The Church is Holy

In the Nicene Creed we confess that the Church is holy. The Church is holy because by the Spirit we are set apart as holy through Christ, we are being made holy in Christ, and we will be presented holy to Christ on the last day.

First, the Church is holy because by the Spirit, we are set apart as holy unto God through the death of Christ for us: “we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Heb 10:10). Thus, Paul opens his letter to the Corinthians: “To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 10:2). 

This consecration as saints or holy ones, is confirmed by the seal of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in us: “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple” (1 Cor 3:16-17). Yes, you may have been sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, practising homosexuality, greedy, drunkards, revilers, and swindlers, “but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor 6:9-11). 

Second, the church is holy because by the Spirit, we are being sanctified in Christ. We are becoming more and more holy: “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honour . . . For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness” (1 Thess 4:3-4,7). Having been sanctified, we renounce impurity and pursue holiness. 

Sanctification is not abstract or theoretical. No, we present our bodies as “a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God” (Rom 12:1). And when we turn from presenting ourselves to God and present ourselves to impurity, the Lord who has sanctified us, will discipline us: “he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness” (Heb 12:10).

By the Spirit, we are set apart as holy through Christ, we are being made holy in Christ, and, finally, we will be presented holy to Christ on the last day. Our Lord will complete the good work he has begun in us (Phil 1:6). The same Lord Jesus who loved us and gave his life for us, cleanses us with the word, “so that he might present the church to himself in splendour, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Eph 5:25-27). John saw a vision of the church on the last day, “clothed with fine linen, bright and pure” (Rev 19:8). For this reason, Paul could pronounce this benediction to the church in Thessalonica: “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.” (1 Thess 5:23-24). Yes! He will surely do it!