7/16/14- Holiness is not Division

Be ye holy for I am holy.  (Leviticus 11:44; 19:2; 20:7; 1 Peter 1:15,16)

47“Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. 48When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. 49This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous 50and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 13) 

Thoughts:  One goal in life is to please God by seeking to be holy.  The word "Holy" means "other" or "separate."  So some would say that the holiness of the Church rests in our ability to separate from sin. But this is to confuse what we are called to separate from and what makes the Church holy.  We are to be different from the world and worldliness- whether worldliness is in the church or in the culture.  We are called to be holy as individuals (each fish in the net was separated).  What makes the Church really holy are not our works or our righteousness but the Holy Spirit who enables us to be holy and righteous before God (not before men).  We say "Hate the sin but not the sinner."  Being holy is not about an institution or a group- but about our relationship with God.
     While everyone should seek to be holy no one fully gets there.  There is no one who is holy like the Lord (1 Sam. 2:2); There is no one righteous- not even one (Rom. 3:10). The angels are sometimes referred to as the holy ones.   But there is no perfect church.
     In the fourth and fifth century there was a major controversy between the Donatists and the orthodox (Catholic).  The problem was that during the Roman persecution the emperor went after the clergy and told them to pinch some incense off before his statue or die.  Some gave in.  But later they repented their recantation of the faith and tried to go back into the fold.  The Donatists believed they should never be allowed back.  Furthermore, the Donatists believed, that any baptism or wedding or communion or ordination performed by such a person was not valid.  Augustine led the orthodox church in saying that what made the rite (baptism, wedding, communion, ordination) holy was not the minister but the Holy Spirit.  What makes the Church holy is not that it believes perfectly or even practices perfectly- no one does on this side (we see through a mirror dimly 1 Cor. 13:13).  But God is gracious.  There  are many Donatists alive today who would say that the denomination affiliation is what makes one holy or not holy.
     The parables of the nets and tares in Matthew 13  remind us that God does the separating at the end of the ages.  While we should always seek holiness in this life- not by separation but by holy living and belief- different from the world- we will not achieve perfect holiness until we get to heaven.

Prayer: Holy Spirit you are the One who makes me Holy.  Help me to live in your holiness.  Help me to reflect that in the way I think, speak, and act.  Help me to grow in sanctification but to thirst for the day when I will be made holy by you.