JW August 15, 2015 A Jagged Contention

A Jagged Contention: Holiness

“God’s holiness is communicated by his presence, and that presence is given in the divine service. This means that for Luther holiness is not a moral concept, but a liturgical reality, for true holiness comes from the true worship of the Triune God. Thus an object is holy if it is ‘separated from profane use and consecrated for sacred and divine service.’ Christians are holy, because they are separated from ordinary life and hallowed for a life of worship through their faith in Jesus. He is our Holy One, since he alone makes us holy. He therefore is our sanctification (1 Cor. 1:30). We are holy only in him. Through faith in him we belong to God and share in his holiness.”

– John Kleinig, Luther on the Christian’s Participation in God’s Holiness

Question:

It is often said that going to church doesn’t make one a Christian. However, according to Kleinig, it is in the Divine Service (ministry of Word and Sacrament) where God does His work of sanctification upon the Christian. Does Kleinig go too far in removing sanctification from the realm of “morality” and placing it in the Divine Service? How might this view of sanctification be useful in the seemingly endless “justification/sanctification” debates that plague (or at least irritate) the church?

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7Comments

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1

Frances B.N. Meadows on August 15, 2015 at 1:45 pm

It makes sense for God to have the verbs here. He sanctifies us through His Divine Service. We don’t say any little thing that pops into our heads, but follow the liturgy. We say God’s Words back to Him. And we follow the Pastor’s lead, who God has called to lead us.
It’s a comfort not to have to come up with faith on your own.

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2

Don Moore on August 16, 2015 at 11:11 am

This one requires a lot of thought. It seems like he should say more about sources and how the Means of Grace work, ultimately. Holiness doesn’t actually come from worship. It comes from God’s work, first from Jesus on the cross and out from the tomb, then from the Holy Spirit’s work through Word and Sacraments – which are operating in Divine Service to sanctify and extract repentance and true worship. If that’s what he means, I’m good with it.

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  Bob Hiller on August 18, 2015 at 12:28 am
  
  He says plenty more, Don. Click on the link to read the whole article. In fact, read everything Kleinig writes…he’s an exceptional theologian.
  
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4

Christopher Hall on August 17, 2015 at 8:59 am

I didn’t read the word “church” anywhere in the quote from Kleinig, nor “divine service.” He said God does His work liturgically, and if taken in the broader meaning, this means our liturgical worship as well as our liturgical service to others. Put another way, our worship is not confined to church; the Christian worships faithfully in all he does from faith and in faith. Certainly Kleinig is not divorcing this from the Mass, where God does sanctify us through His gifts, but reading this as only referring to “Church” is missing the point and overly simplistic.

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  Bob Hiller on August 18, 2015 at 12:24 am
  
  Re-read the first sentence, Christopher. He says God’s presence is, in fact, communicated In the divine service.
  
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    Christopher Hall on August 18, 2015 at 4:07 pm
    
    Of course it is. Word and sacrament give us God. Yet the rest of the argument doesn’t rest on DS, but rather our liturgical life–which is not the same as Divine Liturgy. That’s my point. And Kleinig’s. But you are right about missing those two words. Mea culpa.
    
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7

hlewis2962 on August 17, 2015 at 12:59 pm

I agree with Christopher, as do the confessions:

“But the Creed brings pure grace and makes us righteous and acceptable to God. Through this knowledge we come to love and delight in all the commandments of God because we see here in the Creed how God gives himself completely to us, with all his gifts and power, to help us keep the Ten Commandments: the Father gives us all creation, Christ all his works, the Holy Spirit all his gifts.” LC Second Part, 69

“When we become Christians, the old creature daily decreases until finally destroyed.” LC Fourth Part, 71

“Now, when we enter Christ’s kingdom, this corruption must daily decrease so that the longer we live, the more gentle, patient, and meek we become, and the more we break away from greed, hatred, envy, and pride.” LC Fourth Part, 65-67

A part of sanctification is manifesting all that we received from God in our lives. That has a direct bearing on how we relate to our neighbor, the good works we do. It is that we go into the world a new person, in Christ. Certainly, this is not our own holiness, but God’s ruling our lives even as we pray “Thy will be done…” each day. While it is true that God, indeed, sanctifies us in the gifts we receive in divine service, each day when we repent and rise anew to face the world in the waters of our baptism, the Holy spirit is at work in us. We go through the day in prayer and with the Word. So, God remains in us and we grow in the Spirit and are sanctified as we continue in a life consecrated, set apart for a life in Christ. Most of all, being sanctified allows us to carry that which we have received – grace, peace, love, mercy, forgiveness and His presence – out into the world. Only a vessel sanctified in Christ can do so.

I think the root fear is that we may become like other Christians and hitch sanctification to salvation. I think it is sufficiently separate if only for the fact that God forgives all our sinfulness and that includes our unholiness leaving us to be saved, in full, before we are sanctified.

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