In a secondary sense impersonal objects are spoken of as holy. The ways and means whereby God reveals and accomplishes His will are holy, because they are associated with Him who is pre- eminently holy and are instrumental in the sancti- fication of men. Thus the gracious call which God in the gospel addresses to men — inviting them to receive a wholly unmerited salvation — is a holy calling, xXijcns ayta (2 Ti 1°). The Messianic pro- mise given in OT times was a holy covenant, Sia- e-fiKTi 07(0 (Lk 1'-). The OT Scriptures are, by reason of the sacredness of their contents anH their disclosure of the divine will and purposw. holy writings, ypa<f>al 47101 (Ro 1').
We turn now to the group of nouns denoting holiness. 'Ayia<r/j.bt would properly denote the act of sanctifying, rb ayidt^eiv, and something of this active meaning is preserved in 2 Th 2'* : ' God chose you from the beginning unto salvation in sanctincation of the Spirit' {ff ayiaaiiif Tn>eiij.aToi), that is, in sanctification wrought by the Spirit ; cf. IP l": 'in sanctification of the Spirit,' etc. The active force of the word may also be observed, although in a somewhat difl'erent form, in 1 Th 4*: ' For this is the will of God, even your sanctifica- tion,' etc. The will of God is this : th.at He may accomplish your sanctification. In 1 Co 1^ Christ is called our 'sanctification,' in the sense that He is the cause or ground of our sanctification.
In most cases in NT, however, 07100-^65 denotes the eti'ect or result of d7iafeii'. (See, however, Sanday-Headlam's note on Ro 6"). In 1 Th 4*- 'it denotes the sphere of holy action in opposition to the sphere of lustful desire. In Ro ty' ayiac/ibs stands opposed to avofita. These terms denote the
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ends to wliicli tlie members are devoted in t!ie sinful and in the Christian life respectively. In the latter the members are presented as servants to rij;hteousness unto the end of sanctilication {(Is ayiaofidf). Similarly, in v.^ Christians are said to have their fruit unto sanctilication (e/j 07.), that is, to attain it as the result and reward of their life. In these passages from I Th and Ro, sancti- fication is particularly set in contrast to carnal lust, although its nature is not limited by that contra.st. In 1 Ti 2" sanctilication is contemplated as a virtue, or as the Christian's normal state, and is correlated with faith and love. In He 12" 'the sanctilication' (the definite article used only hero and in 1 Th 4') is the Christian character, the goal of Christian ellort, the preparation for the presence of God : ' Pursue after the sanctification ■without which no man shall see the Lord,' that is, enter into blessed fellowship with Clirist.
'A7i6ti)5 is used (ace. to tlie most probable read- ing) in 2 Co 1" in ref. to St. Paul's manner of life at Corinth, to the uprightness of which his conscience bears witness. It is here correlated with tlie sin- cerity or purity (eAucpiMia) which God etrects by tlie Holy Sjiirit. Here holiness designates the life and character which the grace of God produces. In the one other passage where the word is used (He 12'°) it is applied to God. Earthly parents, says the author, chasten their children with wrong or imperfect motives, or to secure some temporary good, but God chastens His children for their highest final good, that they may be ' partakers of his holiness' {els ri MeToXa^erK ttjs aytirriTos airroO), that is, that they may be transformed into moral likeness to Himself, and become partakers in His own eternal nature (cf. 2 P 1*). This passage carries us to a higher point than do those pre- viously examined, in that it represents the holy nature of God as the type and goal of all perfection in man.
'Ayiuavfii is twice used of the moral purity, the God-like character, which the gospel requires and imparts: 1 Th 3" 'To the end he may stablish your hearts in holiness before our God,' etc., that IS, in the possession of that holy life which will be acceptable to Christ at His coming ; and 2 Co 7' ' Perfecting holiness in the fear of God,' that is, per- fectly illustrating in character the holy life which comports with reverence for God. In Ko 1* the word occurs in a description which St. Paul is giving of the Son of God, 'who,' he says, 'was bom of the seed of David according to the flesh, who was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resur- rection of the dead.' Here the phrase itard TrfeO/m ayiioavyris stands in evident contrast to the phrase nari cdoKa. The phrase probably means : the spirit 01 Christ, that is, His inner, essential life, which is characterized by holiness. If this is the meaning, then ayiitxn'mjs expresses the quality of Christ's spiritual nature. He is ^ar iminence holy. He is in absolute accord with God.
We may sum up our results thus: In the ab-so- lute sense God alone is holy, and His holiness is the ground of the renuiremcnt of holiness in His creatures (1 P 1"). Holiness is the attribute of God, according to which He wills and does only tliat which is morallj- good. In other words, it is the perfect haniiDnj- of His will with His perfect ethioni nature. Hut the divine holiness is not to be thought of as a mere passive, quiescent state. It is an active impulse, a forthgoing energy. In God's holiness, that is, in the expression of His perfect ethical nature. His self - revelation is grounded. Nay, cp'ation itself, as well as ro- oemption, woulil be incor.ceivablo apart from the divine holiness, the energizing of God's absolutely c;ood will.