The thread on holiness is interesting. You cannot work on the meaning of holiness without considering God’s first encounter with Moses: Exodus 3; 5 God at the burning bush speaks to Moses: "... put off your shoes ... the place on which you stand is holy ..."

Hello -

The thread on holiness is interesting. You cannot work on the meaning of holiness without considering God’s first encounter with Moses:  Exodus 3; 5 -  God at the burning bush speaks to Moses:  "... put off your shoes ... the place on which you stand is holy ..." 

The ground is holy because God is there ... holiness is an attribute of the presence of God ... perhaps the bush is "burning" in Moses' account because of "light" ... this is the same "light" that is recorded at the baptism of Jesus, His transfiguration, His resurrection, His ascent into heaven, the coming of the Holy Spirit to the church at Pentecost and for that matter the column of fire over the Israelites while they were in the desert for forty years. People seem to perceive holiness, that is the presence of God, as light ... there are uncounted references to this perception within the bible, in our daily life as well as in every culture, from every time period, and in every honest profession of faith in God.  Holiness, as we perceive it, is not how close a person believes, hopes or feels he/she is to God ... rather ... it is how close God actually is to that person.

God, at the burning bush, asks Moses to take his shoes off because he is in a holy place ... in much the same way that God may require relatively simple actions of us or anyone for a variety of reasons. I think, when I consider this topic, as a control for my study of holiness, it important to remember that the repetition of actions, on our part, does not require a repetitive action by God. In much non-Christian worship there is repetition in liturgy and various forms of worship however they are not spiritually effective.

Ep. 1; 9 – 10 - " ... He has made known ... in wisdom ... the mystery of His will ... to unite all things in Him ... things in heaven and things on earth

Jer. 32; 37 – 38 - " ... I will bring them back ... they shall be my people ... I will be their God ... I will give them ... one heart ... one way ..."

Isaiah 35; 8 – 9 - " ... a highway shall be there ... a way ... it shall be called the way of holiness ... the redeemed shall walk there ..."

Holiness characterizes the presence of God with His people ... In James 4; 8 we see an important spiritual principle for our understanding of holiness: "... draw near to God and He will draw near to you ..."   ...  I agree that it is the spiritual attributes of wisdom, knowledge and understanding which enable us to increase our intent to be closer to God ... this process has the reciprocal action that God does move closer to us both as individuals and in the local church ... our free will and effort in essence "permit" God to move closer to us ... as God draws nearer, the spiritual attribute of holiness will increase, essentially around us. Not really a new concept, remember the fine hymn: "Nearer My God to Thee".

2 Cor. 7; 1 - " ... make holiness perfect in reverence for the Lord ... "

1 Thes. 4; 7 - " ... God has called us to holiness ... "

Lev 11; 44 - 451 Peter 1; 15 – 16 - " ... be holy for I am holy ..."

Mat. 5; 14 – 16 - " ... you are the light of the world ... a city set on a hill cannot be hid ... nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel basket ... but ... on a stand ... and ... it gives light to all in the house ... let your light so shine before men ... that ... they may see your good works ... and ... give glory to your Father who is in heaven ..."

How much light we have is pretty much related to how close God is to us in our life ... this is the same light that Moses saw at the burning bush .. it is holiness ... remember the scriptural thread from Revelations: “And those with Him are: called, chosen, and faithful” ... you can see the light, you can come into the light, you can be a source for the light ...

I feel this thread on holiness has good linkage to the John Calvin book we are reading because his current point is that God’s on-going revelation is in Holy Scripture. Here, John Calvin feels, we find greater relationship with God, consequently God is able to move closer to us in our life and within the local church. Perhaps it is at this point where the fruit of the Spirit is realized and it is here that the gifts of the Spirit manifest because when they manifest it is actually God in our presence – or – we can view it vice versa as us in His presence. Da.