"Before Whom I Stand": The Already and Ongoing Journey of Being Holy

​"Today we're going to discuss the concept of the phrase, 'before whom I stand,'" I began. "Turn to 1 Kings 17:1, where Elijah delivers God's message to King Ahab of Israel. After reading this verse, take ten minutes to identify observations of 'before whom I stand.'"

After giving them time to reflect, I asked, "What observations have you made about why Elijah used this phrase and its significance to everyone present?"

Hayley started, "Elijah seems to be telling Ahab that he's not just delivering a message on his own authority. He's indicating that he stands in God's presence while delivering the message—it's as if God Himself were speaking directly to Ahab."

"Good observation," I nodded. "Who wants to build on this?"

Eric contributed, "Ahab was the king of Israel, so in his mind, he had more power and authority than Elijah. This phrase establishes by what higher authority Elijah was speaking."

Jesse added, "By stating that his authority comes from a source greater than Ahab's, Elijah is essentially suggesting that it would be wise for Ahab to heed God's words."

Kelly made an insightful point: "I find it interesting that Elijah uses present tense—'before whom I stand.' He's not saying he was once in God's presence like an ambassador might report to a king. The ambassador was not currently in the presence of the president or king of his country while talking with the president or king of a foreign country. He's declaring that he constantly dwells in God's presence, even while standing before Ahab."

"Excellent observation, Kelly," I said. "Elijah understood that he was always in God's presence—not just when receiving a message to deliver. Let's explore what this awareness means for us as believers today."

Alex asked, "Aren't we always in God's presence? God is always with us, so we're always in His presence, right? I've heard this throughout my years in Sunday School."

"That's a good starting point," I acknowledged, "but even though what you learned is accurate, it only scratches the surface of what standing in God's presence means for us. Let's dig deeper."

Jared thoughtfully offered, "Always being in God's presence means being constantly aware of our actions. We should practice what we preach and do good works. Otherwise, how will anyone recognize that we're living as Christians?"

"That's a valuable point about good works," I said. "While that's an important topic that James addresses in his letter to the first century scattered Jewish Christians, let's hold that thought for now. Jared, please remind me later to revisit this crucial question of why Christians do good works. Christians need to ask and answer the question, 'why do I, as a Christian, do good works'. The answer is more complex than it might seem."

Returning to our main discussion, I asked, "What does it mean for us today as Christians to continually stand in God's presence?"

When silence fell over the room, I prompted, "All Christians are both positionally and experientially in God's presence. Let's start with the positional aspect. When do we positionally enter God's presence?"

Melanie responded, "That's simple—when we accept Jesus as our Savior. Jesus died for our sins, and all our sins were forgiven."
"But how exactly does this bring us into God's presence?" I asked.

Gwen wondered, "When Jesus died for us, didn't that restore our fellowship with God?"

"Exactly, Gwen," I said. "You've completed Melanie's thought. Jesus dying for our sins reconciled us with God, bringing us positionally into His presence. Before reconciliation, we could never be in God's presence because He is holy and we are sinful. Also, before accepting Jesus as our Savior, we couldn't experience God's presence either."

"Melanie and Gwen gave us the 'how' we get positionally into God's presence. Now let's look at the 'what' of what it means to being in God's presence."

Hayley asked for clarification: "Could you explain what you mean by 'the what of what it means'? Your question seems a bit unclear."

"Of course," I replied. "I'm asking what it means to us experientially as well as positionally to have the right to 'stand' in God's presence."

J.B., a pre-law student, said, "In legal terms, 'standing' refers to having the right to present your case before a judge. But I don't think that's what it means with God. We're not bringing lawsuits or claiming harm."

"You're right," I agreed. "We haven't been wronged, we've wronged God, yet He made us right or righteous through Jesus. Being made righteous means that God, because of Jesus' dying and then being resurrected made us positionally holy so we could enter into God's presence. And, at the same time it is only because of Jesus that we begin the process or work of being experientially holy. Having positional standing with God does have the same meaning as our court system where we now have the right to 'stand' before God and talk with Him whenever we want."

Kate grasped the concept: "By having 'standing' before God because of Jesus, we are declared holy by God and it is only through Jesus that we can experientially be holy. So, it's not really anything that we have done or can do on our own that will make us holy."

"Exactly!" I affirmed. "Elijah understood his own sinfulness and that only God could make him holy. He knew that positionally, being a Hebrew, he was always positionally able to stand before God to receive instructions from Him; in this case to hear God's message for Ahab and to deliver it to him as if God were speaking directly to Ahab." In 1 Kings 17:1 God tells us about Elijah's positional standing before Him at all times. What we're doing today is exploring the positional and experiential meaning of 'before whom I stand."

Alex asked, "Does this mean that as Christians, we're always holy?"

"Good question," I replied. "You've understood the positional holiness correctly. But there's also the experiential aspect of standing before God, which requires us to be experientially holy in our daily lives. Holy actually has a couple of meanings. It means to be pure, having no imperfection and it means to be set apart for a specific purpose. This having no imperfection means that in order for us to have fellowship with God there must not be any unconfessed sin in our lives. This unconfessed sin is what stops us from having fellowship with God, but it doesn't stop us from still having positional standing before God. We all have sin, are sinful, and have committed sins. What hinders or stops us from having fellowship with God is unconfessed sin. In order for us to stay in fellowship with God we have to practice or work at being holy."

Jesse interjected, "Wait a minute! You just said that we have to work at being holy? I thought only God could make us holy!"

"He is the only one who can," I confirmed. "We can't make ourselves holy—only God through the Holy Spirit can do this for us. I'm sure you've all heard about how we must become more like Jesus," I continued, noting their nods of agreement. "Where many Christians struggle is in understanding how this change happens. Many believe they must work to change themselves to please God, and they inevitably fail. The change doesn't come from our efforts but from our willingness to be changed. Our part is simply agreeing with God that we need to be changed in the specific area where the Holy Spirit points out to us that we have sinned, that is missed the mark of being holy. Then our next step is allowing the Holy Spirit to change us from within."

"This seemingly simple act of wanting and agreeing with God that we need to change is actually the hardest work we'll ever do. The desire for change must come from deep within—not just intellectual agreement, but a heartfelt desire for transformation."
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Looking at the clock, I realized our time was up. "We'll have to continue this discussion in our next session. We'll explore more about being experientially holy and gather more observations about the phrase 'before whom I stand.'"
 

by George E. Willock