Excerpt from Holiness in Fresh Perspective: Covenant, Cross, and Kingdom (Wipf and Stock, expected 2015)
For a long time I’ve always thought of the flames of fire that flickered over the heads of believers at Pentecost represented a heart change. There’s no doubting that this is the case. However, is there not another interpretation of these flames? For Moses, the flames that burned in the bush commissioned him for a mission. God’s indwelling cleanses us, executes the circumcision of the heart. It is Christ’s work that makes that possible. At the same time we must ask, for what purpose does he cleanse us? Does he clean us just for the sake of being clean, or is our sanctification and indwelling of his glory serve a greater purpose? I believe that he cleanses us so that we can be useful vessels through which his redemptive power can flow.
We see this concept in the vision and call of the prophet in Isaiah 6. Isaiah 6 is probably my favorite chapter in the entire Bible. In this chapter we read about the prophet’s vision of Yahweh who is seated on his throne, high and lifted up, and whose robe’s train fills the temple. This is a seriously powerful God. The first verse of the chapter details for us that Isaiah has this vision in the year that king Uzziah died. Uzziah was a powerful man. We have two kings, then, mentioned in this first few verses of Isaiah 6: (1) Uzziah and (2) Yahweh. One of these kings is dead and the other is eternal. What’s ironic about this is that the people of Judah tremble in fear because their human king is dead. They only fear because they overlook the fact that the One who really matters is alive and well, overseeing the affairs of human history.
Not only is this the most powerful God (symbolized in the train of his robe and being seated on a high throne), but also he’s also incomparably holy. The trifold repetition of a Hebrew adjective serves the purpose of demonstrating a superlative. This God of Israel is The Holy One. There is none who is more holy. This is dangerous combination; he is both powerful and holy. This means that he can destroy any impure being that enters his presence. His holiness even surpasses that of the seraphim (which literally means “burning ones” in Hebrew). What is more pure than fire! And here stands poor Isaiah, the man of unclean lips living among a people of unclean lips. He his undone! He knows that death is immanent.
Rather than destroying Isaiah, God purifies him. He forgives his sins. Here we see that cleanliness is a metaphor for innocence. This means that uncleanliness, or impurity means guilt, namely, sin-guilt. But why does God do this? First and foremost, he does this because he is a loving and merciful God. This is a part of his holiness. This is a part of his character. The second reason for Isaiah’s cleansing that we cannot miss is that God has a job for Isaiah. What’s fascinating about this passage of scripture is that God doesn’t say, “Okay Isaiah, I’ve cleaned your lips, now you go and be my mouthpiece.” Rather, what God says is, “I need someone to send, who will go?” Then, much to our surprise, Isaiah volunteers. What is the significance of this? The significance of this is that Isaiah goes from being one who cowers in front of the all powerful, mighty, and holy God, to jumping up and down volunteering for service. This is a mighty heart change! This chance has come about as a result of the purifying fire.
With this, we see that our heart change is for a purpose. God transforms our hearts for vocational purposes. We must go beyond talking about having a fully devoted heart to having a fully missional lifestyle when we talk about holiness. This is our number one feature of holiness in fresh perspective that cannot go overlooked. Once again, the Cross is the best example of this. In the Cross, yes, we see the heart posture of a loving God towards his people, but we also see the fulfillment of the mission of God and the very impetus for that mission is his holy heart.