Introduction:
There’s a story about two brothers who had terrorized the small town where they lived for decades. They were unfaithful to their wives, abusive to their children, and dishonest in business. They were loud, boisterous and just plain rude to nearly everyone. One day, out of the clear blue, the younger brother died. The older brother went to the preacher of the local church and said, "Preacher, I’d like you to conduct my brother’s funeral. And it’s important to me that during the service, you say my brother was a saint."
The preacher said, "I can’t do that. We both know he was far from that."
The older brother pulled out his checkbook and said, "Preacher, I’m prepared to give $100,000 to your church. All I’m asking is that you publicly state that my brother was a saint."
On the day of the funeral, the preacher began his sermon this way. "Everyone here knows that the deceased was a wicked man, a womanizer, and a drunk. He terrorized his employees and cheated on his taxes." The preacher paused for a second and then continued, "But as evil and sinful as this man was, compared to his older brother, he was a saint!"
This morning, I want to speak to an audience of people who are called to be saints. In Romans 1:7, Paul said he was addressing the Roman letter to “all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints.”
In I Corinthians 1:2, Paul addressed the Corinthian letter to “the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints.”
In fact, the term “saint” must have been Paul’s favorite word for describing Christians because he used it about 60 times in his letters, which is especially surprising when you realize that he never once called them Christians. And yet “saint” is not a word we use much in the church today. I’ve never heard anyone in this congregation say, “Yeah, my wife and I are having a few saints over to our house for dinner tomorrow night” or “My insurance agent is a saint.”
But it certainly would be appropriate to say that. Because a saint, as the term is used in the New Testament, is not a specially pious Christian who has died and has been canonized by an ecclesiastical council -- St. Peter, St. Augustine, St. Patrick. The Greek word translated “saint” is “hagios”, “set apart one” or “holy one”. And according to scripture, every Christian -- whether well-known or unknown, leader or follower -- every Christian is a saint. In the biblical sense, the most obscure Christian is just as much a saint as the apostle Paul.
And so if you’re a Christian here this morning, then you’ve been called to be a saint. I want to talk a little bit about what that means to us.
As I’ve already suggested, the Greek word for “saint” is very closely connected with the Greek word for “holy”, and that’s not a word we like to use much either.
I think maybe the reason is that the word brings with it some negative images. We hear people talk about those who have a "holier than thou" kind of attitude, and so to claim to be holy doesn’t seem to be something we want to do. Also, the word seems to suggest to us a glowing halo over someone’s head and so we don’t really think of ourselves as being "holy".
Later on in the lesson I want to go into some detail about what it means to be holy, but for now let me just suggest to you that being holy simply means growing in our knowledge of God’s Word and our obedience to it. That involves adding those qualities that make us more like Christ, and getting rid of those qualities that are ungodly.
When we understand that, I don’t think there is any way for us to over-emphasize the importance of holiness in a Christian’s life. I like this quote from John MacArthur who said:
"God’s desire for His children here on earth is purity of life. It is impossible to study Scripture attentively and not be overwhelmingly convinced that God seeks above all else for His people to be holy and that He is grieved by sin of any kind...Because God is so concerned for the holiness of His people, they should be equally concerned. The church cannot preach and teach a message it does not live and have any integrity before God, or even before the world. Yet in many churches where there is no tolerance for sin in principle there is much tolerance for it in practice. And when preaching becomes separated from living, it becomes separated both from integrity and from spiritual and moral effectiveness. It promotes hypocrisy instead of holiness." (John MacArthur, Commentary on Matthew 16-23, pp. 123-124).
I. A Look at Our Text
With that thought in mind, let’s turn to I Peter 1 as we take a look at what Peter has to say on this subject: "Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ’Be holy, for I am holy.’" (I Peter 1:13-16).
Verse 13 begins with the word "therefore". That means we need to look back a few verses. Peter has been talking about the hope we have as Christians. Because Christ has been raised from the dead, we know that God will raise us up as well. Because we are a part of the family of God, we know that we have a heavenly inheritance waiting for us. It is on the basis of this hope that God calls us to a life of holiness. We are to live holy lives because of what lies ahead for us. Christ is coming back for us.
In II Peter 3, Peter talks about what will happen at Christ’s return, how the earth will be completely destroyed. Then he says, "Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness." (II Peter 3:11).
There is nothing better for keeping a man pure, for helping him to resist temptation, than the hope of something that lies ahead. Imagine two men of the same age and similar backgrounds who are stationed overseas with the military. In town one weekend, they are approached and propositioned by a couple of prostitutes. One of them accepts their invitation and the other doesn’t. Later on, when the first one asks the second one why he turned down his "chance for a good time", he says, "Back home there is a girl waiting for me and we are going to be married when I have finished my tour of duty. I’m saving myself for her."
The person who knows that something good is waiting at the end of the road will be careful to behave properly along the way. As the apostle John expressed it, "Beloved, now we are the children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when he is revealed, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure." (I John 3:2-3).
We are to purify ourselves just as God is pure. We are to live holy lives, just as God is holy. You see, God has the right to expect and demand holiness of us because of his own inherent holiness. When Peter said, "Be holy, for I am holy", he was quoting from Leviticus 11. That entire passage says, "For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy....For I am the Lord who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy." It is clear that in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, God’s people have been given a responsibility to live holy lives on the basis that the God we serve is holy.
The ancient gods of Phoenicia were known for their cruelty and lust. The gods of the Canaanites were faithless liars. The Greek gods were drunken, incestuous, vindictive and murderous. So when Moses taught Israel that their God was holy, he was showing them something new, something unheard of. Israel’s God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, was an upright God who could be depended on to always do what was right. We are so used to the idea of God’s holiness that we perhaps take it for granted, but in view of the kind of gods the world worshiped in ancient days, Israel needed to hear about the God who was holy and righteous.
II. What is Holiness?
But what does it really mean for us to be holy? The word "holy" means simply "to be set apart for a special purpose." Many things, inanimate objects, are said in scripture to be holy. Mountains, like Sinai and Zion and the mount of Transfiguration, were called "holy mountains." The oil that was used in anointing was called "holy oil." The temple was called "the holy temple". Its rooms were called "the holy place" and "the most holy place," and its items of furniture were called holy. Sometimes the very place where someone was standing was called "holy ground." The city of Jerusalem was called a "holy city." Certain days were said to be "holy days."
But more often in scripture it is people who are called "holy." The Bible talks about the "holy prophets" and the "holy angels" and "holy Levites." We read of "holy men" and "holy women" and the "holy child." Elders are to be holy. Brethren are to be holy. We are all to be holy. But what does that mean?
I want to impress upon you this morning the idea that the word "holy" has to do with God and the presence of God. And that’s the place to begin when trying to understand the idea of the holy.
Let’s go back to the beginning. When God created man, he did so out of a desire for fellowship. God and man were close to one another. Man could actually stand in the presence of God confidently and unashamed. But then sin came, and man and God were separated by a great distance. Of course, God hadn’t gone anywhere; it was man that had moved away because of his sin. As Isaiah put it, "Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened that it cannot save, nor his ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear." (Isaiah 59:1-2).
But God wasn’t satisfied with this separation. He acted in history, in order to come close to man. And every time he came close, something was made holy. In Exodus 3, God came close to Moses in the form of a burning bush. Moses was told to take off his sandals because the ground upon which he was standing was holy ground. When God comes close, something becomes holy.
Years later, God called Moses to come back up that very same mountain, the mount called Sinai. This time the whole mountain was holy. There was thunder and lightning and earthquakes the likes of which no one had ever seen before. It was such a frightening scene that it left the Israelites scared to death. God was on the mountain, and when God comes close, something becomes holy. The people were told not to come near the mountain. If any man or woman or child or animal dared so much as to touch God’s mountain, they would die instantly. I mean, this place was holy.
But then God called to Moses and said, "Get Joshua and come on up here; I want to talk to you." Moses went up the holy mountain and God talked to him. Remember, when God comes close, something gets holy, and this time it was Moses himself. His face lit up like a neon sign because God had come close to him. The people couldn’t even stand his presence because his face shone so bright. Moses was holy.
One of the last things that God said to Moses was, "I want you to build me a house." He gave Moses the blueprints and commissioned the craftsmen that would build God’s tent -- the tabernacle. You see, God was about to come close one more time. And when God comes close, something gets holy. This time it was the tabernacle itself. That mobile home was God’s mobile home. He would live there. Imagine living within the camp of Israel knowing that you lived in the same neighborhood as God. There could be no doubt about it. In Exodus 40, the cloud that symbolized the presence of God descended upon the completed tabernacle. Even Moses couldn’t enter the place because the glory of the Lord filled it. God had come close, and the tabernacle was made holy.
Later on, the temple took the place of the tabernacle. Like the tabernacle, there were two rooms inside. The room at the back of the temple, the most holy place, symbolized the very presence of God. It was a room that was entered by only one man on only one day a year -- the high priest on the Day of Atonement. And before going in, he filled the room with smoke from the altar of incense lest he come too close to God. When God gets close, something gets holy. The temple was holy; it was God’s house.
God came close to mankind representatively in the tabernacle and the temple, but then he came even closer. He sent his angel to tell a young woman named Mary that even though she was a virgin, a new life was stirring within her. That life was there as a result of the working of deity, and that life was itself deity. So in a stable in the little town called Bethlehem, this young woman gave birth to a baby, and God came so very close!
Our holy God manifested himself in the person of Jesus Christ. In Christ, we see the holiness of God as purely and completely as a human life can possibly manifest it. The heavens declare the glory of God, but when God wanted to reveal to mankind the glory of his character, the beauty of his holiness, he manifested himself as the man Jesus Christ.
John says, "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory..." (John 1:14). For a few brief years, God came close enough for men to behold his glory. That’s the meaning of the name Emmanuel -- "God with us.” He was there in flesh and blood. You could see him. You could hear him. You could touch him. God was right there in human form among human beings. You could ask him questions. You could listen to him preach. You could worship him face to face.
But you could also hate him. And you could make fun of him. You could slap him and spit in his face; you could put a crown of thorns on his head. And you could nail him to a cross and watch him die. And that’s what we did, isn’t it? But our rejection of him doesn’t change the fact that for a moment in time, a split second of history, God came so close to mankind.
Wouldn’t it have been great to have been there to see it! If only we could listen to him as Peter and John listened. If only we could touch the hem of his garment like that woman touched him and was healed. If only we could wash his feet like Mary or have him over for dinner like Zaccheus. The apostles became the holy apostles and Palestine became the holy land because Jesus had been there. You see, when God comes close, then something becomes holy.
But God will never be that close again, will he? Only for the thirty-odd years that Jesus was here was God ever so close. And it will never happen again, or will it? Jesus promised us that after he left this world, God was going to come close one more time. The Comforter was to come. The Spirit of Christ was to dwell within us. The Holy Spirit was to be given to us. God was going to come close just one more time, and this time he was coming so close, so very close that he would move right into our bodies making them his own!
And when God comes close, something becomes holy. This time there is no tabernacle and there is no temple. This time that which became holy because God came close is your body and my body. The holiest place on the face of this earth this very moment is the body of the one in whom God lives. That’s Paul’s point in I Corinthians 6:18-20, "Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s."
Our bodies are now God’s temple, and they are holy because of his presence. When God comes close, something becomes holy. This time, that something is you and me. We are holy! We are holy because we are called to be saints.
That’s important for us to remember. Sometimes we lose our focus. Some Christians, for example, see the church building as that place which is holy. You just can’t do certain things in the church building because it is the house of God. In fact, we sometimes hear the auditorium referred to as a "sanctuary" which simply means a holy place.
Do you ever catch yourself saying, "I can’t believe she wore that skirt in the church building?" Or, "Don’t tell that joke in the building, wait until we get out in the parking lot!" What would you think if somebody lit up a cigar right here in the church building? Why are we more concerned about what we do with and in our building that what we do with our bodies?
It is our body that is holy, not the building! If you tell that joke anywhere, then you tell it in God’s temple, because you are the temple. If you wear that skirt anywhere, then you have worn it to adorn God’s temple. To commit sexual sin in a church auditorium, as disgusting as that might be, would be no worse than committing the sin anywhere else. Because every act of fornication, every act of adultery by Christians is committed in God’s sanctuary: their own bodies. That’s Paul’s point here in I Corinthians 6.
The church building is not holy; it is just brick and mortar and wood and nails. But you are the temple of the Holy Spirit. When God comes near, something gets holy. And God dwells within your body. And let me say this: If knowledge of that fact doesn’t make a difference in the way you live, then nothing will.
Conclusion:
Ruth Bell Graham once said, “A saint is one who makes it easy to believe in Jesus.” I like that. As I understand it, saints are just ordinary people loving God and following Jesus. God takes ordinary people and uses them for a holy purpose. Sometimes God calls them to speak a word or to perform some deed. But saints are just ordinary people who have listened to God’s call and said, “Yes.”
That’s what God has been done for each of us. We have become holy people. God has made us saints. I like this quote from Neil Anderson: “What you do doesn’t determine who you are; who you are determines what you do.”
Because we are saints, because God lives within us, that means there needs to be something different about the way we live. Holiness means letting Christ rule our lives, doing what he wants us to do. It means that we make a concerted effort to rid our lives of ungodly traits and strive to add those qualities that make us more like God. Living a life of holiness makes a difference in the way we act toward others, the way we talk, in our very character.
Those of us who are Christians are not special because of who we are. But we are special because of the one to whom we belong. Because we are the children of a holy God, we must allow his holiness to dominate our thinking. We can’t continue to live in sin because we are holy. We devote our lives to praising and glorifying God because we are holy. We can’t help but tell others of the Savior who died for them because we are holy. We are God’s saints, because when God comes close (and he is so very close), then something becomes holy, and that something is us.
