Hebrews Chapter Twelve, Imparted Holiness

 

Hebrews 12:14b and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:

 

The writer separates peace and holiness. These are two different goals, and the Hebrew Christians were to doggedly pursue both. Having dealt with the Biblical concept of peace, our attention now turns to holiness.

Holiness, as has been stated previously, is an attribute native and unique to God’s character. The term “holy” may be found 611 times in Scripture, describing many things, most of them related directly to God’s business with sacrifice or the tabernacle. In Leviticus, we find this most expressive use of the term. “For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy,” Leviticus 11:44. The Hebrew word for holy is, “qadowsh,” or “qadosh.” Its inference is separateness, but its direct definition imparts the idea of dedication or devotion to something in particular. The word, defined as it is in Leviticus, is first found in Exodus 19:6, which reads, “And [Israel] shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”

 

In this context, Israel is a holy nation, dedicated to God, separated from the nations for a purpose. It stands to reason then that God, when giving the Law through Moses, commanded the people individually to be holy as He is holy. This is an attribute given by God to another for a purpose. The angels are described as holy because they are in God’s will, separated to perform His work as His messengers. Israel was holy because they were a people not reckoned among the nations, but chosen by God to receive the Law and the prophets, and to fulfill the promise God made to Abraham, for both the land of Canaan and the coming Messiah.

 

That was why God wanted separation between the Jews and Gentiles. The Gentiles did not know God; or rather they had forgotten and replaced Him, Psalm 9:17, Romans 1:21. Israel was to be the light, the head of nations, leading the Gentiles to God, with the summit being Messiah the Prince’s arrival, who would usher in peace for the nations, since He is the Prince of Peace, Psalm, 2:8, Isaiah 9:6, Amos 9:11-15.

 

Holiness is an imparted attribute to anyone or anything outside of God Himself. While objects may have a ceremoniously holy impartation, what God desires is an imparted and adopted holiness people possess as a gift of His grace, that we may now share the attribute of holiness. He wants His creatures to be adopted into the household of faith and become His children, clothed in holiness, and partakers of the heavenly calling. We know from this verse that holiness is an imperative if we want to see God. The injunction is clear: without holiness, we may not see Him; with holiness—that is, a holiness alien to us but given by God Himself—we may approach the throne of grace as His children. God is holy, as He stated in Leviticus. He is separate from sinners, Hebrews 7:26. He is also separate from the time/space/matter universe He created. He is not bound by it, nor subject to the laws He implemented in it. While the universe suffers sin and death on even a cosmic level, God’s purpose remains: and that is to call men and women out of this sin-tainted creation through the efficacious sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sin. He will demonstrate to men and angels that His will is perfect, and His holiness undefiled since He only draws a sinner close to Him when they have gone through the fount of Christ’s blood, having their sin washed away, Isaiah 1:18, Acts 22:16, Romans 10:13.