(6) Our Lord never speaks of any person, save the Father and the Spirit, as holy ; and only once does He describe any thing as holy. His command, ' Give not that which is holy to the dogs ' (Mt 7"), is a proverbial expression whose origin is probably some Jewish exclamation of liorror at the thought of profaning altar-flesh, wliicli liad been offered in sacrifice to God (Lv 23<^<'- LXX rd dyia). A similar saying is quoted from Aristotle : ' Do not fling wisdom into the street' {fi-fire pi^f/ai aoiplav eh toi/s rpidSovi ap Themist p 234)
The appl cation of our I or 1 « n \ 1 not he 1 mited to
preichers of the go=<] d a I 11 e lo not
sanct on an\ doctr ne of r of tr th ;
not to be exposed to th I I e John
Wesley s con ent {^ \ \ 1 pert nent :
'Beware of th nk I II IIU on t U there
is full and mconte til an 1 Llonous ttuths'
of sins and the gift of the Holy Ghost. . . . The most probable way to make Felix tremble is to reason with him of righteous- ness, temperance, and judgment to come.'
In each of the four Gospels there are passages in which our Lord speaks of the Holy Spirit, viz. Mt_12'= iiS''-", Mk 3^" 1236 1311^ Lk V^"-''-, Jn U^s 20-^. In so speaking He definitely ascribes esisen- tial Divinity to the Spirit. Not in this way could He have spoken of 'a created Intelligence above the an.i;els " l.ut inferior to Himself. More- over, this Divini' .i-i'iit is distiiii^uished both from the Father wlio scimIs jlim, and from the Son in whose name He- is stiit : uiid in tlic NT the phrase which normally describes Him — 'the Holy Spirit' — ascribes to Him the essential attributes of Deity, the moral glory of God.
In this sense Dalman's words (o?3. cit. p. 202 f.) must be under- stood when he says, ' As regards content, there is no difference between " Spirit of God " and " Holy .Spirit." ' He is careful to point out that, as ' the Holiness ' had become a Divine title, ' it might readily be supposed that in the term N^iliJ nn " the Holy Spirit," the word N^hij became in reality a name for God, so that TO Tvisj/Mc rou hod would represent it more accurately than TO TcSfnn TO ii],m. But in that case terms like Tfifl-i^ nn "thy holy spirit" (Ps 61U), TiiJ"! Nnn "my holy spirit" (Targ. Is 421), would be impossible. ' 'And yet it must be maintained that the addition of NE'li? is expressly meant to specify Divinity as an attribute of the Spirit.' See, further. Holy Spirit.
The last recorded example of our Lord's use of the word ' holy ' is in His intercessory prayer. He who never called any human being ' holy ' prays that His disciples may attain unto holiness. His petitions are both negative and positive : from the corruptions of the world He asks that they may be kept in the name (Jn 17" EV) which in its fulness it had been His mission to reveal. But it is not enough for them to be kept from entering the domain of the Evil One (Jn IV^ ^k toC -jrovripou, of. 1 Jn 5'*' ' the whole world lieth in the evil one'). If they are to continue Christ's work, they must be partakers of His holiness, for only in complete devotion of all their powers to the service of God can they share their Master's joy. Hence He also asks, as in absolute self-sacrifice He con- secrates Himself, that ' they themselves also may be consecrated in truth ' (Jn 17'"). In these peti- tions the love of Christ for His own finds full expression, and they are fitly introduced by the unique phrase ' Holy Father ' (cf. ' Father,' v.^ and ' rigliteous Father,' v.*^). In this glorious name of God ' all excellences meet '; purity and tenderness unite, majesty and pity conibine. Christ regards this all-sufficient knowledge of God as 'an ideal region of security,' in which His disciples will be safe from harm. As long as they are 'in the name,' it will be impossible for thoughts of God's holiness to suggest that it is dangerous to approach the Holy Father (cf. 1 S 6™ 2P, and see above). Nor can the revelation in Christ of His ' pitying tenderness Divine ' lead to sinful presuming on His grace, a,nd to neglect of moral purity, without which none may hold communion with the Holy Father. Therefore, as in the OT the conception of holiness varies vith the i (>n(e]ition of God, so in the NT llie ilininx "i tlie ie\elation of the Father in the Sen is n-.i.lieil i]i tlie harmonizing of the ' niaiu'-lnied ' manifestations (ef. TroKvirolKiXos, Eph 3'") of 'His glory in tlie pure, white light of His holy love. The opening petitions of the Lord's frayer teach that His Kingdom will come arid His will be done ' as in heaven, so on earth,' when in His Church on earth as in heaven the name of the Holy Father is hallowed (Mt 6'<''A7iaff- 0i)rio rb 6vofid. aov . . . ws ev ovpav^ /fat (irl yijs).