Core Value: Holiness
January 11, 2008
We prayerfully seek to foster an atmosphere of joy-filled holiness by pointing each other to the promises of God in response to the promises of the world.
The holiness of God is his complete “otherness” or transcendence. In the Old Testament, Israel’s God was distinguished from the gods of the surrounding peoples by his supreme power and authority. This was most notably displayed in the 10 plagues and Exodus from Egypt, which caused Moses to sing, “Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?” (Exodus 15:11)
This holiness became the foundation for Israel’s call to separation. Over and over the laws regarding food and clothing and sexuality and obedience to parents and sacrifices and Sabbaths were grounded in the reality that “I the LORD your God am holy” (Leviticus 19:2). This continued in the New Testament, as Peter quoted God’s words in Leviticus as the reason why Gentile followers of Jesus should live holy lives rather than conforming “to the passions of your former ignorance” (1 Peter 1:14-16). While food laws and circumcision became obsolete in Christ, God’s people were still to be distinct from non-believers in their behavior.
The flavor of this distinction is not oddity or ironclad rule-keeping. Rather the holiness to which we are called is ultimately about belonging to God, experiencing that which is sacred, dwelling with the divine. As our core value suggests, this type of “set apartness” after which we strive is joy-filled. Abstinence from self-focused, shallow ways is not drudgery when the end result is sweet communion with a loving, faithful Father. We begin to fight sin and establish life parameters for the sake of deepening our joy in knowing God.
This is why our pursuit of holiness is driven by promises, not sheer willpower. What aids us in passing by the world’s offer of pleasure is God’s offer of pleasure (Psalm 16:11). What enables us to disregard our heart’s desire to hoard possessions is God’s promise to provide (Hebrews 13:5-6). It is through God’s “precious and very great promises” that we “become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire” (2 Peter 3:4).
Thankfully God has given us one another to remind each other of these precious and very great promises when the offers of this transient world eclipse our vision of God’s lasting glory. Our desire is that Whitton Avenue Bible Church would be characterized by a laboring together to lay hold of these promises and belong wholly to God.
Pastor Chris