Share His Holiness

Hebrews 12 has a difficult passage to wade through. It starts with considering Christ's endurance and talks about the discipline we should expect from God (Heb 12:3-12). It has that particularly jarring (when looked at through modern distorted lenses) part about "The Lord disciplines the one He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives" (Heb 12:6). And that "chastises" is literally "to flog, to scourge." "Really?" we ask. But the text doubles down. "But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons" (Heb 12:8). Well, that's stark.

Perhaps it's this whole disturbing concept that God disciplines and chastises that makes us miss a key element. Comparing God's discipline with the training of our earthly fathers, the author says, "For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness" (Heb 12:10). I don't know what is more jarring -- the notion that God chastises the children He loves or the fact that the aim is for us to "share His holiness."

Maybe "holiness" is a foreign word to us. Biblically, at least. Biblical holiness is not fundamentally "sinlessness," but much more. It is separation. It is "other." It is to be "set apart." Set apart from sinfulness, sure, but in so many other ways. God complained, "You thought I was just like you" (Psa 50:21) because He's not. We are made in His image, but He is "other." No, He is "holy, holy, holy" -- "other" to the ultimate degree. And His goal is to make us ... like that. Paul puts it this way.

We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren. (Rom 8:28-29)

That, brothers and sisters, is our ultimate aim. We are to be conformed to the image of His Son, setting us apart from the rest. Setting us apart from sin and from death and from sorrow and from loss. Setting us apart from our old selves. The biblical term for this process is "sanctification" (Rom 6:19; 1 Cor 1:30; 1 Thess 4:3, 7; Heb 12:14) which simply means "making holy."

Bring it, Lord Jesus.