From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase

Part 10 (final) of a series. Read part 9.

The unfolding proclamation of Christ as The Holy One of Israel reaches its climax in the book of Revelation. It shows the Holy One triumphant - and the saints triumphant in Him.

The Holy One Promised and Revealed

The Holy Spirit's use of the Hebrew and Greek languages in revealing the person and work of the Holy One of Israel is very significant. In Genesis through Job, God (Elohim, Yahweh) declares Himself to be The Holy One. As we have seen, the Holy Spirit employs the Hebrews words qadosh and hasid to establish that great fact. In the rest of the Old Testament, from the Psalms through Malachi, we find repeated declarations that Yahweh will personally visit His people as The Holy One of Israel, qadosh Yisrael.

Throughout the New Testament, Jesus is declared to be The Holy One who has now come by the Spirit's use of the terms the hagios or the hosios, the Greek equivalents of the Old Testament Hebrew words. The Revelation of Jesus Christ, committed to the Apostle John, is the crowning point of Scripture's unfolding proclamation of Christ as The Holy One of Israel.

Jesus Himself, as He began dictating the letters to the seven churches of Asia, spoke these words to the Apostle John: "These things says He who is holy, He who is true" (Revelation 3:7). The phrase translated "He who is holy" is, literally, the hagios, the Holy One.

The Holy One Validated

The phrase translated "He who is true" means the One who not only has the title, but also has the true nature corresponding to that title. It signifies the One who has been demonstrated in every respect to correspond exactly and completely to the idea signified by it - in other words, the genuine Holy One and not an antichrist. Jesus not only bears the title "Holy One of Israel," but by His person and work He has shown Himself to be the only bona fide claimant of that title in all of time and eternity.

Thus we find the saints in Revelation 15:3-4 singing the song of Moses and of the Lamb, saying

Great and marvelous are Your works,
Lord God Almighty!
Just and true are Your ways,
O King of the saints!
Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name?
For You alone are holy.
For all nations shall come and worship before You,
For Your judgments have been manifested.

Here our redemption reaches its pinnacle. And where is its focus? It is on the unique holiness of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In this series we have seen the unfolding revelation of the doctrine of the sinless perfection of Christ from Genesis to Revelation. This doctrine is like a spiritual law of gravity for us as believers. It holds in place everything that is necessary for this life, and the life to come. We have seen that the early Christians knew, from the Old Testament writings, that holiness was the defining characteristic of the One who would save His people from their sins. Many of those early believers were themselves witnesses to the facts of His resurrection and ascension (1 Corinthians 15:3-6, Acts 1:9-14) which the apostles made clear were attestations of His sinlessness.

Early Christians also knew, from the testimony and writings of the apostles, that Jesus was the genuine article - the Holy One, the Just One, the One of whom the prophets had spoken. Christ's sinless perfection, proven by His virgin birth, His life of humiliation and temptation in a body of flesh yet without sin, and finally by His resurrection and ascension to His throne, was unique in all of history. It was the proof of who He was, and a validation of His work on our behalf.

The Saints Triumphant In the Holy One

We as believers today can rely on these truths, just as our ancestors in the faith did. We have a perfect Savior in whom we can place complete trust.

Jesus said in Matthew 25 that He will one day sit in judgment over this world. He will tell the unbelieving and unrepentant on His left hand to depart from Him into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. But the righteous, on His right hand, will go to eternal life. He will welcome them into the kingdom that has been prepared for them from before the foundation of the world. On that day, Jesus will in effect say to unbelievers of all time, "Which of you convicts these - on My right hand - of sin? They are my redeemed people, because I am their Holy One. They are in Me, and I am in them. Which of you convicts Me - and those who are in Me - of sin?"

Indeed, as Paul writes to the Roman and Colossian believers,

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?...

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:31-35, 38-39)

For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. (Colossians 2:9-10)

Are You Trusting In The Holy One?

Dear reader, can you say these things? Are they true of you? Are you trusting in the holiness of Christ alone for eternal life? Have you given up all notions that you can, or need to, earn a righteousness of your own to present to God? Do you understand that many will attempt to do that on the Day of Judgment, but that Jesus will say to them, according to Matthew 7:23, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness"? Do you understand that to seek a righteousness outside of the perfect righteousness of the Holy One of Israel is, in fact, to practice lawlessness - to rebel against the law of God, and be condemned?

If you are not trusting in the person and the holiness of Jesus Christ alone for deliverance from God's wrath and for eternal life in the world to come, it would be our privilege to explain to you why there is no other way. We encourage you to contact us. Jesus said, "I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved" (John 10:9).

tq0435

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