Be Ye Holy!

 

It was a Sunday morning.  I had dressed for Church and was just sitting, waiting, and thinking about nothing in particular.

 

Suddenly, the thought popped into my mind, “Be ye holy, for I am holy.”  Usually, I do not think in those terms. Then, another thought came to mind, “That is not a correct interpretation.” If you have read much of my work, you know that I do question the accuracy of some translations quite often.

 

I ran to my reference books, and began to search.  The truth soon came out.  That translation was not accurate, but I did not have time to thoroughly research the matter and discover an accurate translation.

 

As I sat in Church listening to the choir, I turned to the original quote in the Old Testament.

 

Lev 11:44 For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. (KJV)

 

Did you get that?

 

God said, “You shall be holy---because I am holy.”

 

“You shall be holy” sounded much better than what I remembered, but when I returned home, I still researched the 1 Peter text.

 

1 Pet 1:16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. (KJV)

 

That verse has always been taught as a command for us to make ourselves holy in order to serve a holy God.  The problem is that we cannot make ourselves holy.  That is the work of God through Christ Jesus.

 

The Liberty commentary refers to it as an imperative command.  While I readily admit that it is imperative, it is not a command!

 

The thought came to me that the key was to be found in the word “Be.”  Something had to be wrong with our understanding of that word.

 

“Be ye” (Gr. ginesthe-ginesqe/Majority Text)(Gr. genesthe-genesqe/KJV) comes from the Greek word ginomai.  That is one of my favorite Greek words.  It means ‘to be,” “to become,” and “to come into being.”

 

The Majority Text uses ginesthe, while the Textus Receptus uses genesthe.  Ginesthe is present imperative.  Genesthe is aorist imperative. Both ginesthe and genesthe are 2nd person plural.  That means they should be translated into English as 2nd person plural, “you all.”  That speaks to all Christians!

 

Now, we come to a translator’s dilemma. Both Greek words indicate a 2nd person plural. Both indicate an imperative voicing.  One is present tense while the other comes into English as past tense.

 

What is an imperative?  It speaks of something that is absolute and inescapable.

 

So, is it a command for us to do something we cannot do?  Or, is it a declaration of what Christ is doing, or has done?

 

The former is what we have been told for centuries, but it is taught because of spiritual ignorance.  The later is a declaration of Christ’s power and presence in our lives, today!

 

1 Peter 1:16 is an imperative declaration!

 

Present: You all ARE holy, because I am holy!

 

Aorist: You all became holy, because I am holy!

 

As a child of God and follower of Christ Jesus, you are a saint.

 

Saint (Gr. hagios-agioV): one consecrated as being pure, blameless, and holy.  

 

Again, the point is that as a saint, an adopted child of God, you are holy, only because the heavenly Father has declared you to be holy.

 

 

Index