Holy is… Sanctified

Having spent a week with our Jewish tour guide in the Holy Land, our group was growing quite fond of him. We marveled not only at his vast understanding of Jewish history but his knowledge of New Testament Scripture. We wondered amongst ourselves why he wasn’t a Jesus follower with all he knew. So we finally asked him. His answer took our breath:

Christianity is too easy.

I’ve been pondering his response ever since. 

‘Too easy’… Perhaps what lies at the core of this belief is the reality that our new friend couldn’t grasp the fullness of grace – the way God opens the door to Himself through the gift of His Son. With grace, there are no tasks to achieve, no striving toward earning our ‘in’ with God – something our tour guide had never experienced. Without all the laws to follow, faith in God must have seemed impossible to him.

In truth, no other religion has ever functioned the way Christianity does. Every other belief system requires a checklist of actions in order to gain favor – not grace undergirded by unconditional love. Every other ‘god’ makes demands for the good desired – not ever giving themselves as the sacrifice. 

This Christian faith is set-apart, different, from every other religion because at its core exists a holy grace. And the call for God’s people of every era is that we are meant to be holy because He is holy (1 Peter 1:15-16). Grace moves us into Jesus’ presence and seals us with the Holy Spirit even as He equips us to be transformed. To become like the One we follow. Holy.

Too Easy/Too Hard

Our tour guide couldn’t comprehend grace because it felt too easy to a man who had spent his entire life working hard to follow God’s laws. So, let’s recall that God gave Jews the law as a means for holy living, extending to them structure that would govern their way of being set-apart. God’s heart behind the law was to help His people live for and like Him.

But over the centuries that heart behind the law got lost. The Israelites would question God’s goodness. They’d doubt the laws’ relevance. And, as a result, they repeatedly disobeyed the 613 ‘laws of Moses’, often losing the presence of God among them as a result (ie: during the era of the judges and the exile). 

Along the way, the priests, who were appointed to lead the Israelites in this life of holiness, added to the laws more rules. So by the time Jesus was born into this nation, Jews were expected to know and obey thousands of laws.¹  

Those same priests constantly guilted and condemned their people for their inability to follow all the rules. It’s why Jesus so often directed His teaching toward those Pharisees, Sadducees, and teachers of the law, calling them out for the way they shackled the flock that they were meant to tend and protect:

“Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, ‘The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach. They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.”  

Matthew 23:1-4 NLT (also see Mark 2:27; Matthew 5:17-20, 23:4; Luke 11:46).

Paul, once a Pharisee himself, understood this tendency to rely on following rules as an attempt to be made right with God. But then he met Jesus and was radically transformed by Him. He then worked tirelessly for years trying to help his fellow Jews see the progression of Law to Christ.² He explained that “the purpose of the law was to keep a sinful people in the way of salvation until Christ…came” (Galatians 3:19 MSG). Paul wanted everyone to see that the law was not a prison guard but more like a tutor, meant to bring us to Christ so that we might be justified by faith (v.24 NKJV). 

The more I read of Paul, the more I realize how much – consciously or subconsciously – ‘rules’ continue to influence our Christian lives. And I wonder if we Christians who balk at my tour guide’s “too easy” response might actually operate on the same assumptions as he did. An honest examination of so many of our behavior-shaping methods reflects that we often see grace as too easy. Hence, we come up with all the rules. All the checklists. We can even slip into the striving ways of people-pleasing perfectionism, convinced that we’re just trying to be good for God.

In my own life, I have come to recognize how my desire for control pushes me toward such plans and behaviors. Without even realizing it, I will act on thoughts that have their source in “if I can please God with what I do, then I’ll earn His love, His favor, His (you fill in the blank).” 

A much less obvious way of thinking surfaced in my thirties; it’s another, more hidden version of the prosperity gospel, but no less a striving toward God’s favor – a belief that if I did everything God asked of me (right spouse, right job, right choices…), then my life would be good and easy.³ You know, that path with God, the one that holds none of the bumps or potholes or sudden left turns. Yup. That was me. And so many others.

But there are other motivations for being a rule-follower. For instance, I’ve been around believing friends who get locked up in a different kind of legalism, afraid that if they watch the wrong TV show they’ll lose favor with God, afraid that if they make one wrong choice they’ll earn the wrath of God. Because they’ve had ‘fire and brimstone’ thrown at them their whole lives, they miss grace’s role in the everyday walk with Jesus. 

I’ve also encountered people who won’t fully surrender their hearts and lives to Jesus because they “don’t want to have to follow all the rules.” They like their friends. They like their lifestyle. They enjoy the ‘freedom’ of living how they want to. Christianity seems too hard to them – at least the version they’ve been exposed to.

Then there are those who say “yes” to Jesus and think that’s all there is to this life as a Christian. They not only rejoice in their brand of ‘no-rules-grace’ but are tempted to live however they want because they see God as a genie in a bottle – just run back to Him after every sinful choice, say your sorry, and all is forgiven. Grace, the great eraser. What could be easier? (See Romans 6:1-2).

All of these ways of viewing God’s grace fall short of truth. They also reveal our deeper beliefs about God Himself. Before we can fully grab hold of what grace actually is, we need a clearer idea of who God is, as well as clarity about our own motivations and tendencies. Knowing God, His grace and holiness, as well as ourselves takes some intentionality, some effort. 

And this is what sanctification is all about – a lifelong journey of better aligning our minds and hearts with God’s so that little by little we are changed from the inside out, coming to look more and more like Jesus. All by the grace of God. All by the power of Holy Spirit. All by the working out of our salvation (Philippians 2:12). Yes, all of these. Together. All at once.  

The Both-And of Being Sanctified

The world expects us to earn. Our flesh pushes us to strive. But God tells us He has it covered, that He wants us to join Him on this journey of becoming sanctified – of being made holy.

Numerous times in the Old Testament, we see the Hebrew verb, qadash, capturing this idea of being made holy. In fact, the very first ‘holy’ found in Scripture is seen on Day Seven of Creation – when “God blessed the seventh day and made it holy” (Genesis 2:3, emphasis mine). That seventh day, the Sabbath, was set-apart from all the other days. Made holy. And it is meant to be kept holy by God’s people (Exodus 20:8).

Everything associated with God, as seen in the tabernacle, such as priests and their garments, offerings and altars to God, are “consecrated” – made holy (see Exodus 28:41, 29:1,21,27,33,36,37). God tells His set-apart people that He is “the LORD, who makes you holy” (31:13, emphasis mine). 

Inherent in all of these examples is action, movement, change. What wasn’t holy was made holy. Therefore, what isn’t holy can be made holy.

In the days of Moses, the people of God, with all the new, sanctifying ways of living ‘different’ in the world, received  with fervor the practices that would purify them. They took God at His word – that they should be holy because He is holy (Leviticus 11:44). They started off this new way of walking through the world with great intentions. 

But, we know their story. Time and again they failed to keep the laws. Even then, however, God’s grace shows up – as we see in every moment of forgiveness when His people would eventually turn back to Him, and repent. Over and over, God redeemed them from whatever oppressive state they’d put themselves in. 

That is, until the law just wasn’t enough.

“The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins.”

Romans 8:3 NLT

The law might not have been enough, but those original laws still have much to teach and show us about how to live righteous lives in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Timothy 6:11). Jesus followers aren’t meant to stop living pure lives; we’re meant to be making choices that are good for our bodies, our hearts, our minds – as well as for the good of others. 

“My dear friends, just as you have always obeyed…continue working out your salvation with awe and reverence, for the One bringing forth in you both the desire and the effort—for the sake of his good pleasure—is God.”

Philippians 2:12-13 NET

Our life in Christ is granted by our faith in Him, sourced by His grace, empowered by the Spirit – and it is sanctified by the way we pursue God, which leads to our inner transformation and influences how we live. The idea of living holy because God is holy didn’t get thrown out when Jesus died and came back to life (see 1 Peter 1:15-16). With each choice we make to live for God and like His Son, we are made more and more holy. Because God is holy. 

Grace and holiness. Both-and.

So when we’re tempted to live in the either-or way of our flesh and the world – where we lean heavily toward grace or truth, toward Spirit or Word, toward free-will or holiness, we pause and recall that God is calling us to all of it. It’s not even living ‘balanced’ in both; it’s embracing the fullness of these spiritual realities in tandem. We need grace and truth, Spirit and Word, our own will and God’s way of holiness.⁴ 

When Jesus tells His disciples that living out our salvation is impossible when we attempt it in our own strength and ways, He also tells them that everything is possible for the Father (Matthew 19:25-26). He makes a way for us to live holy. By choosing to embrace grace and holiness, we allow the Spirit to “renew [our] thoughts and attitudes” so that we can put on our “new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy” (Ephesians 4:23-24 NLT). So rather than getting tripped up by the ‘rules’ of religion, we step into this way of living with and for God, inviting the Spirit to do His work of renewal in us so that we can be made holy.

Holy is… Sanctified

Lord Jesus, we are beginning to understand more fully why You left heaven to live as a human on earth. You came to usher in the next phase of God’s redemption plan by becoming the sacrifice each of us needs in order to live forgiven and covered by God’s grace. You came to show us more about who God is by expressing His heart for His people – and it’s not to be crushed by the weight of obeying rules but to live holy by His grace. We take hold of the truth that we cannot make ourselves holy by what we do or don’t do; therefore, we embrace the reality that our becoming holy is made possible only by You. Yet, we know that we also have a role in the process of becoming sanctified – that working out of our salvation. By pursuing the Father. By aligning our hearts with yours. By asking the Spirit to fill us, each and every day, so that He can do a new work in us. We know that You are the One to bring forth in us the desire and the effort needed to live surrendered to You and sanctified for You. Meet us where we are. Help us to know You and ourselves better so that we might enter into the fullness of this life in You. So that we might be renewed in the power of Holy Spirit, given a new nature by grace. Made holy because You are holy. It’s in your most holy name we pray, Jesus, amen.
(inspired by Philippians 2:5-8,12; Romans 8:3; Matthew 23:1-4, 19:25-26; Ephesians 4:23-24; 1 Peter 1:15-16)

Resources: I love sharing with you the books, podcasts, articles, and anything else that has inspired, encouraged, or taught me. These are humble offerings with no expectations.

• 1 – This GotQuestions blog post talks more in depth about the Pharisees and the way they took the law too far, even adding their own rules, calling them law.
• 2 – This GotQuestions video not only explains the 613 laws of Moses but how they pointed to Christ all along.  
• 3 – A few years ago I read a book by Amanda Held Opelt, Holy Unhappiness: God, Goodness, and the Myth of the Blessed Life,^ in which she unpacks all the non-truths we’ve created about what it means to follow Jesus. She was the first one I heard describe the largely held (and underlying) belief of Christians of our generation that our behaviors and choices lead us to the happy life with God. It’s a less recognized sister-belief of the prosperity gospel. And it sets us up for loss of faith when something unhappy happens in our lives. 
• 4 – If you’re wondering about or struggling with the “free will or holiness” paradox, it’s my attempt to paint the idea of how often we are tempted to view having a free will as bumping up against holiness. I’m not making up this paradox, however. Here is an article that addresses this issue of free will biblically – and another article that uses angels as an example of how free will and holiness work together in the kingdom of God.
• Here is another great article that addresses the holiness-and-grace idea/debate. I didn’t quote from it directly, but I found great encouragement for the concept of this post in it.
• “As It Is (In Heaven)” by Hillsong has made it onto another playlist — probably because it’s so packed with beautiful imagery and scriptural truths. It’s on our Holy is… playlist, specifically, because as we sing all the truths in this song, we are moved toward a posture of worship for the One who is holy. And our worship helps us grapple at our deepest levels with the truth that ‘holy’ is as it is in heaven — and with God in us, so it will be in us. Holy.
  
  I know You love me
  I know You found me
  I know You saved me
  And Your grace will never fail me…
  I’ll sing holy holy
  My heart cries holy
  As it is in heaven
  It is in me
• Each Wednesday I upload a “Teacup” teaching video that carries on the topic here. You can find all the videos on my Facebook Author Page, Instagram, and YouTube.
• Many of you have found me on Substack. Thank you so much! And, if you’d like to listen to (rather than read) these weekly posts, you can do so on Substack. It’s easy to see and use the audio bar across the top of each post. While you’re on Substack, check out the ministry I’m blessed to be part of, the Devoted Collective.
• My monthly newsletter, The Abiding Life, goes to email inboxes the first week of each month to those who have subscribed on my website. I also post them on Substack. My most recent edition can be found there, and you can subscribe for future newsletters on Substack, here.

Rhythms: As my newsletter’s title infers, we seek to develop an abiding life in this space — a place where we can get informed but also be transformed as we learn to abide in God’s presence throughout our days. I like to think that developing rhythms is one way to aid us in our desire to become more Christlike.

• This first series of our new year invites us to give considerable thought to what ‘holy’ is. We will be challenged to bring to our level what is so lofty that we really won’t fully grasp it. And yet, we are called to know God and to know His holiness — to allow His holy-ness to shape a higher reverence for Him, to grow within us a humble respect for His utter majesty. And now we’ve added to this whole understanding the fact that we too are meant to be holy, to be set apart for God.
  
  So far in our series we’ve mentioned the idea of being purified, or cleansed, as a way of unpacking what it means to be ‘holy’. And though we didn’t talk about baptism in this post, I can’t help but think of the cleansing, life-changing waters of baptism as we consider being made holy. What other images come to mind when you think of holiness as ‘sanctified’?

• We’re all called to share the truth about who Jesus is. One way you can do that is by sharing this site and telling others your own stories of faith experiences. May we use our whole selves to tell others about our holy God!!

Featured Photo by me — of the Jordan River. “All the Bits and Pieces” Photo by Sahand Babali on Unsplash.
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