I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren. 1 Thessalonians 5:27
Our text today is another of those verses of Scripture that have been truncated by the modern-language versions of the Bible. Almost all of those other versions omit the word ‘holy’. Even the Darby translation places the word ‘holy’ in brackets. Does it really matter? If the Holy Spirit instructed Paul to include the word ‘holy’ when referring to the Christians in the Assembly in Thessalonika, it matters. This word indicates what God thinks of His people.
Holiness is an attribute of God. It is also an attribute of all that belongs to God. Holiness is also applied to times and places where God revealed Himself. Moses was instructed to remove his shoes at the burning bush, because he was on holy ground (Exodus 3:5). Peter, when he was referring to the mount of transfiguration, spoke of it as the holy mount (2 Peter 1:18). Those were temporary holy designations, and applied only for those brief periods when God’s presence was in evidence there. But there are some things that are permanently – and eternally – holy. These would include the Scriptures, of course. The Word of God shall stand forever (Isaiah 40:8). Those who penned the Scriptures were called holy: holy men of God spake as they were moved by Holy Ghost (2 Peter 1:21). So were the apostles and the prophets (Ephesians 3:5). Angels, the ministers of God, are also designated holy (Mark 8:38). In the Old Testament, many of the items and activities associated with the tabernacle and temple worship of God were also described as holy. So why would it be a stretch to identify God’s people, specifically the members of His Assembly, as holy?
It is obvious that Paul is not referring to any particular people within the Thessalonian Assembly, not to any full-time workers or to elders or overseers. He wants the epistle read to every member of that Assembly, and he calls them all holy. If he had send that letter to the Assembly of which you form a part, he would have done the same. Those who corrupted the Alexandrian texts of the Bible apparently didn’t see it as important as Paul did – they deleted the word ‘holy’. So readers of the modern-language Bibles might well get the idea that we as Christians are not holy. It is true that Christians often do unholy things and can be less than holy in our condition before the world and before God. But the designation of holy applies not to our condition but to our position before God. He sees us as bearing the righteousness of His own Son. He sees us sealed with the Holy Spirit. We are His, and His forever, and therefore, we are holy. And we should live holy lives.
God does not regard saved people as sinners but saints. And all of His saints are holy. And what God hath cleansed, that call not thou common (Acts 10:15). – Jim MacIntosh