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St Paul, instead, speaks of God's great plan and says: "even as he (God) chose us in him [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him" (Eph 1:4). And he was speaking about all of us. At the centre of the divine plan is Christ in whom God shows his Face, in accord with the favour of his will.
If we identify the ultimate standard for goodness with God's nature, then it seems we are identifying it with certain properties of God (e.g., being loving, being just). If so, then the dilemma resurfaces: God is either good because he has those properties, or those properties are good because God has them. [98]
"Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, You shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy." [2] There is some debate about the meaning of the injunction to be "perfect", since orthodox Christianity teaches that creatures cannot achieve God's level of perfection.
In the Bible, the concept of holiness is first introduced in relation to God, who is described as holy and completely distinct from the physical world. Leviticus 19:2 commands the Jewish people to "be holy" because God Himself is holy, establishing a central tenet of Judaism: that humans can strive for holiness by aligning their actions with divine will.
The word holy in this sense means set apart for a special purpose by and for God. The Church is holy because it has been set apart to do God's work, and because God is present in it. [12] Christians understand the holiness of the Church to derive from Christ's holiness. [13]
This doctrine derives from the biblical mandate to be holy as God is Holy (Lev 20.26). It can be achieved by purification and illumination , the highest point in illumination is the union with God. The best imitation of God is not only the man's effort, but it is mainly achieved by the grace of God. Nevertheless, Eastern Orthodox theology does ...
Theophilus of Antioch is the earliest Church father documented to have used the word "Trinity" to refer to God.. Debate exists as to whether the earliest Church Fathers in Christian history believed in the doctrine of the Trinity – the Christian doctrine that God the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ) and the Holy Spirit are three distinct persons sharing one homoousion (essence).
Luther emphasized that no day is made holy by rest alone, but rather by the individual seeking to be holy through washing himself in God's word. [ 44 ] For the Word of God is the sanctuary above all sanctuaries, yea, the only one which we Christians know and have…God's Word is the treasure which sanctifies everything, and by which even all ...