Holiness

Exodus 3:2, 5 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.

And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.

 From that passage we will be sure that it is not the first time Moses was passing that place

Note; Don't always depend on the English dictionary to give meaning to scriptural words, different words can mean different things, if read contextually.

 And come to think of it how can a ground be holy? The definition of holiness will answer that question.

 What do we call holiness?

Many people have different definition to this word holiness, most of the common definitions are;

 Abstinence from sin (Absence of fornication, dressing well, and not eating foods offered to idols), When you're not lying you're regarded as holy, When ure not stealing, they say  you're holy.

 If this definitions are true then it means even witches and unbelievers can be holy, Because these guys can put on the best character you could ever imagine.

The Angel of the Lord told Moses that the ground Is holy

Does it mean that place is clean and neat or the ground is free from sin 🤔

Think about it!!

The definition of holiness for non living things can not be different from the definition of holiness for living things

For example; Do you know the word barren can be used for living and non living things

 A woman can be barren and a land can be barren.

 What does it mean?

It means they both can't bear fruit

 The meaning is the same, so it should not be different for holiness.

 It would mean that there's a definition for holiness that we don't know.

 What did the bible say about holiness? Let's dive quickly into the word

1 Peter 2:9-10 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

 Definition of holiness

Holiness means to be separated for a special use. You see this verse up here will not mean abstinence from sin because he already called us a holy nation.

Holiness means to be separated for a special purpose.  Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation!

Why should the bible call us holy if we're supposed to  work for it.

 So it would mean that 

The holy nation there means a nation set aside for a specific purpose.

Ephesians 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

That we should be holy, means that we should be separated unto him, 'and' in Greek means 'kai' which means 'that is or which is'

So it would mean 

That we should be separated unto him holy that is without blame for him in love.

 The only one that is holy and without blemish is God, that's why the angels sing holy holy holy.

God is holy and there is no attitude you can put on or character you can portray that will earn you the holiness of God. Let me remind you of time past in Isaiah

Isaiah 64:6

But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. So, if our righteousness is as a filthy rag, 

it means none of your works can earn or make you holy before God.

Flash back... To the burning bush

Something can only become holy when the presence of an holy God comes upon it

So that ground became holy because it was separated for God to come upon that very time.  Immediately after that encounter Moses had, the ground returned to normal.

Or did you hear any case in the bible where people passed Horeb and said they off their shoes? No you didn't because it is not the act you perform that makes the place holy but the kind of Spirit that comes upon it. 

A man is not evil because he's doing evil but because he has an evil spirit. He can only be identified when he yields to that evil spirit and carry out it's operations.

You will get it better now

 That's for the non living things

Now to the living

No living thing can be holy expect they are separated for the use of an holy one, which is God.

That is why the only set of people regarded as holy are believers.

Because they have been separated unto God by the presence of the holyspirit in them.

A person becomes holy when the holyspirit comes upon/ inside of them

Believers are holy because the holyghost is In them, not because they abstain from sin

1 Corinthians 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

1 Corinthians 3:17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

The old testament wen the holyghost came upon men and leave 

They were separated for use for a particular task

When God's spirit came upon Saul he prophecy, he was separated for the purpose of the prophecy: made holy to prophecy.

When the spirit left him he became unholy again

Unapologetically all believers are holy.

 Now what many people call holiness is consecration, you can only consecrate something that is holy. You can't consecrate something that is not holy.

Don't commit fornication!

It is not because it will make you holy but because you're holy already,

But you won't commit fornication because you know you're separated for a purpose

Fornication will only make you terminate that purpose. Practicing holiness is a response to what you're already.

If a bowl is meant for turning eba ( eba is a local food in Nigeria)

It is holy, that is, separated for the purpose of making eba 

Now consecration is that you won't use that bowl in the toilet 

Why? Because it will terminate the purpose of that bowl.

Saying don't use that bowl in the toilet without it having any purpose does not make it holy

But using it for eba alone makes it holy unto Eba.

Maintaining the purpose for holiness is consecration

QUESTION

So, we can say consecration is Holiness preserved

ANSWER

 It is not Holiness preserved it is holiness sustained

 God made you holy he can't make you unholy

The only way to become unholy is that the holy one

Holyspirit leaves your spirit. Which cannot happen, Jesus said that the holyghost is coming to be with us forever.

QUESTION

 So where does dressing comes in, In consecration?

I feel moderation is also a form of sustaining the purpose of being chosen

ANSWER

Moderation? How do you know that something is moderate? You just know right?

How do you measure moderation in dressing?

What's the standard for measuring moderation in dressing?

The answer is culture

 God's major concern is not dressing although he is interested in all that pertains to us.

It is culture and maturity in moral behavior that determines dressing. culture should be respected. Culture changes with civilization and civilization carries everything along. So, civilization does not bring men into indecency, civilization only permitted some things and it gives  you the opportunity to chose. So, as much as civilization comes, having good morals in accordance to representing God is good and that is moderation.

But any culture that will interfere into the agenda of God should be noted and taken care of.

 That's why Jesus told those guys that they obey the law of Moses and go against God's law.

If what culture upholds will terminate the purpose of God in a believer then it should be checked

 That's why the bible said moderation

That word can mean let it be checked.

Now is it God that will check it NO. It is you, 

How do you do moderation

Tone it down

There are balances to Things

the other area is lacking balance but if you have balanced your own side leave others alone

God has blessed you

This is believers daily. 🤗🤗🤗