HOLY ONE

In his great Pentecostal address, the recently restored Peter used a number of expressions in presenting the Christ to his Jewish audience. He called Him ‘Jesus the Nazaraean’, Acts 2. 22 JND. He referred to Him as ‘a man approved of God’, v. 22. He stated that He was the Son of David, v. 30. He called Him the ‘Christ’, and he referred to Him as ‘this Jesus’, vv. 30, 32. He reminds his audience that David called Him ‘my Lord’, v. 34, and stated that ‘God hath made that same Jesus .. . both Lord and Christ’, v. 36.

In our reading today, Peter, quoting from Psalm 16, refers to Him as ‘thine Holy One’. The word for ‘holy’ used here is nothagios but is rather hosios. The primary meaning in the former is separation, whereas the latter word, hosios, refers primarily to piety in the true, original, sense of that word. It is a devotion to one’s duties that are God-ward. We note that holy, referring to the piety of Christ, is often connected with the word righteous. The hosios man is one careful of his duties toward God, whereas the righteous man is careful in his relationships with men. The Lord Jesus was both.

If we consider David’s description of the dependent man in Psalm 16, we notice the words, ‘The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup … The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places’, Ps. 16. 5-6. The cup was the cup of satisfaction. The pious Christ was the communing Christ, the contented Christ who found the springs of His sustenance and satisfaction in His God. Additionally, He said, ‘I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons’, Ps. 16. 7. The pious Christ was the counselled Christ, ‘I have set the Lord always before me’, Ps. 16. 8. The pious Christ was the consistent Christ. There were no deviations in His purpose nor in His path. He said, ‘Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope’, Ps. 16. 9. Piety exhibited itself in the confidence of the dependent man.

It is interesting that this word ‘holy - pious’ is used of the Lord Jesus in Hebrews, ‘For such a High Priest became us who is holy [pious], harmless, undefiled’, 7. 26. This was the man presented by Peter at Pentecost.