Pastor Buddy’s Blog

I had a dream — Holiness to the Lord …

Filed in General |

Journal,

Several years ago I had a dream that I knew was from the Lord. That dream played a great role in helping me with a better understanding concerning ’the finished work of the cross’. 

In the dream of the night —

Jesus is standing at the pulpit. I am behind Him to His left. While I was unable to see His face, I knew it was Jesus. We were in a former church that Betty and I had pastored. The difference this time was that the congregation was made up of people of whom I had conducted funerals for.

The Lord had a dear sister stand. All eyes were on her and then on Him. He had a large book opened in front of Him. It was her life book. As He began going through her life, all we heard were praises. He just kept commending her. Yet, everyone knew that there had been a major sin failure in her life.

In the dream I found myself becoming anxious. I loved this dear sister and I did not want to hear the Lord speak of her failure. He was getting closer all the time. When the Lord came to the place in her life where He would have to deal with her failure, I caught my breath. My heart was breaking.

But I heard nothing. When I looked over at the book, the place was white. Nothing was written there. He just kept on praising her.

When I awoke the dream was lingering in full color on my thoughts. That’s when the Scriptures began to come. There was one in particular, where Paul said, “Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God.“ (1Co4:5)

Did you catch it? There was no hint of condemnation. 

You shall be holy …

This is why I wanted to share a study on what it means to be holy.

Believers are sometimes confused over what holiness is really about. Laying aside all the technical aspects of holiness let’s simply say that holy is what God is. The Spirit of God is called the Holy Spirit. Then we have this, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

The concept of holiness in the former testament had largely to do with closeness. The closer you were to God, the more holy you were. This is why the prophets were spoken of as ‘holy men of God,’ Israel was called ‘the holy land,’ and the holiest place in all the land was known as ‘the holiest of holies.’

Talmudic Judaism brings this thinking out in the Mishnah [Kelim - Vessels - 16:9]:

“The land of Israel is holier than any other land … The walled cities of Israel are still more holy … Within the wall of Jerusalem is still more holy. … The Temple Mount is still more holy. … The rampart is still more holy. … The Courtyard of the Women is still more holy … The Courtyard of the Israelites is still more holy. … The Courtyard of the Priests is still more holy. … Between the porch and the altar is still more holy … The Sanctuary is still more holy … The Holy of Holies is still more holy, for none may enter therein except only the High Priest on the Day of Atonement in the time of the Temple service.”

So we can see how holiness began with the land. The closer to the temple the more holy was the journey. Thus the journey of holiness reached a point where only certain ones could make the next progression of holiness, that is, being near to God. To go beyond the allowable limit was to invite death.

During the time of Jesus the temple was laid out so as to make this distinction on degrees of holiness. Gentiles were allowed only in the great courtyard to the south of the sanctuary. A sign of warning cautioned them not to go further on pain of death. The next courtyard was for Jewish women. Then the courtyard for Jewish males. The central area was the place for priests alone. And finally you had the holiest of holies where only the high priest could enter.

No longer degrees of holiness …

I shared all this to give some background for how the new covenant brings the idea of degrees of holiness to a halt. It is so important to understand this. Listen to these Scriptures:

“For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall. … for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.” (Eph2:14,18)

The dividing wall was the wall that separated the Gentile ‘on pain of death’ from coming any closer to other temple areas. Now we all have direct access to the holiest of holies by the Spirit.

“For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal3:27,28)

Notice now how all the walls are torn down. No more limited status for women, or the common priest, etc. But pay special attention to the last of this portion; “For you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

There are no longer degrees of holiness. The reason is because God has placed every believer in Jesus Christ. Paul calls this being ‘one new man.’ This means that what Jesus is, we are. And this is the great mystery of the new covenant.

So when we read the Scripture where God says, “You shall be holy for I am holy,” we should not look at this in dread. It is not merely a command. It is a promise. We have been made holy in Christ. His holiness is our holiness. When Jesus entered into the heavenly holiest with His own blood, He brought us with Him.

The point is that holiness is not simply something that you do in life. It is the issue of who you are in Christ. Certainly we are told to cleanse ourselves from all unholy conduct and unholy attitudes, but the basic premise of holiness remains the same. In the new covenant all believers have been made holy in Christ. Holiness is our standing with heaven.

I realize this is hard to grasp, but it is very necessary in order to understand the other ramifications of holiness. Think about it. Why are believers called ’saints’ in the New Testament? The word ’saint’ means a holy one. When Paul wrote a church that was filled with the flesh, he yet addressed them as, “saints by calling.” (1Co1:2) The reason is because neither holiness nor righteousness are things that we can earn. They come to us through the cross.

Perfectly identified…

Jesus so perfectly identified Himself with us that He took us to the cross, and from the cross, He then took us right into heaven, and had us seated with Him in the heavenly places. This is why John wrote,

“By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.“ (1Jn4:17) 

The glory of God’s love is the glory of the cross. Jesus exchanged His life for ours. He took the whole of our sinful life to the cross, and gave us the whole of His righteousness as a covering for our entire life. It wasn’t simply our past sins that were nailed to the cross. The total of our life was judged in Christ. This is why no accusation can be made against a believer.

Is this an excuse for sin? Never. Sin in itself is contrary to the divine nature that is implanted in each believer. (More on this a bit later.)

This is where the book of Hebrews can help fill in the gaps. The apostolic writer quotes from Jeremiah concerning the new covenant, and says in part,

“I will effect a new covenant … For all will know Me, from the least to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” (He8:8,11,12)

Again listen:

“And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.”

The second coming of Jesus has no regard to sin for believers. Why is this? It is because all our sins were placed upon Jesus and judged at the cross. Not just past sins, but now sins, and future sins. Again this is not a issue of being able to sin with no consequences. 

Again listen:

“By this will [Jesus body on the cross] we have been sanctified [made holy] through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (He10:10)

Notice that our sanctification is through the work of the cross. Peter says it comes with the blood of Jesus. Every believer has already been sanctified, or declared holy before God. How? Our life has been  hidden in Christ. To judge us, the Father would have to judge Jesus again. But keep in mind that the cross came from the heart of the Father; “For God so loved the world…”

And again:

“…but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God.” (He10:12)

Did you catch it? One sacrifice for all sins for all time. You cannot add to this. You cannot take away from it. The price has already been paid. In another place, Paul quotes David, in saying,

“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven and who sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account.” (Rom4:6-8)

Paul is speaking for the righteousness that is placed on our account apart from any works. If you try to earn your standing with God, you are in fact setting aside the cross. This is why the most victorious Christians are always those who live by a simple devotion to Jesus Christ.

And again,

“For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.” (He10:14)

Notice that our perfection is for all time.

Always keep in mind that our being sanctified in Christ does not come through any work on our part. It is God’s work. We are made holy because Jesus Christ is holy. He has given us His holiness. (To repeat this is good. It needs to find its way deep into our conscious thought life.)

Once this message is clearly understood, then we are able to go on to the other aspects of the cross and see where a personal walk of holiness does figure into the picture. Yes, there is an issue of cleansing ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit. This cleansing belongs to the experiential side of the finished work of the cross.

Here is where someone may say, ‘Well, if I’ve been given the holiness of Jesus Christ, then it really doesn’t matter what I do. I can sin all I want and nothing can be charged against me.’

The answer to that is that the work of the cross has both a positional side and its experiential side. The positional side is what God Himself has decreed through the cross. The experiential side is what the Holy Spirit works in the believer.

Listen to Paul:

“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? … knowing this, that our old self was crucified with him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin.” (Rom6)

The point is that for all who are born of God’s Spirit, sin will always be contrary to his or her own righteous nature. No person on this planet has a conscience as sensitive as that of a true believer. The very least of spiritual contaminations affects us. Where a sinner sins by nature, a child of God sins by temptation. Can we sin? Absolutely. Does is affect us? Absolutely.

And this is why John says that a believer is unable to continue in a life of sin. It hurts too deeply. He may get in the pig pen for a time, or have a relapse for a time, but this is not who he is. Every believer has deep in his inward man something called ‘the Spirit of holiness.’ It is also called the ‘divine nature.’ And until we are cleansed of any unholy conduct, we grieve in ourselves. This grieving is the parent of repentance. The grieving is from the Holy Spirit.

There is much more to be said. Just want to give my readers something to think about.

Yes, I had a dream. The Lord has often dealt with me in dreams and in visions. So all I can say is, ‘Thank you Lord Jesus, for your instructions that have come to me in the deep of the night.’

And remember,

There is much love coming your way,

Buddy