Today you can see examples of this symbolism used for people who have a medical condition - they wear bracelets bearing the emblem of a snake wrapped around a pole to indicate that they have a medical condition that needs attention.
In the OT, in the wilderness, when they were bitten by serpents, Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole, and when they looked upon it they received their healing.
He looked to Christ within Him the hope of glory. Paul said he placed no confidence in the flesh. That is when you realise that Christ in you is the hope, the expectation, the confidence. How do you cope with failure in general when the failure is YOU? How do you try and fix failure when all attempts at self-improvement are doomed to fail because a broken you cannot fix YOU? You are helpless. In other words, he gets up one more time than he falls down! So we are in a process of being renewed, but we cannot fix ourselves, for we are broken and broken people cannot fix their own brokenness. The Bible says a righteous man falls 6 times, but he rises 7 times. The Bible says we all fail in many ways, so we should not condemn ourselves when we miss the mark. Christ in you is the hope of glory, honour and victory! (Col. You are loved, and God’s plans for you are good! That plan, my friend, is Christ in you. This is the work of the Holy Spirit living inside us, making us more and more like Christ every day as we mature in His image. The book of Ezekiel says, “ I will give them a new heart, and give them a heart of flesh, and write my laws in their heart”. The whole point of the OT is to show that man by Himself cannot do this. And because He IS holy, and because He has made Himself one with us, we ARE holy and shall BE “caused to be” holy by the working of the Holy Spirit Himself. But we are already set apart BY Him for this purpose, and He Himself will continue to set us apart for this purpose, because we are His workmanship, and because He Himself - the “set apart” one - has taken up residence within us to perform this work. Yes we should live moral and righteous lives because this is what God expects of us now that we are His. While there is no doubt from this verse that God expects behaviour from us that displays the fruit of His spirit in our lives, we must not exclude the expectation that His grace is going to empower it. Hebrews 2:11 says, “Both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one.” You shall be holy, for I am, and I am living inside you. And who He is (living on the inside of us) is who we are also, because He has become one spirit with us. He exists as holiness, that is who He is. “You shall practice holiness, for I embody holiness” (NASB in E Prime)
The NASB version puts it this way, “ You shall be holy, for I am holy.” You shall be, for I am. God does not demand “Be holy you sinner!” He entreats, “Be holy (hand extended) and here is my Holy Spirit to help you.” His words “be holy” empower us to be holy, and His Holy Spirit resident within us is the source of that holiness.įOR - The Greek word “for” (hoti) means “causatively because.” And in that sense God’s command to be holy is not without power or grace to impart what He demands. Every word of God has the power to perform what it commands. In the N.T God says, “Be holy” and there is holiness. In the book of Genesis when God said, “Light be” (hayah) there was light. The O.T word Hayah (to cause to become) is often compared to the N.T word “ginomai” which has the same meaning. When God speaks holiness over us by saying, “Be holy,” He is not only commanding us to live righteously but He is imparting to us His holiness in the same way He said, “Let there be light.” HOLY - The word holy (hagios) is the same word that is often translated “sanctified” – in other words “to be set apart” for the purpose for which you were created.īE - The word “be” (ginomai) means “to cause to be, to become (come into being)” The word has the meaning of actually creating the desired effect or object. God’s Holy Spirit living inside us is God’s seal of sanctification, this is His seal of holiness that sets us apart for Him. When two people get engaged they set themselves apart for each other and their “sanctification” is sealed with a ring. Sanctification Part 4 – Be holy for I am holy God does not demand “Be holy you sinner!” He entreats, “Be holy (hand extended) and here is my Holy Spirit to help you.” His words “be holy” empower us to be holy, and His Holy Spirit resident within us is the source of that holiness.