At the end of Revelation, John is guided by an angel to see the Lamb’s wife, which is a city (Rev 21.9). This city is what a wife should be: pure. She is, John sees, a holy city. Outside of her walls are “dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie” (Rev 22.15). They are the unholy. But the walls of the city enclose a culture that has integrity and purity. There is no weakness to compromise its strength. There is no blemish to compromise its purity. The city is holy like the God who created her.
John’s vision of the church is a bringing together of what we are, what we are becoming, and what we will be. Created in the image of God, we were created holy. Re-created in the image of God in Christ, we are holy (cf. Eph 4.21-24). As the bride, the Lamb’s wife, we are united to him, one flesh. His holiness belongs to us. In him we are holy. This is the reason we can dwell in this city in the unveiled presence of God, drawing near to him without fear of being consumed. Christ took our sins in himself, died for them, and rose again so that they might be forgiven and we might share in his holiness. At this present time, we who are in Christ by faith share in his holiness. The church is what John sees: a holy city.
However, this position of holiness that we have in Christ is not the end of the story. God has made us holy in Christ so that we might become holy. You and I know that we are not free from all sin. There are still areas of our lives that need “weeding;” things that compromise the strength and beauty of our being God’s image. The Holy Spirit is continually working with us, in us, and on us to remove those blemishes and make us what we need to be. We walk in the Spirit when we deal with sin through confession, repentance, and restoration.
Holiness is not all about weeding and avoiding. Holiness is also about pursuing. We are not merely the city that is separated from the outside, we are a people who pursue what is holy. We don’t, for example, merely “flee sexual immorality,” we honor and strengthen our marriages. We don’t merely try to avoid conflict, we pursue hospitality and friendship to strengthen our relationships. We give ourselves to godly pursuits. We don’t hole up and stay on the defensive.
The fact that this is a holy city should not be lost upon us. Holiness is not contained within a hermetically sealed individual called “me.” We are created in the image of God as holy, which means that we are created as individuals in relationship with one another. Our “city life,” our culture, is to be holy. The way we relate to one another is to be characterized by holiness. Each citizen has a responsibility to maintain the integrity of the city by maintaining his own integrity. His lack of integrity will compromise the integrity of the whole. But it is the whole for which is concerned as much as himself. We, the citizens of the city, should be concerned to maintain the holy culture the city by keeping our relationships holy. This means, in part, that we should be dealing with sins between one another when they arise. But it also means actively pursuing peace; that which will continue to build the integrity of the city.
Therefore, as the one who has called you is holy, be holy in all of your conduct (1Pt 1.15).
