The Apostles’ Creed: The ChurchSample

Holiness of God’s People: 1 Peter 2:9

Most broadly speaking, the Bible refers to people as “holy” when they are set apart from the rest of the world in order to be useful in special service to God. For example, the entire nation of Old Testament Israel was regularly called “holy” because God was in covenant with the nation. We see this in places like Exodus 19:5-6, Deuteronomy 7:6-9 and 28:9, and Ezekiel 37:26-28. 

And this theme is also continued in the New Testament church. For example, Luke 1:72 speaks of Jesus as coming to fulfill God’s holy covenant. And because the church is understood to be the renewed and restored Israel of the new covenant, it is also called holy. We see this in Colossians 3:12, Hebrews 10:29, and several other places. As one example, consider Peter’s words to the New Testament church in 1 Peter 2:9:

You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God (1 Peter 2:9).

Here, Peter quoted from several Old Testament passages that spoke of the holiness of Israel, but he applied them to the church. His point was that the church in both the Old and the New Testaments was one and the same holy group.

As we have seen, though, not everyone in Israel or the New Testament church was a true believer. Even so, they were all considered holy because they were part of God’s covenant community, that is, the people who were in covenant with God. 

For the believers in the covenant community, their holiness exceeded the holiness of the unbelievers. Unbelievers were holy only because they were set apart for God. But believers were holy, not only because they were set apart, but also because in Christ they were morally pure and obedient to God. Of course, the goal was always for the entire covenant community to believe — for everyone to be faithful to God and to live morally pure lives.