All believers are holy to God.

Romans 11:16 If the first piece of dough is holy, the lump is also; and if the root is holy, the branches are too. Paul reached back to Numbers 15:20-21 for his first illustration of holiness. “Of the first of your dough you shall lift up a cake as an offering; as the offering of the threshing floor, so you shall lift it up. From the first of your dough you shall give to the LORD an offering throughout your generations.” His point was that if a portion of a lump of dough is dedicated to the Lord, then the entire lump is also dedicated to the Lord. Then in his second illustration he used the easy to understand picture of the root of the tree and the branches. What is their relationship? The root and the branches are one, holy, dedicated to one purpose. Most commentators agree that the patriarchs are in view as the “first fruits” of the dough and Abraham is the root that Paul had in mind. Gentiles and Jews were set apart to God from the beginning in the promise made to Abraham and the forefathers. All the nations would be blessed in him, and he would be a father of many nations. Paul began showing his Gentile readers their relationship to the great harvest coming among the Jews. The ultimate message here is a warning not to be proud about our acceptance with God, but realize that God set us all apart to Himself from the beginning when He began unfolding His wonderful plan of redemption. We are holy to Him. We are one with each other through our inclusion in the fulfilled promise of God. Living to love with Jesus is the expression of holiness—our oneness with Christ, who is God, who is love. He lives to reveal and glorify the Father, so therefore we are holy to Him and live to reveal and glorify the Father through the Son who dwells in us. Have you realized that living to love with Jesus is what it means to be holy? We are to be holy as Jesus is holy, wrote, Peter. Jesus was one with the Father, and we are one with Christ. Let us live in that reality today for the glory of God. Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com