AR 586 - What Is Holy?

AR 586 [3]

Those people who live
according to the Word's truths
are called saints,
not because they are holy,
but because the truths in them are holy;
and truths are holy
when they come from the Lord in them,
and they have the Lord in them
when they have His truths in them
(John 15:7).

Because of their truths from the Lord,
angels are called holy
(Matthew 25:31, Luke 9:26).
So, too, are prophets,
(Luke 1:70, Revelation 18:20; 22:6).
And also apostles
(Revelation 18:20).

It is because of this
that the Temple is called a holy temple
(Psalms 5:7; 65:4).
That Zion is called a holy mountain
(Isaiah 65:11, Jeremiah 31:23, Ezekiel 20:40,
Psalms 2:6; 3:4, 15:1).
That Jerusalem is called a holy city
(Isaiah 48:2; 64:10, Revelation 21:2,10,
Matthew 27:53).
That the church is called a holy people
(Isaiah 62:12; 63:18, Psalms 149:1),
and also a kingdom of saints
(Daniel 7:18, 22, 27).

They are called saints
because in an abstract sense
angels symbolize Divine truths from the Lord;
prophets symbolizes doctrinal truths;
apostles symbolize the church's truths;
and the Temple symbolizes heaven and the church
in respect to Divine truth,
as do also Zion, Jerusalem,
the people, and the kingdom of God.

That no one is holy in himself,
not even angels,
may be seen in Job 15:14-16.
But they are holy from the Lord,
because the Lord alone is holy
(Revelation 15:4, no. 173).