Holy Destiny
Romans 11:13–22
If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches. Romans 11:16

Our destiny as Christians is the same as that of the nation of Israel. We too are to be “holy to the Lord.” And if that is the case, if that is what we will surely be one day—since “without holiness no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14 NIV)—we must strive to be holy now.

Have you ever thought of your destiny in terms of holiness? If you are a Christian, you have been set apart to God to be wholly his. But you are not holy now. You are sinful now, and the more you live, the more you will be aware of it. Your destiny is holiness. That is why we read about this so often in the Bible. God told the people through Moses, “Be holy, because I am holy” (Lev. 11:44–45; cf. 19:2; 20:7). And Peter picks up on the theme, writing, “But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’” (1 Peter 1:15–16). This is not only a command. It is our sure end. If we belong to Jesus Christ, God, whose purposes do not change, will make us like him in holiness one day.

We usually think of salvation relationally today. That is why we think of God’s attributes as being, first of all, love, then perhaps mercy, kindness, goodness, and such things. This is not wrong, of course. God is love, and we are being enabled to love him and others because he first loved us and so showed us what love is like.

But this is not the way the Bible speaks of our destiny. It is not the love relationship that is emphasized. We are not told that we will spend our time in heaven loving God and others, though we undoubtedly will. The Bible emphasizes holiness. And the reason it does is that a lack of holiness is what accounts for our inability to love rightly and, in fact, to do anything else well. The reason our relationships to God are not all they should be is that we are not holy. The reason why our relationships to others are not all they should be is that we are not holy. We need to be holy.

But praise God, one day we shall be holy. “We shall be like [Jesus], because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).

So why not be holy now? That is what John concludes. For immediately after telling us that we will be like Jesus one day, he says, “Everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure” (v. 3). Do you? You will, if you have your eyes fixed on that great destiny.

Taken from Come to the Waters by James Boice ISBN 9798887790954 used with permission from P&R Publishing, Phillipsburg NJ 08865

Scripture quotations are from the ESV (the Holy Bible English Standard Version) copyright 2001 by Crossway a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.