Communion 2nd March 2025
Holiness of God
Why Holiness? Why is holiness so important?
Sometimes we imagine that ‘holiness’ was thought up by God, just to have some hard rules, like He made up all these important sounding rules for the sake of having a more formal religion.
But no, God created the universe and mankind, out of Himself, out of His very nature and being. The eternal laws that govern heaven, also govern the creation of everything.
God is love. God is holiness. And this Being who is Holiness, created all things, including mankind, the pinnacle of all of His creation.
All the governing laws and principles were automatically built into all of creation.
Holiness is a key of life, not just our spiritual life. All people will come to realise that at judgment, if they have not before then.
Now, in taking communion, we receive an impartation or a transference, of the life of Christ, when we take it in devotion and faith. It’s not just a memorial practice. It’s a dynamic act.
But, if we are knowingly sinning, if there is an area of sin in our life that we will not change, then the opposite is true:
1 Corinthians 11:29 ‘For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself.‘
So, for humans, for us, if we choose not to be holy (to rid ourselves of known sin) it is actually, an act of rebellion against God. And in fact, it is to rebel against all creation.
Even worse, it is to agree and align oneself with the Enemy. The first & greatest rebel, and arch enemy of God.
The writer of Hebrews is very serious about sin and holiness too:
Hebrews 12:4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
The writer means taking sin very seriously, and removing it out of your life.
Yet, Jesus DID give His Blood, in His fight against our sin.
Hence, not only in the OT, but also in the NT we are commanded to ‘be holy even as the Lord is holy.’
1 Peter 1:15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
And part of being holy unto the Lord, is to hate sin with a passion as God does:
Jude 1:23 save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh. ESV
NLT: hating the sins that contaminate their lives.
CEV: But hate even the clothes of those who have been made dirty by their filthy deeds.
It is a choice on our part. A choice to passionately hate sin, and, an earnest desire and commitment to be truly be holy.
We must count the cost of following Christ; it means giving up all sin, all things the Bible says are wrong.
But having highlighted God’s hatred of sin, and His command for us to be holy, God also provided the power for us to be holy, to defeat persistent sin in our lives:
John 16:8 And when he (the Holy Spirit) comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:
Rom 8:10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
At the Lord’s Table, we receive an impartation or a transference, of the life and power of Christ in taking communion, when we take it in devotion and faith. It sharpens our conscience of sin, and empowers us to live holy.
1Cor 11:23 …the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.