“Her priests have violated my law and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them,” (Ezek. 22:26).
One of the most energetically passionate displays of Christ during His earthly ministry was when He entered the temple and, in so many words, “cleaned house!” The zeal Jesus demonstrated over the fact that His Father’s house had been profaned was unmistakable (Ps. 69:9). Established as a place for God’s people to come together to worship Him and to hear the holy Scriptures read, the temple had been downgraded to a “den of thieves” by none other than the religious leaders of that day and their greedy system.
If the early church fell into this trap because of evil leadership, how can we not see that the same may be true of the church today? In fact, the apostles warned that it would be this way. “But there were false prophets among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you,” (2 Peter 2:1).
This warning should give us great pause, as the gathering of believers together in their local church is one of the primary means God ordained for His children to grow in holiness. Christ promises that when His people come together to learn from Him and worship Him, He will be with them – provided they come in His name and in accordance with His Word (Matt. 18:20). But He will not be found where His holiness is profaned. He will not be associated with uncleanness.
God doesn’t just expect a reverence and respect for His holiness in the local assembly, however. He also expects each one of His children individually to pursue holiness in their daily walk and life.
In Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth he asks, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?” The Spirit of God lives in every believer, so by default each one of us is a “temple of the holy God.” This explains why God is so zealous about His people pursuing holiness on a personal, daily, minute-by-minute level as well. He commands us to “be holy as I am holy,” (1 Peter 1:16), and to “pursue… holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord,” (Heb. 12:14).
One of the primary ways we keep ourselves holy is by choosing who we associate and identify with based on what Scripture teaches. 2 Corinthians 6:17 tells us to “… come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.” God’s people should not be identified with profane, scandalous, sin-loving people. Thomas Brooks said, “As we would be in with God, we must be out with them. We must reject them as we would have God to receive us.”
Do you respectfully seek God’s presence and blessing in your life by pursuing holiness? Then heed His Word and be instructed by it, as this is how we make a clear distinction in our Christian walk between that which is holy and that which is profane.
“How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night,” (Psalm 1:1-2)
- Help me, Lord, to run away from sin and follow after holiness! A hunter pursues a deer with earnestness. Help me to pursue holiness as a hunter pursues his game!
- Burn this in my soul, Lord, that if I am not fighting for holiness in my life, I am, by default, fighting against You and Your truth.
- Heaven has a small gate that can’t be entered into easily. Lord, You tell me that men must “press into it,” (Luke 16:16), and that I must “take it by storm,” exerting my greatest strength to get in. Is this how I live before You? Am I wrestling in life and death with You? It is a real fight (1 Cor. 9:26). I am running a race (Heb. 12:1) which requires patience and perseverance and great energy. I must run well to obtain the prize. I must pursue holiness (Heb. 12:14). I know it is by the power of Your Spirit, but I am still required to use all the means of grace at my disposal. I am to labor to win. Help me seek holiness all the days of my life, glorify Christ by being conformed to His image, and renew my mind by following Your word.
Further References for Ezek. 22:26
Ezek. 22:8; Zeph. 3:4; Jer. 2:8; Ezek. 44:23; 1 Sam. 2:12; Jer. 5:31
