasts the ones who have sinned, but help them to overcome it and to get back on the right track.  All people can fall under temptation, so help the ones caught in sin as you would want to be helped if you were to fall to temptation!

A theme throughout Paul’s letters is to “put other peoples’ interest above your own interests”.  That is to help the ones around you and don’t think that you are “the man”.  By doing so, you are only fooling yourself.  In other words, those things that you do can’t lead you to salvation, nor should they be compared to what others do.  Remember, we are all part of the body of Christ and every part is of equal value in the Kingdom (Romans 12; 1 Corinthians 12).  You are responsible for that God has given you to exercise it.  This is your “load” in the kingdom.  If what God has given you helps someone in the kingdom, it’s ok for you to be proud of what God is doing through you, but you are just one cog in the wheel of the body.

Final Thoughts

So what resembles the Jewish law today?  There are many things that christians do today that resemble that Old Covenant Law.  Probably the greatest one is how we treat fellow christians who have been caught in sin.  Although we will not physically put them to death, we are guilty at time of putting them to death spiritually.  The body of Christ is to encourage, not destroy.

Exploring Holiness--2 Corinthians

Analysis

The Greek words used in 2 Corinthians in which we will be studying are as follows:

ἅγιος: 1. as adjective pertaining to being dedicated or consecrated to the service of God

1. in the cultic sense dedicated to God, holy, sacred, i.e. reserved for God and God’s service:

ἁγιασμός: personal dedication to the interests of the deity, holiness, consecration, sanctification. Kittle: sanctifying, i.e. a process.

ἁγιωσύνη: Holiness.  Kittle: “This rare word, formed from the adjective ἅγιος by extension of the o to ω after a short syllable as an abstract term of quality, in the same way as δικαιοσύνη is formed from δίκαιος, is not found in pre-biblical Greek.  It means ‘sanctification’ or ‘holiness’ rather than ‘sanctifying’, but as a quality rather than a state.”

ἁγιάζω: 1.  set aside something or make it suitable for ritual purposes, consecrate, dedicate of things.  2. include a person in the inner circle of what is holy, in both cultic and moral associations of the word, consecrate, dedicate, sanctify.  3. to treat as holy, reverence.  4. to eliminate that which is incompatible with holiness, purify

Passages where Paul calls the Corinthians “holy ones”.

2Corinthians 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God in Corinth, together with all his holy people ἁγίοις throughout Achaia:

2Corinthians 8:4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people ἁγίους.

2Corinthians 9:1 There is no need for me to write to you about this service to the Lord’s people ἁγίους.

2Corinthians 9:12 This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people ἁγίων but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.

Below contains “holy ones” and “holy kiss”.

2Corinthians 13:12 Greet one another with a holy ἁγίῳ kiss. 13 All God’s people ἅγιοι here send their greetings.

Passages on the Holy Spirit:

2Corinthians 6:6 in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy ἁγίῳ Spirit and in sincere love;

2Corinthians 13:14 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy ἁγίου Spirit be with you all. 

Holiness Passages:

2Corinthians 6:14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said:

  “I will live with them

and walk among them,

and I will be their God,

and they will be my people.”

17   Therefore,

  “Come out from them

and be separate,

says the Lord.

Touch no unclean thing,

and I will receive you.”

18   And,

  “I will be a Father to you,

and you will be my sons and daughters,

says the Lord Almighty.”

2Corinthians 7:1 Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness ἁγιωσύνην out of reverence for God.

This is, by far, the most significant “holiness” passage found in 2 Corinthians.  The first thing that must be look at is Paul’s phrase: Μὴ γίνεσθε ἑτεροζυγοῦντες ἀπίστοις (Don’t become unevenly yoked with unbelievers).  First off, Paul’s imagery comes from the OT Law (Lev. 19:19 and Deut. 22:10).  The OT imagery contains both the aspect of two different species connected together by a yoke in order to plow a field.  Of course, proper work can’t be accomplished if the species are different.  One may be stronger than the other, thus one pulls the other off track.  On may not be as disciplined the other animal, thus resulting in no work being done.  The imagery from Lev. 19:19 in the cross breeding of different animals would probably interfere with the cross-breed having the ability to work properly.  Whatever the reason for Paul’s statement, it is clear that believers should not be yoked together with unbelievers.  Of course, we must define “unbelievers” in this context which Paul does for us in verse 16.  Paul is dealing with paganism as he had to deal with it in his 1 Corinthians’ letter.

Paul starts contrasting between believers and pagans with with his rhetorical questions that goes down to verse 16.  What should be obvious is that Paul means that there is no way for believers and pagans to have anything in common.

For what do righteousness and wickedness (ἀνομίᾳ:lawlessness) have in common? 

Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 

What harmony (συμφώνησις:shared interests) is there between Christ and Belial? 

Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 

What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols?

We found out in 1 Corinthians that the Corinthians (and we) are the “temple of God/Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19).  There are a couple of Greek words that are translated as “temple”.  1.ἱερόν and 2. ναός.  Much of the time, the ναός was the actual room that a deity would set in the Greco-Roman world.  Therefore the ναός was the sanctuary or shrine of the god.  If we place ναός in the Jewish/Christian sense, then ἱερόν would represent the whole temple complex while the ναός would be the “holy of holies”, the actual place where God dwells.  This is what’s inferred in Paul’s use of “the temple of God”.

Paul then quotes “promises” from Lev. 26:12; Jer. 32:38; Ezek. 37:27 (quote 1), Isaiah 52:11; Ezek. 20:34, 41 (quote 2), and Ex 4:22; 2Sa 7:14; 1Ch 17:13; Isa 43:6 (quote 3).

After the setup, Paul now moves into our verse 7:1.  What should be obvious from the holiness study on 1 Corinthians, is that some of the Corinthians had flawed theology.  They thought that since they “lived in the Spirit”, they could do whatever they wanted with their bodies.  This “flaw” not only affected their “body” in becoming a defiled temple in which the Holy Spirit couldn’t stay in (implied in the text), it also shows just how much their “spiritual” life was affected.  With that in mind, Paul is reminding the Corinthians that being involved with paganism in any way, shape, or form is wrong.

The Corinthian believers were to cleanse themselves of being influenced by pagans who worshiped idols.  For if they didn’t, they would defile both their σαρκὸς καὶ πνεύματος (flesh/body and spirit), the outside and the inside.  Looking back to 1 Corinthians, it was the Corinthians theology that was flawed.  It was flawed by their flirting again with paganism and all of the evil associated with it.  The Corinthians “wanted” to participate in some of the paganism, so they changed their mind as to what it meant to be “defiled”.  

12 “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything.  13 You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” 1 Corinthians 6: 12-13

By going back to paganism, they were not only defiling their bodies, which houses the Holy Spirit, they were defiling their inner being; their spiritual being.  The Holy Spirit can’t stay in a defiled house.  So, the more the Holy Spirit is away, the less He can refine one’s inner spirit.

That gets us to our final phrase in verse 1, ἐπιτελοῦντες ἁγιωσύνην ἐν φόβῳ θεοῦ (perfecting/completing holiness in the fear/reverence of God).  As we learned in the holiness study in Romans (1:1-7), ἁγιωσύνη is the “quality” of holiness.  Paul sets this in contrast to Jesus’ early life with his now being appointed “the son of God in power through the Spirit of Holiness ἁγιωσύνης” when he was raised from the dead.  It was the pure quality of this holiness that raised Jesus from the dead.  In the same way, we will be raised by the same Spirit.

It has been well established up unto this point that the Holy Spirit is the only one who can make a person holy.  God calls, God chooses, and God fills.  God also refines, renews, and encourages.  It is a process, but in the end, God will obtain in us that “quality” of holiness that was instrumental in raising Jesus from the dead.  He will do the same for us if we follow his commands to keep away from defiling ourselves both bodily and spiritually; both outside and inside.  Only we can stand in the way.  If we continue to sin, we try to find justification as to why we do it.  We create our own “theology” around why it is ok to do so.  But, all of the flawed theology in the world can’t deliver a person from God’s wrath.  Only God can do that.  If we continue in sin, we only end up being those people that God separated us from when we were called and chosen, thus losing our inheritance. 

Inferred Holiness Passages?

In Chapter 3, Paul reflects on Israel and they’re being “veiled” from the truth of Jesus Christ.  Paul says that when people come to the Lord, the veil is removed.  This leads to Paul’s most famous passage in verse 17.

17 ὁ δὲ κύριος τὸ πνεῦμά ἐστιν· οὗ δὲ τὸ πνεῦμα κυρίου, ἐλευθερία

17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. (my translation)

We learned from our Study in Romans that Paul places the Jewish law in the same place as he puts paganism.  (From the Study in Romans) “Jews were “slaves to sin” because of their sinful nature and how they couldn’t keep the Jewish law.  Gentiles were “slaves to sin” because of their past paganism in which Paul goes into detail about in Romans 1:18 - 2:16.  Starting in 2:17 and continuing to 3:20, Paul shows how the Jews also are like pagans in their sin as they can’t keep the Jewish law.  In the OT, “to be holy as God is holy” was to not be like Israel’s pagan neighbors.  But, as seen in the OT, Israel couldn’t keep the Law.”

Freedom from the law which produces death was instrumental in Jewish Christians’ “life in the Spirit”.  To go back to Judaism, was to return to the very sin that people caused by trying to perform the Jewish law.

In Chapters 8 and 9, Paul urges the Corinthians to give an offering for the Church in Jerusalem because they were in much need.  We learned in Romans 12 that one becomes a “living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God” by exercising their God-given grace-gifts (χαρίσματα).  One of those grace-gifts was giving.  ὁ μεταδιδοὺς ἐν ἁπλότητι (“if” one gives, then give generously [my translation]).

In Chapters 10, 11, and 12, Paul goes into satire to show the Corinthians that the “super-apostles” who had come and bragged that they were superior to Paul were nothing more than foolish people.  In Chapter 12, Paul goes on to describe a man he knows that was carried up into paradise and heard such things that couldn’t be told.  Paul says that he would brag about a person like that, but only thing that he would brag about himself was his weaknesses.  Of course this leads to Jesus’ famous saying to Paul in verse 9: Ἀρκεῖ σοι ἡ χάρις μου, ἡ γὰρ δύναμις ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ τελεῖται (My grace is sufficient/enough for you, for power is made complete in weakness.[my translation])  It should be stated that although we have to translate "sufficient" as an adjective, in Greek, it is a verb, so therefore, it is action!  The verb is also at the beginning of the sentence which makes it the most important part!  And what is God’s grace?  It is his favor on us.  It is through his grace that we have received his Spirit.  It is the gifts we have.  It is the callings we have.  This is enough!  We should be thankful for this and this alone!

Final Thoughts:

Paul ends the letter in 13:13 with this: 

13 Ἡ χάρις τοῦ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ἡ κοινωνία τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος μετὰ πάντων ὑμῶν.

1Corinthians 13:13 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 

Paul wraps up the letter with a recap that the Corinthians would remember.  The main point on “Grace” is from Chapter 12.  “God’s love” may reach back to 1 Corinthians 12 as Paul does talk about that letter in this current letter.  Finally, “the fellowship of the Holy Spirit” is the most important of the recaps as it looks back to 6:14 to 7:1.  The “quality” of the holiness that the Spirit has is the “quality” that we will reach one day if we follow the Lord’s commands.  If we refuse, then we defile ourselves and put that fellowship with the Holy Spirit in jeopardy.  It is the Spirit that makes us holy.  Without him, we can never obtain our inheritance.

Exploring Holiness--1 Corinthians

Here is part two of our study on holiness.  This is taken from 1 Corinthians.  For part one, please go here for the introduction and holiness as found in Paul’s letter to the Romans.

Unless noted otherwise, all passages are presented from the NIV11 text.  There are a few times when my translation will be used for clarity.

Analysis

ἅγιος: 1. as adjective pertaining to being dedicated or consecrated to the service of God

1. in the cultic sense dedicated to God, holy, sacred, i.e. reserved for God and God’s service:

ἁγιασμός: personal dedication to the interests of the deity, holiness, consecration, sanctification. Kittle: sanctifying, i.e. a process.

ἁγιωσύνη: Holiness.  Kittle: “This rare word, formed from the adjective ἅγιος by extension of the o to ω after a short syllable as an abstract term of quality, in the same way as δικαιοσύνη is formed from δίκαιος, is not found in pre-biblical Greek.  It means ‘sanctification’ or ‘holiness’ rather than ‘sanctifying’, but as a quality rather than a state.”

ἁγιάζω: 1.  set aside something or make it suitable for ritual purposes, consecrate, dedicate of things.  2. include a person in the inner circle of what is holy, in both cultic and moral associations of the word, consecrate, dedicate, sanctify.  3. to treat as holy, reverence.  4. to eliminate that which is incompatible with holiness, purify

Passages where Paul calls the Corinthians “holy ones”.

1Corinthians 1:2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people ἁγίοις, together with all those everywhere who call on the named of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:

1Corinthians 6:1 If any of you has a dispute with another, do you dare to take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the Lord’s people ἁγίων? 2 Or do you not know that the Lord’s people ἅγιοι will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases?  3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!

1Corinthians 14:33 For God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people ἁγίων.

1Corinthians 16:1 Now about the collection for the Lord’s people ἁγίους: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do.

1Corinthians 16:15 You know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and they have devoted themselves to the serviced of the Lord’s people ἁγίοις.

Holy Kiss:

1Corinthians 16:20 All the brothers and sisters here send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy ἁγίῳ kiss.

Passages on the Holy Spirit:

1Corinthians 6:19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy ἁγίου Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;

1Corinthians 12:3 Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy ἁγίῳ Spirit.

Holiness Passages:

1Corinthians 1:1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, 2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified ἡγιασμένοις in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people ἁγίοις, together with all those everywhere who call on the named of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours: 3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The participle, ἡγιασμένοις, is in the perfect tense.  It could be translated as “to those who have been made holy in Christ Jesus”.  What will be obvious as we go through the letter is that Paul means this to be the initial “setting apart” of being God’s people.  For we will find that the Corinthians are far from being “blameless” or “holy” as far as the process is concerned.  Nevertheless, Paul does say that the Corinthians have been made holy in Jesus who has called them to be holy.

1Corinthians 1:26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.  27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.  28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are,  29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness ἁγιασμὸς and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”

Up onto this point, Paul has been reprimanding the Corinthians for putting some leaders above others, thus dividing the congregation.  Paul goes into that the wisdom and knowledge of the people of the world is foolishness to God.  God uses not so knowledgable people so that he power can show through and put the “wise world” to shame.

Christ has become for the Corinthians wisdom from God which is “righteousness, holiness, and redemption”.  In other words, the wisdom that matters is wisdom about Jesus and the Gospel and how that saves them.

Paul makes it clear that it is the Holy Spirit in a person that allows them to know the mind of God.  The Corinthians have the Spirit so that they can know what God has given to them.  But, since they are putting some leaders above other leaders, and some apostles over other apostles, Paul says that they are letting the spirit of the world influence them.

1Corinthians 6:7 The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? 8 Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers and sisters. 9 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.  11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified ἡγιάσθητε, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 

12 “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything.  13 You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.  14 By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never!  16 Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” 17 But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.

1Corinthians 6:18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. 19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy ἁγίου Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

Up unto this point, Paul has dealt with the congregation over putting up with one of them having a sexual relationship with his own mother (his father’s wife) and the fact that some of the Corinthians were proud of it!  Apparently, some of the Corinthians thought that “they had arrived” in such knowledge that what they do in the body is nothing because they have the Holy Spirit.  Paul goes on to tell them to not associate with such people at all.  For Paul says that people who do this, will influence the rest of the congregation (5:6 Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? 7 Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are).  Paul will touch on sexual immorally a little later.

From there, he goes into how members of the congregation were filing lawsuits against each other.  He uses this example to show the Corinthians that they are not being led by the Spirit at all as they are putting their trusts in pagan courts rather than their own spirit-filled people.  Greater than this, the division among the congregation over this has the whole congregation “defeated” as they are wronging each other and treating each other badly.  Even if the plaintiff wins, because of his actions, he really loses and the entire congregation loses as the outside world can see how “the true God’s people” really are.  Paul then takes a drastic turn, he puts this sort of thing within the realm of other sins where one can’t inherit the Kingdom of God (be saved) by doing them.

Paul tells them that some of them used to do these terrible sins, but they were “washed clean” (ἀπολούω = to wash something away.  In this case, what has been washed away are the sins that Paul has just mentioned).  They have also been “made holy” and “made righteous” by their conversion and the Holy Spirit’s refining process, of which, the latter is most certainly needed and only the Corinthians are standing in the way of it.

Paul then moves back into sexual immorality and how sexual sins affect the person’s body which is the temple of the Holy Spirit.  What is important here is that Paul is questioning the Corinthians’ theology around “living in the Spirit”.  Apparently, some thought that while a person has God’s Spirit, one could do anything with his/her body because would be destroyed in the end and the Spirit of a person was what counted.  They were taking “liberty in the Spirit” to the extreme.  Therefore, they could not say “I have the right to do anything”.

Πορνεία (sexual immorality) in the NT mostly deals with engaging with a prostitute, but as indicated in Chapter 5, it means here “to engage in a sexual relationship with someone other than one’s spouse”.  Engaging in sexual sin, defiles the temple (one’s body) of God.  The impact of such defilement suggests that the Holy Spirit can’t be housed in a defiled temple.  We will soon find out why there was sexual immorality going on.

1Corinthians 7:12 To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her.  13 And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him.  14 For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified ἡγίασται through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified ἡγίασται through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy ἅγιά.

15 But if the unbeliever leaves, let it be so. The brother or the sister is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace. 16 How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife? 

To say that this is a controversial passage doesn’t come close to reality.  Up unto this point, Paul has been discussing some of the Corinthians’ questions.  In this case, some of them, perhaps some of the women, had said “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” (7:1).  Paul agrees with this statement to an extent, but goes on to say that since sexual immorality was going on, then married people should not deprived themselves of each other because that just leads to sexual immorality.  Paul also covers what is expected of the unmarried and widows/widowers (7:8-11).

Paul then moves into our passage.  It is most likely his command and not Jesus’ command as there is not account of Jesus ever teaching on this subject of a marriage that involved a believing person and a non-believing person.  Apparently, some of the Corinthians had thought that a believer would be defiled by having sexual relations with their unbelieving spouse.  Thus we come to Paul’s correction.  His argument is that in a marriage, the sexual union between a believer and a non-believer doesn’t defile the believer.  In fact, the unbeliever in made holy in the union so that there is no defilement.  Paul goes on to strengthen his argument by saying that “otherwise your children would be unclean” as a result of being produced in a marriage of a believer and an unbeliever.  He says that’s not true, because the children are holy.

To be clear, this has nothing to do with salvation as Paul makes that very clear in verse 16.  He also allows for the two to separate in such a union, but only if the unbeliever does so.

Inferred Holiness Passages?

It may can be stated that all of Paul’s corrections infer holiness brought on by the Holy Spirit, especially the ones that deal with the Corinthians’ theology.  This is certainly true with Chapters 12-14 on Spiritual Things and in Chapter 15 of the Resurrection.

Paul’s correction of women removing their veils or hoods (From verse 15; περιβόλαιον: “an article of apparel that covers much of the body, covering, wrap, cloak, robe; BDAG, page 800) in public worship could possible fall under “inferred holiness” as they were appealing to their liberty in the Spirit to do so.  The problem with this of course is that Paul seems to agree with the women that they do have the authority to remove their veils/hoods, but argues against them doing it based on the order of creation and culture.  They are to maintain the distinction between the sexes, but it must be stated that Paul doesn’t say “The Lord commands” nor “I command” as he does in other passages where correction is front and center.

Final Thoughts:

As in Romans, holiness is not something that a person can acquirer on his/her own.  It is God who makes one holy through the Holy Spirit.  What we have learned is that sin, in this case, sexual immorality, can defile the body which is the temple of the Spirit.  Therefore, it can be inferred that the Spirit can’t stay in a defiled temple.  Moral sins are also sins that go against the Spirit’s refining process.  

Mature Christians should not hurt new Christians in their new faith.  In this case, when new Christians who had left paganism behind, see mature Christians in what seems to the new Christians participating in paganism, it leads them astray and back to the road of paganism.

Going back to paganism represented going back to idolatry which Paul says is really worshipping demons (10:14 - 11:1).  Paul reasserts the Corinthians theology again:   

1Corinthians 10:23 “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive.  24 No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.

The most important thing to get out of this letter, is that one’s own flawed theology can lead to his/her downfall.

Romans 11:16 If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy ἁγία, then the whole batch is holy ἁγία; if the root is holy ἁγία, so are the branches. 

and

Jesus was raised as the first fruits of the spirit.  The word is the seed which takes root in the heart of the believer.  The Holy Spirit connects us, the branches, with the vine which is Jesus Christ.  It is only when we are connected to him that we are able to live and produce fruit.  It is the living water of the Spirit that makes this possible. The deeper our roots grow in the tree of life, the more fully we participate in the life.  This pleases God.

We are holy because he is holy, if he lives within us.  Apart from him we can do nothing.

Exploring Holiness--Romans

       Here is my attempt to try to describe what holiness truly is in the New Testament.  We will be starting with Paul’s letters.  Since we are removed by 2000 years of time and culture, we have to understand what holiness was then to be able to apply holiness now.  In both the OT and the NT, holiness was to separate one’s self from paganism and the immorality of paganism.  Thus holiness starts with the 1st of the ten commandments: “You shall have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:3.  When one chases after other “created” gods, God hands them over to sin.  Paul describes these acts of paganism in 1:18-32.  There results of which will brings God’s wrath upon people such as this.

So, how can we bring immoral things that pagans did in the 1st century to the present as an example of what NOT to do?  How do we separate 1st century culture from today’s culture?  These are the two questions we seek to answer in a series of studies on holiness.  

Unless noted otherwise, all passages are presented from the NIV11 text.  There are a few times when my translation will be used for clarity.

Analysis

The Greek words used in Romans in which we will be studying are as follows.  All definitions are taken from BDAG* and Kittle**.

ἅγιος: 1. as adjective pertaining to being dedicated or consecrated to the service of God

1. in the cultic sense dedicated to God, holy, sacred, i.e. reserved for God and God’s service:

ἁγιασμός: personal dedication to the interests of the deity, holiness, consecration, sanctification. Kittle: sanctifying, i.e. a process.

ἁγιωσύνη: Holiness.  Kittle: “This rare word, formed from the adjective ἅγιος by extension of the o to ω after a short syllable as an abstract term of quality, in the same way as δικαιοσύνη is formed from δίκαιος, is not found in pre-biblical Greek.  It means ‘sanctification’ or ‘holiness’ rather than ‘sanctifying’, but as a quality rather than a state.”

ἁγιάζω: 1.  set aside something or make it suitable for ritual purposes, consecrate, dedicate of things.  2. include a person in the inner circle of what is holy, in both cultic and moral associations of the word, consecrate, dedicate, sanctify.  3. to treat as holy, reverence.  4. to eliminate that which is incompatible with holiness, purify

Passages where Paul calls the body of Christ “holy ones”.

Romans 1:7 To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people ἁγίοις: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 8:27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people ἁγίων in accordance with the will of God.

Romans 12:13 Share with the Lord’s people ἁγίων who are in need. Practice hospitality.

Romans 15:25 Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the Lord’s people ἁγίοις there. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the Lord’s people ἁγίων in Jerusalem.

Romans 15:31 Pray that I may be kept safe from the unbelievers in Judea and that the contribution I take to Jerusalem may be favorably received by the Lord’s people ἁγίοις there, 

Romans 16:1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon, of the church in Cenchreae (Κεγχρεαί). 2 I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of his people ἁγίων and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me.

Romans 16:15    Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and all the Lord’s people ἁγίους who are with them.

Romans 16:16 Greet one another with a holy ἁγίῳ kiss.  All the churches of Christ send greetings.

Passages on the Holy Spirit:

Romans 5:5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy ἁγίου Spirit, who has been given to us.

Romans 9:1 I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying,a my conscience confirms it through the Holy ἁγίῳ Spirit—

Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy ἁγίῳ Spirit,

Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy ἁγίου Spirit.

Holiness Passages:

Romans 1:1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God—  2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy ἁγίαις Scriptures 3 regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life κατὰ σάρκα was a descendant of David, 4 and who through the Spirit of holiness κατὰ πνεῦμα ἁγιωσύνης was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. 5 Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake.  6 And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.  7 To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people ἁγίοις: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Scriptures are Holy (OT) because they are God’s very words: See Romans 3:2b: “First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God.”

The reason that Paul’s calls the Roman church “holy ones” is because they are no longer “slaves to sin”:  Jews were “slaves to sin” because of their sinful nature and how they couldn’t keep the Jewish law.  Gentiles were “slaves to sin” because of their past paganism in which Paul goes into detail about in 1:18 - 2:16.  Starting in 2:17 and continuing to 3:20, Paul shows how the Jews also are like pagans in their sin as they can’t keep the Jewish law.  In the OT, “to be holy as God is holy” was to not be like Israel’s pagan neighbors.  But, as seen in the OT, Israel couldn’t keep the Law.

“Through the Spirit of Holiness” (κατὰ πνεῦμα ἁγιωσύνης) is in contrast to “his earthly life” (κατὰ σάρκα/according to the flesh)  It is used here to show Christ’s deity, the element that as a quality is Holy.  It is essential to understand here that Paul is referring to the “quality” of the holiness and not to the process of holiness. It is this quality that only God has.

Romans 6:19 I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness ἁγιασμόν.  20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness ἁγιασμόν, and the result is eternal life.

In the previous chapters, Paul has been writing how “faith in Jesus” is superior to the “Jewish law”.  The promise to the Romans came through Abraham before the law came.  They are children of the promise through Abraham.  Because Abraham believed God, “it was credited to him as righteousness”.  Paul goes on to say that Abraham was not the only one who received righteousness, but the Romans also who believe in Jesus.

In Chapter 5, Paul says that the Romans have been justified through their faith in Jesus and through that faith, they have access to God’s grace.  He goes on to say that at one time, these Roman Christians were “powerless” to sin as they lived in both paganism and Judaism.  But Jesus died for sinners while they were still in sin which was very, very uncommon for a man to do.  Most people wouldn’t dare die for another righteous person, let alone for an unrighteous person, but Jesus did.  Therefore, the Romans have been justified by Jesus’ blood and thus will be saved from God’s wrath.

Sin came through one man, Adam, but life also came through one man; Jesus!

The Romans should not go back to paganism as they have died to that sin.  Paul uses baptism as an example of how the Romans emulated Jesus in his death and will partake in the new creation.  The Romans had been crucified and died to sin because once one has died, he/she is set free from sin.  As Jesus was raised from the dead and can’t die again, so are the Romans.  Therefore, the Romans have the power to not sin.

Paul sets an example of how slaves must obey their master who owns them.  Since the Romans have become God’s slaves, they must obey him.  By obeying him, they are slaves to righteousness.  By obeying, the process of holiness will refine them.

This leads us back to Chapter 1 where “The Spirit of Holiness”, where holiness is a quality of the Spirit is now present in the Romans as they have been given the Holy Spirit (Romans: 5:5).  When the Romans obey God, their process of holiness refines them more and more to eventually become the “quality” that is in them.  This leads to eternal life where as to continue to sin leads to death.

Romans 7:12 So then, the law is holy ἅγιος, and the commandment is holy ἁγία, righteous and good.

Paul has gone to great lengths to describe how people in their sinful nature who try to obey the Jewish law can’t keep the law at all.  Paul states that this sinful nature made people want to do more sin once they knew about the law.  Therefore, because of sinful nature, the law could never save anyone.  But, just because man’s sinful nature perverted how man saw the law, the law is still Holy as it is God’s words and the commandments found in the law are Holy as they are God’s words.  

Paul then goes into his famous passage about himself and his Jewish people (7:14-25).  Paul says that the Law is spiritual, but he was not.  Paul couldn’t keep the law because of his sinful nature.  He desired to keep the Law, but because of his sinful nature, he couldn’t keep it.  He says that his inner being delighted in God’s law, but the law of his sinful nature worked in him and waged war against the law of his mind and made him a prisoner of the law of sin.

In Romans 8, Paul sets in contrast the Jewish law and the law of sin with life in the Spirit.  Jesus was sent to fulfill the Jewish law by being the only one who could keep it and then offer himself for the sake of others who could not keep it.  By doing so, he condemned sin in the flesh so that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in the Romans.

Paul has set up that human sinful nature perverted the Law to the extent that the Jews were sinning as the pagans were.  Therefore, Paul’s words are two-fold: 1. The ones who lived under the Jewish Law, have been set free from fleshly sin and 2. the ones who lived under paganism have also been set free from fleshly sin.  Therefore, Paul says that the Romans are now obligated to live their lives in the Spirit which will refine them in the process of holiness.

Romans 11:16 If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy ἁγία, then the whole batch is holy ἁγία; if the root is holy ἁγία, so are the branches. 

and

Romans 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy ἁγίαν and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 

These two go together and are the main passages that need to be explored in Romans.  The reason that Paul urges the Romans to live a holy life was just explained in verses 11:20-21.  Paul describes how Israel’s fall brought salvation to the Gentiles to make Israel envious.  Since most of Israel did not believe in Jesus, those branches were broke off of the root or trunk and the Gentiles were grafted in.  Paul would be an example of a branch that was not broken off.  But, if the Gentiles go back to their former life, they too will broken off the root.

The big take away from the 1st passage is that it is the Holy Spirit that makes one holy.  The Holy Spirit is the “nourishing sap from the olive root” which is God.  The Holy Spirit has the quality of holiness needed to refine one in the process of making one holy.  When the normal things come in contact with the supernatural, the normal become supernatural.  For more background on this read 11:16-22.

In 2nd passage, Paul starts to show how holy people should act through out Chapter 12.  The Greek word οὖν (therefore) ties verses 1-2  with the Chapter 11 passages.  In other words, Paul starts explaining what the Romans need to do in order to “stay in God’s kindness”.  In verse 3, Paul uses the explanatory word γὰρ (for) to tie his explanation of what he means in verses 1-2.  In other words, Chapter 12 is what one does in order to be a living scarfice.  Of course, the biggest fulfillment of being a living sacrifice is found in one exercising their callings and gifts.  For a greater background on this subject, see 1 Corinthians 12-14 and Ephesians 4.

The rest of Chapter 12 is general Christian living examples.

Romans 15:15 Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified ἡγιασμένη by the Holy ἁγίῳ Spirit. 

Paul states that ultimately, it is the Holy Spirit who “makes one Holy”.  This is consistent with Paul’s very first letter.

1 Thessalonians 5:23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

To become holy, one must let the Holy Spirit work.  The Christian must follow after righteousness which leads to holiness.  Righteousness is to conduct one’s self by the moral laws and commandments which are actually found in the OT law.  Remember, the Law was giving for Israel to live apart from paganism.  In the same way, we, as children of God, must also live apart from paganism with its immoral acts.  Whatever makes one live as pagans do, is against the moral laws of God.

* (BDAG) A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd Edition - Walter Bauer (Author), Frederick William Danker (Editor)

** (Kittel) Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (VOLUMES 1-10) - Gerhard Kittel (Editor), Geoffrey W. Bromiley (Translator)