Set Apart for What? - May 1, 2011

Scripture tells us "you shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.” (Lev. 19:2, 1 Peter 1:16) The New Testament word used for “holy” means literally to be “set apart.” God calls us to be set apart, like Him. What does it mean to be set apart like God?

The first thing God set apart as holy was time, itself. He declared the seventh day of creation holy, which we recognize as the Sabbath (Gen. 2:3). The next thing He made holy was the place where Moses was standing before the burning bush (Ex. 3:5). So, times and places were set apart in Scripture as holy unto to God.

At Mt. Sinai, God established boundaries for the people (Ex 19:12), signifying that holiness involves the establishing of boundaries. This was primarily for the protection of the people, because the presence of God brings an all-consuming fire! God's boundaries are to help people live in blessing, rather than danger.

Also at Sinai, God established His plan for the Holy Tabernacle, in which was a “Holy Place” and the “Holy of Holies.” The place of sacrifice was outside the Holy Place, and the Ark of the Covenant, where God's glory rested, was placed inside the Holy of Holies. In other words, God is SO holy that the place of His presence is thrice holy – set apart quite dramatically from everyday life. We cannot approach His Holiness in an ordinary way, on fear of death. No man can see God and remain the same (Ex 33:20).

With the coming of Jesus, God deepened our understanding of holiness. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, walked and ministered in the Holy Spirit, and imparted the Holy Spirit to His disciples. Not surprisingly, almost every time Jesus mentioned “holy” he referred to the Holy Spirit of God. The essence of His message is that holiness is an inside job, involving a change of heart, repentance before God and learning to receive and be obedient to God's Holy Spirit. To be holy like God is to be changed from the inside out, not just a matter of conforming to external rules.

To be set apart for God, then, is to allow yourself to carry the presence of God, just like Jesus did. Not that we are perfect like Jesus. But by making God our priority and accepting His boundaries for living, we make ourselves available for His Presence to work in and through us, which other people often recognize as holiness—i.e., “set apartness.”

The New Testament reminds us that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit and we “are not our own” (1 Cor. 6:19). In other words, there is an inner dimension of holiness that marks us personally as “without blame before [God] in love.” (Eph. 1:4) There is also an outer dimension to holiness, which has to do with how we related to other people. The Bible says we are to be “kings and priests” (Ex. 19:6, 1 Peter 2:5, Rev. 20:6), meaning we are to exercise Godly dominion in the world, the job of kings, and help others connect with God, the job of priests. Jesus summarized this mission in His final commission: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Mt. 28:19-20). We are to make disciplined learners of all the nations, so that they can follow the truths of God.

The word “nations” here in the original Greek is ethnos , from which we get the word “ethnic”, signifying tribes or clans. The deeper root here is etho, which means “forming a custom, or culture.” Think “cultivate.” Here is the heart of the matter. God wants nations and cultures to become His cultivated garden on earth, set apart for Himself to bring forth life rather than darkness, sin and death. To be called out for God is to become His agent of change, no longer conformed to this world, but transformed by the renewing of our minds. How? By accepting God's love and learning to love others. Learn to do this and you will bring forth life in the power of God's Holy Spirit, just like Jesus.

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