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Holy God, Holy People, Holy Worship
Arie C. Leder
Calvin Theological Seminary

Summary: Biblical teaching on holiness leads us to consider God, worshipers, and worship itself as holy.

Key Points
• In the Old Testament, a holy place is a place filled with the presence of God.
• In the New Testament, God's dwelling with his people in Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit redefines what a holy place is.
• Worship today is best understood and practiced in light of biblical teachings on holiness.
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Introduction
In this essay I will reflect on holiness as it refers to the cultic event in which the gathered people participate, not the every day responses to God in family or workaday life. That is, I will answer the following question: How does the biblical teaching of holiness shape worship of a holy people in solemn assembly on the Lord’s day. I will do so in three parts. First, I will examine the holy place of worship in its relationship to the presence of God, then the nature of the holiness of the people who worship in the presence of God, and, lastly, the holiness of worship itself.
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Key Quotes
• "Only God’s act of sanctification preserves the people in his dangerous presence."
• "Worship provides the occasion for the natural truth about people to be countered by the super-natural and abiding truth of the gospel."
• "The sanctification of God’s people discloses our natural uncleanness and tendency to defile the good in God’s presence. Holy worship cannot be accomplished without the constant presence of the language of holiness."
• "The language of priestly holiness may have trouble fitting into the almost horizontal life of contemporary worship with its emphases on self-esteem, possibilities, health and wealth."
• "The missionary work of the Church engages is nothing less than the priestly of escorting of Adam and Eve’s descendants from the sphere of defilement to the space consecrated by Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit."

Questions for Learning and Discussion
• How does your congregation identify or invite the presence of God in your worship?
• What would worship look like if it included fear and mystery as ways to perceive the holiness of God?
• Where do the ideas of holiness and justice intersect? How does one affect the other?
• Leder defines holiness by the presence of God—does this equate with the ways we usually think about holiness?
• The tabernacle and temple were designed to regain or remember Eden—in what ways does your worship space reflect Eden and the holiness of God? Do we tend to think that a grand space is more holy than a plain one? Does a high school gymnasium have equal holiness potential as a cathedral?

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