Amazing holiness (Ephesians 1:1b‪)‬ Lift Your Eyes Archives - Forget the Channel

One of the benefits

of history is that it makes us grateful for things we might otherwise take for

granted. My father-in-law has a collection of historical newspapers. At one

point I was looking through his collection, and a brief comment caught my eye.

It’s from the London Gazette, Monday August 26, 1768, Number 118, Twopence-Farthing,

just after an announcement of a soiree to be held by Mrs Grant-Forsdyke and

just before a description of a French pirate ship at large:







ABHORENT PRACTICE OF SLAVE TRADING: The hunting of Human Beings for the purpose of making slaves of them is a practice to be much abhored. It is therefore of great comfort to Englishmen of Christian Ideals to note that the group of Evangelicals continues to be active in condemning the trading of slaves… We are sure all thinking men will deem the work of the Evangelicals to be of ultimate necessity and will encourage them to continue in it.London Gazette, Monday August 26, 1768







(An “Evangelical” is a Christian motivated primarily by the gospel, i.e. the message about Jesus Christ. The word comes from the Greek word for gospel, euangelion)







Plaque in York Minster, England







The writer of this article is speaking about the early efforts of Evangelicals such as Granville Sharp (later joined by Hannah More, William Wilberforce and others) to end the slave trade in the British Empire. By God’s grace, the Evangelicals’ persistent efforts were ultimately successful. While modern slavery is still, sadly, a huge problem worldwide, at least it is now universally illegal. Today, we take this for granted. But it hasn’t always been so. Fundamental changes have occurred, and it’s important to remember how these changes came about. History helps us to be grateful for our current situation, to remember how we got here—in this case, through the work of people who took the gospel of Jesus seriously—and to be motivated to continue to act today.[1]







Ephesians is written by the Apostle Paul:







To the holy ones—those who are also believers in Christ Jesus.Ephesians 1:1b







There is some important history behind this phrase. If we learn and remember this history, it will increase our wonder at and gratitude for what God has done to make it true. And as believers in Christ Jesus, it will motivate us to live as God’s holy people today.







Being holy







First, we need to come to grips with what ‘holy’ means. First and foremost, ‘holiness’ is a characteristic of God. God’s ‘holiness’ refers to his supreme excellence—his distinction from everything that he has made. God’s holiness means that he is perfectly mighty and pure and wonderful, and more. The word ‘holy’ can also be used to describe things and people that are specially set apart for God and his service. In the Old Testament, we read about the nation of Israel (e.g. Exodus 19:6, Deuteronomy 7:6). Israel was ‘holy’ because God had loved them and chosen them to be his own people, to be set apart for his service, to live for him, to be pure and live right lives, to keep his law, and to be special in the world. A ‘holy person’ is sometimes called a ‘saint’: while these look like two different words in English, they actually mean the same thing. And this term ‘the holy ones’, or ‘the saints’ was applied, first and foremost, to the special nation of Israel (e.g. Daniel 7:18).







Believers in Christ Jesus







In Ephesians,

however, Paul is not writing to God’s Old Testament people Israel. Rather, he

is writing “to the holy ones—those who are also believers in Christ Jesus”.