Below is an excerpt from Mark Horne’s manuscript from his forthcoming commentary on Ephesians, specifically on Paul’s reference to Christians as “saints” (Ephesians 1:1).
“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus.”
Paul greets believers in Ephesus as “saints” or holy ones. This has implications that one has a right to “sanctuary access” which fits in with much that Paul writes about (we are enthroned with God in Christ in the heavens, as in 2:6. In addition to the “positional” dimension of the word, there is also an ethical or behavioral meaning to “holy.” Certain expectations are put on saints. They should behave in ways that are “proper among saints” (Ephesians 5:3). These expectations are in part because people who know that they are in God’s presence should be watchful of how they behave. But there is more to the ethical implications of holiness.
If God is described as holy and we are told to imitate his Holiness to some degree, then the word must also have a positive reference to God himself. We can’t make the ultimate definition of holy to be “set apart to God” because then extolling God’s holiness (Isaiah 6:3) would be meaningless. The term must have positive content.
Saints, as those close to God or who possess access to God’s throne room, have an obligation to represent God accurately to the world. Furthermore, being graciously granted access to God’s presence is supposed to be transformative.
When Moses went up into God’s cloud at the top of Mount Sinai, he asked to see God’s glory (Exodus 33:18). God replied that he could only show Moses his back because no one could survive the sight of God’s face. Merely viewing that aspect of God’s glory caused Moses’ own face to shine brightly (34:29ff). So being brought into God’s presence as the recipients of God’s grace enables us to become more like him: “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2 ESV).
Mount Sinai was definitely a holy place when God came down upon it.
The chariots of God are myriads, thousands upon thousands;
The Lord is among them as at Sinai, in holiness (Psalm 68:17 NASB).
Admittance into God’s presence in holiness resulted in transformation. Those designated saints in name by being given throne room access were supposed to become saints in word and deed.
As Moses made clear to Israel, their special relationship to God at once made them holy and family:
You are the sons of the LORD your God. You shall not cut yourselves or make any baldness on your foreheads for the dead. For you are a people holy to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth (Deuteronomy 14:1–2).
Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the LORD your God disciplines you. So you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him (Deuteronomy 8:5–6).
This ties in with what God said through Moses to Israel earlier:
- You shall not make yourselves detestable with any swarming thing that swarms, and you shall not defile yourselves with them, and become unclean through them. For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground. For I am the LORD who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy (Leviticus 11:43–45).
- And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy’” (Leviticus 19:1–2).
- You shall be holy to me, for I the LORD am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine (Leviticus 20:26).
Jesus focused on the implications of God’s holiness and his adoption of us as sons and daughters:
You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:43–48).
The word “perfect” (telioi, telios) can also be translated “mature” (for example, compare Hebrews 2:10; 5:9 to 5:14). Jesus seems to understand “perfect” as an adequate term to use instead of “holy.”
The architectural features of the Tabernacle and Temple along with Jesus’ use of the term “perfect” or “complete” or “mature” indicate that God’s holiness refers to his integrity. We, as dependent creatures, can grow into an analogous stability by reliance on Him in a way that is an appropriate reflection of God’s integrity. The original calling of humanity was to grow more and more like God. Thus, in the Incarnation, Jesus grew complete by relying on the Father through trials: “Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect [complete, mature—Hebrews 5:14], he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him” (Hebrews 5:8–9; also 2:10).
So God’s holiness, while setting him apart as above and different, also calls us to be“mature” or “completed” in his likeness. That fits with the story of the creation week. God created the earth dark, formless, and empty and then goes about illuminating, shaping, and filling it (Genesis 1). While the original creation came from God’s creative act and was good for that reason, God could and did make it better over time. He made it more glorious with seas, and dry ground, plants, birds, fish, animals, and humans. Creation matured into a better reflection of God’s glory. So God set apart the day in which he rested from his (up to that point) finished work of creation. This celebration of bringing creation from glory to glory is the first time the Bible uses the word “holy” (Genesis 2:3).
In Ephesians, Paul utilizes these concepts in describing the purpose of the Christian life and the blessing of life in Christian congregations. As saints, we are to grow to be more like our holy Father and like Jesus:
- And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers… until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to an adult male, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be infants, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human trickery, by craftiness in deceitful scheming (Ephesians 4:11, 13–14).
- For this reason I bow my knees before the Father… that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner human, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:14, 16–19).
Notice the unending nature of this prayer request at the climax of the first part (chapters 1-3) of the epistle. Not only are we to “know” something that “surpasses knowledge” but we are to “comprehend” infinite dimensions. The “breadth and length and height and depth” remind us of how carefully we are given measurements of God’s sanctuary (1 Kings 6:20; 2 Chronicles 3:8; Ezekiel 41:4; Revelation 21:16). This should be no surprise, since we are now being made into His temple (Ephesians 2:19–22), a true Holy of Holies that is “filled with all the fullness of God.” Only now the cubical throne room stretches out into infinity in all directions (Ephesians 3:18) so that we can always go further as “in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:7).
God’s holiness is thus a description of God’s nature and character that is simultaneously transcendent to us but, at the same time, the direction for our lives and character to grow toward. If one needs a terminological handle to grasp what God’s holiness means, it might be helpful to think of it as God’s “eternal fatherhood.” His holiness is simultaneously awesome and transcendent yet it also calls us to grow more like Him (which further makes us aware of our immaturity and our dereliction of our duty to grow more mature). This would certainly fit with Hebrews 12:3–11, especially verse 10: “For they [our earthly fathers] disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.”
As Paul wrote to the Romans, “For from him and through him and to him are all things” (11:36a). God is our world of origin, God is our transport, and God is ever our unending final frontier.
“To him be glory forever. Amen” (11:36b).
Mark Horne is a member of the Civitas group, and holds an M.Div from Covenant Theological Seminary. He is assistant pastor at Providence Reformed Presbyterian Church in St. Louis, and is the executive director of Logo Sapiens Communications. He writes at www.SolomonSays.net, and is the author, most recently, of “Solomon Says: Directives for Young Men” from Athanasius Press.