Holiness Unto the Lord

In the Church of the Nazarene, the phrase "Holiness Unto the Lord," is often referred to as our motto or anthem. It is at the heart of who we are. We believe that God has called everyone to "Be Holy for I am Holy" (Leviticus 11:44; 1 Peter 1:16). We also believe that God always equips us to do what He calls us to do. That means the call unto holiness is not just a goal to be aimed for, a hope to be longed after, wishful thinking or anything else along those lines.

The call to holiness is what God expects for His followers. God expects His people to be holy. Not because we have any innate goodness in ourselves, or not because we have the will and determination to live holy lives, but rather, because He makes us holy when we allow Jesus to be our Lord and the Holy Spirit to sanctify our lives. Romans tells us that the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead is at work within you and me when we are united with Christ. If you ask me, that's a lot of power at work in our lives.

I've always believed this about holiness, but this morning as I was reading in Numbers, I realized something. Sometimes I struggle with places in the Old Testament where God tells His people to go into the land He promised them and chase out or kill all of those living there. That just seems a little harsh.

In Numbers 31 God tells the People of Israel to take revenge on the Midianites for leading them into idolatry. The instruction from God are to kill everyone except for virgin girls. We are told that there were 32,000 virgin girls. That means a lot of people were killed. I was struggling a little bit with this as I was reading this morning, and then all of a sudden it hit me. God is desperate for His people to be Holy! God loves everyone, and desires that all should know Him, but that is also why God is so passionate about His people being holy. The world knows God's holiness through His people (see Ezekiel 33 for an example).

Sin has a way of corrupting everything it touches. Just as a moldy grape can make a whole bunch bad, sin of one can spread to many so very, very quickly. So, God will do everything in His power to keep His people Holy. I think that's why in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) Jesus says, "It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell."

As I pause this morning to think about all of this, I am so thankful that God is so desperate for our holiness. God loves us so much that He will go to great lengths to save and sanctify us. God can and will make us and keep us holy if we allow Him to have His way and His will in our lives. I am thankful for a God like that.