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into which in grace He calls them, and in which they begin their Christian course and so
pursue it. Hence they are called “saints” (
). See
SANCTIFICATION
.¶
Note:
The corresponding verb
denotes “to set apart to God.” See
HALLOW
,
SANCTIFY
.
2.
$
(
2 "
, 42) denotes the manifestation of the quality of “holiness” in
personal conduct; (a) it is used in Rom. 1:4, of the absolute “holiness” of Christ in the
days of His flesh, which distinguished Him from all merely human beings; this (which is
indicated in the phrase “the spirit of holiness”) and (in vindication of it) His resurrection
from the dead, marked Him out as (He was “declared to be”) the Son of God; (b)
believers are to be “perfecting holiness in the fear of God,” 2 Cor. 7:1, i.e., bringing
“holiness” to its predestined end, whereby (c) they may be found “unblameable in
holiness” in the Parousia of Christ, 1 Thess. 3:13.¶
“In each place character is in view, perfect in the case of the Lord Jesus, growing
toward perfection in the case of the Christian. Here the exercise of love is declared to be
the means God uses to develop likeness to Christ in His children. The sentence may be
paraphrased thus:— The Lord enable you more and more to spend your lives in the
interests of others, in order that He may so establish you in Christian character now, that
you may be vindicated from every charge that might possibly be brought against you at
the Judgment-seat of Christ;’ cf. 1 John 4:16, 17.”*
3.
(
2
, 41), “sanctity,” the abstract quality of “holiness,” is used (a) of
God, Heb. 12:10; (b) of the manifestation of it in the conduct of the apostle Paul and his
fellowlaborers, 2 Cor. 1:12 (in the best mss., for
).¶
4.
(
3
, 3742) is to be distinguished from No. 3, as denoting that quality
of “holiness” which is manifested in those who have regard equally to grace and truth; it
involves a right relation to God; it is used in Luke 1:75 and Eph. 4:24, and in each place
is associated with righteousness.¶
Notes:
(1) In Acts 3:12, the
KJV
translates
$
, by “holiness,”
RV
, “godliness,” as
everywhere, the true meaning of the word. See
GODLINESS
. (2) In Titus 2:3,
KJV
,
, which denotes “suited to a sacred character, reverent,” is rendered “as
becometh holiness,”
RV
, “reverent.” See
REVERENT
.¶
B. Adjectives.
1.
(
?
, 40), akin to A, Nos. 1 and 2, which are from the same root as
(found in
, “to venerate”), fundamentally signifies “separated” (among the Greeks,
dedicated to the gods), and hence, in Scripture in its moral and spiritual significance,
separated from sin and therefore consecrated to God, sacred.
(a) It is predicated of God (as the absolutely “Holy” One, in His purity, majesty and
glory): of the Father, e.g., Luke 1:49; John 17:11; 1 Pet. 1:15, 16; Rev. 4:8; 6:10; of the
Son, e.g., Luke 1:35; Acts 3:14; 4:27, 30; 1 John 2:20; of the Spirit, e.g., Matt. 1:18 and
frequently in all the Gospels, Acts, Romans, 1 and 2 Cor., Eph., 1 Thess.; also in 2 Tim.
1:14; Titus 3:5; 1 Pet. 1:12; 2 Pet. 1:21; Jude 20.
* From
Notes on Thessalonians,
by Hogg and Vine pp. 108, 115.