📖 Ukristo wa Kujitoa Kikamilifu: Amri Kumi za Yesu — Sehemu ya 5: Iweni Watakatifu📖 Radical Christianity: The Ten Commandments of Jesus — Unit 5: Be Holy

Profesa: Dkt. Wayne Cook | Mkurugenzi: Dkt. Ted RogersProfessor: Dr. Wayne Cook | Director: Dr. Ted Rogers

“bali kama yeye aliyewaita alivyo mtakatifu, ninyi nanyi iweni watakatifu katika mwenendo wenu wote; kwa maana imeandikwa, Mtakuwa watakatifu kwa kuwa mimi ni mtakatifu.” — 1 Petro 1:15-16 (SUV)"but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, 'Be holy, for I am holy.'" — 1 Peter 1:15-16 (NKJV)

Jisajili mara moja, kwa kozi zote

Maendeleo yako yanahifadhiwa kwenye kivinjari hiki unaposoma, na seminari inayatunza chini ya msimbo wako wa mwanafunzi, ili uweze kuendelea kwenye kifaa chochote. Weka msimbo huo kwa siri, kama nenosiri. Barua pepe si lazima. Iongeze ili tukurudishie msimbo wako wa mwanafunzi, tukutumie vikumbusho na tukupe cheti. Unaweza kujiandikisha na kuendelea kusoma bila barua pepe. Tunachohifadhi.

Programu ya Cheti inajibu maswali ya kuchagua jibu. Shahada ya Mshiriki inaongeza maswali ya kujaza pengo; M.Div. na Th.M. zinaongeza hayo na maswali ya majibu mafupi. Asilimia 90 ya kila sehemu inahitajika ili kufaulu.

1. Iweni Watakatifu, Kwa Kuwa Mimi ni Mtakatifu1. Be Holy, For I Am Holy

1 Petro 1:15-16 (SUV): “bali kama yeye aliyewaita alivyo mtakatifu, ninyi nanyi iweni watakatifu katika mwenendo wenu wote; kwa maana imeandikwa, Mtakuwa watakatifu kwa kuwa mimi ni mtakatifu.”1 Peter 1:15-16 (NKJV): "but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, 'Be holy, for I am holy.'"

Kati ya amri zote za Yesu, hii ndiyo inayoweza kusikika ya kutisha zaidi, kwa sababu inaonekana kuweka kiwango cha juu kisichowezekana: iweni watakatifu, kama Mungu Mwenyewe alivyo mtakatifu. Hata hivyo Petro haiwasilishi kama mzigo unaoponda bali kama wito wa kawaida wa wale ambao Mungu amewaita. Sababu inayotolewa si uwezo wetu bali tabia ya Mungu: kwa sababu Yeye aliyetuita ni mtakatifu, nasi tunapaswa kuwa watakatifu. Utakatifu si kwanza kitu tunachokizalisha; ni kitu tunachoitiwa kuingia ndani yake na Yule ambaye tayari ni mtakatifu na ambaye ametudai kuwa wake.Of all the commands of Jesus, this one can sound the most intimidating, because it seems to set the standard impossibly high: be holy, as God Himself is holy. Yet Peter does not present it as a crushing burden but as the natural calling of those whom God has called. The reason given is not our ability but God's character: because He who called us is holy, we are to be holy too. Holiness is not first something we generate; it is something we are summoned into by the One who is already holy and who has claimed us as His own.

Kwa hiyo kabla hatujaweza kuitii amri hii, tunapaswa kuielewa. Kuwa mtakatifu kunamaanisha nini hasa? Neno hili limebeba hofu na mkanganyiko mwingi, na watu wengi hulisikia kama dai la kutokuwa na kasoro yoyote au la kuwa na dini ya ukali na huzuni. Maandiko yanamaanisha jambo lililo rahisi zaidi na pia la kina zaidi, na kulielewa vizuri kunabadilisha kila kitu kuhusu jinsi tunavyoufuatilia.So before we can obey this command, we have to understand it. What does it actually mean to be holy? The word carries a great deal of fear and confusion, and many people hear it as a demand to be flawless or grimly religious. Scripture means something both simpler and deeper, and getting it right changes everything about how we pursue it.

2. Mtakatifu Maana Yake ni Tofauti2. Holy Means Different

Katika mzizi wake, neno mtakatifu linamaanisha kuwa tofauti — kutengwa, kuwa wa pekee, kutofanana na mambo ya kawaida. Ndiyo sababu vitu vingi sana katika Maandiko vinaweza kuitwa vitakatifu. Mungu Mwenyewe ni mtakatifu kwa sababu Yeye ni tofauti na kila kitu kingine ambacho wanadamu wamewahi kukiabudu; Yeye yuko katika kundi lake peke yake kabisa, asiyefanana na sanamu yoyote wala mungu yeyote mshindani. Biblia inaitwa takatifu kwa sababu imesimama peke yake mbali na vitabu vingine vyote, imetengwa na Mungu kwa makusudi yake. Siku, mahali, au chombo kingeweza kuitwa kitakatifu katika Israeli kwa sababu hiyohiyo: kilikuwa kimetengwa mbali na matumizi ya kawaida na kuwekwa wakfu kwa Mungu.At its root, the word holy means to be different — set apart, distinct, not like the common run of things. That is why so many things in Scripture can be called holy. God Himself is holy because He is different from every other object that men have ever worshiped; He is in a category entirely His own, unlike every idol and every rival god. The Bible is called holy because it stands apart from all other books, set apart by God for His purposes. A day, a place, a vessel could be called holy in Israel for the same reason: it had been set apart from ordinary use and devoted to God.

Huu ndio ufunguo unaofungua amri nzima. Kuwa mtakatifu si kwanza kuwa bila dhambi au mkamilifu; ni kuwa umetengwa — tofauti na ulimwengu, umewekewa alama ya kuwa mali ya Mungu. Paulo anasema jambo hilohilo kwa maneno mengine: msiifuatishe namna ya dunia hii, bali mgeuzwe, mkiitoa miili yenu iwe dhabihu iliyo hai, takatifu, ya kumpendeza Mungu (Warumi 12:1-2). Utakatifu ni sifa ya maisha ambayo hayachanganyiki tena tu na kila kitu kilichoyazunguka, kwa sababu yamedaiwa na Mungu ambaye Yeye Mwenyewe hafanani na chochote kilichomzunguka.This is the key that unlocks the whole command. To be holy is not first to be sinless or perfect; it is to be set apart — different from the world, marked out as belonging to God. Paul says the same thing in different words: do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed, presenting yourselves as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God (Romans 12:1-2). Holiness is the quality of a life that no longer simply blends in with everything around it, because it has been claimed by a God who is Himself unlike anything around it.

3. Utakatifu Ukionekana: Maono ya Isaya3. Holiness Seen: The Vision of Isaiah

Isaya 6:1-3 (SUV): “Katika mwaka ule aliokufa mfalme Uzia, nalimwona Bwana ameketi katika kiti cha enzi, kirefu, kilichoinuka sana, na pindo za vazi lake zikalijaza hekalu. Juu yake walisimama maserafi... Wakaitana, wakasema, Mtakatifu, mtakatifu, mtakatifu, ni BWANA wa majeshi; dunia yote imejaa utukufu wake.”Isaiah 6:1-3 (NKJV): "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim... And one cried to another and said: 'Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!'"

Kielelezo kikuu cha utakatifu katika Maandiko yote ni maono aliyopewa Isaya. Alimwona Bwana ameketi katika kiti cha enzi, kirefu, kilichoinuka sana, na maserafi waliomzunguka walikuwa wakiitana, “Mtakatifu, mtakatifu, mtakatifu, ni BWANA wa majeshi; dunia yote imejaa utukufu wake.” Kwa Kiebrania, kusema jambo mara tatu ni kulipandisha hadi kiwango cha juu kabisa kinachowezekana; malaika hawamwiti Mungu mtakatifu tu, wanamtaja kuwa mtakatifu kupita kipimo chochote. Huu ni utakatifu ambao si tena umeelezwa tu bali umeonekana — utofauti wa Mungu unaowaka moto ukilijaza hekalu.The great illustration of holiness in all of Scripture is the vision Isaiah was given. He saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and lifted up, and the seraphim around Him were calling out to one another, "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory." In Hebrew, to say a thing three times is to raise it to the highest possible degree; the angels do not merely call God holy, they name Him holy beyond all measure. This is holiness no longer merely defined but seen — the blazing otherness of God filling the temple.

Na angalia jinsi kuona huko kunavyomfanya Isaya. Hajisikii kutiwa moyo wala kufarijiwa; amepotea. “Ole wangu! Kwa maana nimepotea; kwa sababu mimi ni mtu mwenye midomo michafu,” analia, kwa kuwa kusimama mbele ya Mungu mtakatifu ni kujua mara moja jinsi tusivyo watakatifu. Ukweli huohuo unatukuta kutoka upande mwingine kwa Musa. Musa alipoomba kuuona utukufu wa Mungu, jibu lilikuwa kwamba hawezi kuuona uso wa Mungu akaishi, kwa maana hakuna awezaye; Mungu alimficha katika ufa wa mwamba na kumfunika kwa mkono wake, akiacha wema wake tu upite. Mbele ya utakatifu kamili wa Mungu, mwanadamu mwenye dhambi hawezi kusimama — amepotea, hata ameangamizwa. Kuomba kuuona utukufu ni kuomba kuuona utakatifu, na bila kukingwa, ungetuteketeza.And notice what the sight does to Isaiah. He does not feel inspired or comforted; he is undone. "Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips," he cries, for to stand before the holy God is to know at once how unholy we are. The same truth meets us from the other side in Moses. When Moses asked to see God's glory, the answer was that he could not see God's face and live, for no one can; God hid him in the cleft of the rock and covered him with His hand, letting only His goodness pass by. In the presence of the absolute holiness of God, sinful man cannot stand — he is undone, even destroyed. To ask to see the glory is to ask to see the holiness, and unshielded, it would consume us.

Hata hivyo hakuna kati ya maono hayo mawili yanayoishia katika maangamizi. Kwa Musa, Mungu Mwenyewe anatoa mwamba wa kukinga na mkono wa kufunika; kwa Isaya, serafi anachukua kaa la moto kutoka madhabahuni na kuigusa midomo yake, na uovu wake unaondolewa, dhambi yake inafunikwa. Katika yote mawili, uokoaji unatoka upande wa Mungu — mwamba, mkono, madhabahu, kaa la moto — kamwe si kutoka kwa chochote ambacho mtu huyo anakiita ndani yake mwenyewe. Kilicho bora tunachoweza kutumaini leo ni kuona upande wa nyuma wa Mungu, kama Musa alivyoona: kuona kwa kweli lakini kulikokingwa na kwa sehemu, kamwe bado si mwako kamili usiofunikwa wa uso wake. Mwendo mzima wa sehemu hii tayari upo hapa: utakatifu wa Mungu uliotengwa, uchafu wetu unaofunuliwa nao, na utakaso tunaoupokea badala ya kuupata kwa juhudi. Kama namna moja ya kulieleza inavyosema, utukufu ni utakatifu wa Mungu uliofunuliwa, na utakatifu ni utukufu wa Mungu uliofichwa — ukamilifu uleule wa Kimungu, wakati mmoja ukiwaka nje kuijaza dunia, wakati mwingine ukiwa umefichwa katika utengwa wa kimya wa tabia ya Mungu Mwenyewe.Yet neither vision ends in destruction. For Moses, God Himself provides the shielding rock and the covering hand; for Isaiah, a seraph takes a live coal from the altar and touches his lips, and his guilt is taken away, his sin purged. In both, the rescue comes from God's side — the rock, the hand, the altar, the coal — never from anything the man summons in himself. The best we can hope for today is to see the backside of God, as Moses did: a real but shielded and partial sight, never yet the full, unveiled blaze of His face. The whole arc of this unit is already present here: the set-apart holiness of God, our uncleanness exposed by it, and a cleansing we receive rather than achieve. As one way of putting it has it, glory is the holiness of God revealed, and holiness is the glory of God concealed — the same divine perfection, now blazing out to fill the earth, now hidden in the quiet set-apartness of God's own character.

Na bado, hata sasa, hatujaachwa bila kumwona. Hatumwoni Mungu kwa macho ya mwili — hakuna awezaye, akaishi — lakini kwa kweli tunamwona kwa macho ya moyo, kuona kwa ndani ambako Mungu huwatia nuru wale walio wake. Huku si kuona kwa ufifi au kusiko halisi. Mshiriki mmoja wa kanisa aliwahi kuniambia kwamba Mungu alikuwa halisi zaidi kwake kuliko mke aliyekuwa amemwoa kwa miaka mingi. Huo ndio aina ya kuona ambayo Mungu mtakatifu huwapa watu wake hata hapa: si bado uso wake, bali Yeye Mwenyewe akifanywa halisi zaidi kwa moyo kuliko vitu tunavyovigusa kwa mikono yetu. Upande wa nyuma wa Mungu sasa, kwa macho ya moyo; uso wake usiofunikwa siku moja, tutakapomwona kama alivyo.And yet, even now, we are not left without sight of Him. We do not see God with physical eyes — no one can, and live — but we truly see Him with the eyes of the heart, the inner sight God enlightens in those who are His. This is no faint or unreal seeing. A church member once told me that God had become more real to him than the wife he had been married to for many years. That is the kind of sight the holy God grants His people even here: not yet His face, but Himself made more real to the heart than the things we touch with our hands. The backside of God now, with the eyes of the heart; His unveiled face one day, when we shall see Him as He is.

4. Taifa Takatifu4. A Holy Nation

1 Petro 2:9 (SUV): “Bali ninyi ni mzao mteule, ukuhani wa kifalme, taifa takatifu, watu wa milki ya Mungu, mpate kuzitangaza fadhili zake yeye aliyewaita mtoke gizani mkaingie katika nuru yake ya ajabu.”1 Peter 2:9 (NKJV): "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light."

Petro anaendelea kulitumia jambo hili kwa watu wote wa Mungu. Tunaitwa taifa takatifu — watu waliotengwa, milki yake ya pekee. Maneno hayo yenyewe yanamaanisha jumuiya iliyo tofauti, iliyoitwa kutoka katika giza ambalo kila mtu mwingine analiona kuwa la kawaida na kuingia katika nuru ya ajabu ya Mungu. Kwa hiyo utakatifu si mradi binafsi wa watu wachache wenye kiroho kisicho cha kawaida; ni wito wa watu wote wa Mungu pamoja. Kuwa wa Kristo ni kuwa sehemu ya watu waliotengwa.Peter goes on to apply this to the whole people of God. We are called a holy nation — a people set apart, His own special possession. The very phrase means a community that is different, called out of the darkness that everyone else takes for normal and into God's marvelous light. Holiness, then, is not the private project of a few unusually spiritual individuals; it is the calling of the entire people of God together. To belong to Christ is to belong to a set-apart people.

Hili linauokoa utakatifu kutoka kuwa jitihada ya upweke na wasiwasi. Hatujaribu kila mmoja peke yake kutengeneza maisha yasiyo na kasoro. Tumeletwa katika watu ambao Mungu tayari amewatangaza kuwa wake na kuwatenga kwa ajili yake Mwenyewe, na wito wetu ni kuishi kwa namna inayolingana na kile ambacho Mungu tayari amesema sisi ni. Amri “iweni watakatifu,” kwa sehemu kubwa, ni wito wa kuwa kwa vitendo kile ambacho Mungu tayari ametufanya kwa kweli.This rescues holiness from being a lonely, anxious striving. We are not each trying single-handedly to manufacture a flawless life. We have been brought into a people God has already declared to be His own and set apart for Himself, and our calling is to live in a way that matches what God has already said we are. The command "be holy" is, in large part, the call to become in practice what God has already made us in fact.

5. Ukweli Halisi Kuhusu Ukamilifu5. The Honest Truth About Perfection

Hapa lazima tuwe wakweli, kwa sababu hapa ndipo mkanganyiko na kukata tamaa kwingi huingia. Kuna makundi ndani ya kanisa yanayojiita kwa jina “utakatifu,” na baadhi yamefundisha hata kwamba inawezekana kufikia ukamilifu usio na dhambi katika maisha haya. Lakini Biblia kwa kweli haisemi hivyo kamwe. Maandiko yanatuita kwenye utakatifu, yanatuamuru kuufuatilia kwa yote tuliyo nayo, na yanaichukulia dhambi yetu kwa uzito wa kifo — lakini hayaahidi popote kwamba tutafika kikamilifu katika ulimwengu huu. Ushuhuda wa kweli wa kila mtakatifu, na wa Maandiko yenyewe, ni kwamba tunakaza mwendo kuelekea utakatifu huku bado tukiungama dhambi na kutegemea neema.Here we must be honest, because this is where much confusion and discouragement enters. There are groups within the church that go by the name "holiness," and some have even taught that it is possible to reach sinless perfection in this life. But the Bible never actually says that. Scripture calls us to holiness, commands us to pursue it with everything in us, and takes our sin with deadly seriousness — but it nowhere promises that we will fully arrive in this world. The honest testimony of every saint, and of Scripture itself, is that we press toward holiness while still confessing sin and depending on grace.

Hii si kisingizio cha uvivu wa kiroho; ni kinga dhidi ya makosa mawili yaliyo kinyume. Upande mmoja ni kukata tamaa kwa wale ambao, wakijipima kwa ukamilifu, wanahitimisha kwamba wameshindwa na kuacha. Upande mwingine ni kiburi cha wale wanaodhani tayari wamefika na hivyo wanaacha kukua. Ukweli hutufanya wanyenyekevu na wenye matumaini kwa wakati mmoja: tumeitwa kweli kuwa tofauti, kutengwa, kufanana zaidi na zaidi na Mungu wetu — na tunakiri kwa ukweli kwamba katika maisha haya ufuatiliaji huu haumaliziki kamwe.This is not an excuse for spiritual laziness; it is a guard against two opposite errors. On one side is the despair of those who, measuring themselves against perfection, conclude they have failed and give up. On the other is the pride of those who imagine they have already arrived and so stop growing. The truth keeps us humble and hopeful at once: we are genuinely called to be different, set apart, increasingly like our God — and we are honest that in this life the pursuit is never finished.

6. Siku Moja Tutafanana Naye6. One Day We Shall Be Like Him

1 Yohana 3:2 (SUV): “Wapenzi, sasa tu wana wa Mungu, wala haijadhihirika bado tutakavyokuwa. Lakini twajua kwamba atakapodhihirishwa tutafanana naye; kwa kuwa tutamwona kama alivyo.”1 John 3:2 (NKJV): "Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is."

Ikiwa hatufiki kikamilifu hapa, ufuatiliaji wa utakatifu unaelekea wapi? Maandiko yanatoa jibu la kushangaza: siku moja tutamwona kama alivyo, nasi tutafanana naye. Utakatifu tunaoufikia sasa kwa sehemu siku moja utakuwa wetu kikamilifu, si kwa mafanikio yetu wenyewe bali kwa kumwona Kristo Mwenyewe kunakotubadilisha. Kile tusichoweza kumaliza, Yeye atakimaliza ndani yetu. Mstari unaofuata unaongeza kwamba kila mwenye tumaini hili katika Yeye hujitakasa, kama Yeye alivyo mtakatifu — kwa hiyo uhakika wa utakatifu ujao si kisingizio cha kulegea sasa bali ndio kichocheo kikuu cha kuendelea kuufuatilia.If we never fully arrive here, where does the pursuit of holiness lead? Scripture gives a breathtaking answer: one day we shall see Him as He is, and we shall be like Him. The holiness we reach for now in part will one day be ours completely, not by our own achievement but by the transforming sight of Christ Himself. What we cannot finish, He will finish in us. The very next verse adds that everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure — so the certainty of future holiness is not an excuse to coast now but the great motive to keep pursuing it.

Hili ndilo tumaini linalofanya kukiri kwa ukweli kwa kifungu cha nne kuvumilike. Hatuufuatilii utakatifu kwa kukata tamaa, kana kwamba kila kitu kinategemea sisi kufikia ukamilifu kwa nguvu zetu wenyewe. Tunaufuatilia kwa uhakika, tukijua kwamba Yule aliyetuita watakatifu siku moja atatufanya tufanane naye kikamilifu.This is the hope that makes the honest admission of section four bearable. We do not pursue holiness in despair, as if everything depended on our reaching perfection by our own strength. We pursue it in confidence, knowing the One who called us holy will one day make us fully like Himself.

7. Watakatifu: Waliotangazwa Watakatifu Katika Mahakama ya Mungu7. Saints: Declared Holy in God's Courtroom

Hii pia ndiyo sababu Agano Jipya linaweza kuwaita waumini wa kawaida “watakatifu” — kwa maana halisi, “walio watakatifu.” Watakatifu wa Maandiko hawakuwa tabaka maalum la watu waliotangazwa na kanisa kuwa watakatifu kwa sababu ya maisha ya ajabu. Walikuwa waumini wa kawaida ambao walikuwa wametangazwa watakatifu kwa sababu Yesu alikufa kwa ajili ya dhambi zao. Kila Mkristo, hata akiwa dhaifu kiasi gani, ni mtakatifu kwa maana hii, kwa sababu utakatifu katika maana yake ya kwanza na ya kina zaidi ni zawadi ambayo Mungu hutoa, si cheo tunachokipata kwa juhudi.This is also why the New Testament can call ordinary believers "saints" — literally, "holy ones." The saints of Scripture were not a special class of people canonized by the church for extraordinary lives. They were ordinary believers who had been declared holy because Jesus had died for their sins. Every Christian, however weak, is a saint in this sense, because holiness in its first and deepest sense is a gift God grants, not a status we earn.

Neno la kisheria kwa jambo hili ni kuhesabiwa haki, na inasaidia kuwaza mahakama. Kuhesabiwa haki ni kutangazwa huru mbele ya kiti cha hukumu cha Mungu. Lakini angalia kwa makini kwa nini hukumu ni “huru.” Si kwa sababu tumeonekana hatuna hatia — sisi si wasio na hatia, na Mungu hajifanyi vinginevyo. Ni kwa sababu adhabu ya hatia yetu tayari imelipwa kikamilifu na Kristo. Hakimu anaweza kwa haki kututangaza huru kwa sababu haki imetoshelezwa msalabani. Kwa hiyo tunaanza maisha ya Kikristo tayari tumetangazwa watakatifu katika Kristo, na hapo tu ndipo tunaitwa kuishi, siku kwa siku, utakatifu ambao tumehesabiwa.The legal word for this is justification, and it helps to picture a courtroom. To be justified is to be declared free before God's bar of judgment. But notice carefully why the verdict is "free." It is not because we are found innocent — we are not innocent, and God does not pretend otherwise. It is because the penalty for our guilt has already been paid in full by Christ. The Judge can righteously declare us free because justice has been satisfied at the cross. So we begin the Christian life already declared holy in Christ, and only then are we summoned to live out, day by day, the holiness that has been credited to us.

8. Lengo ni Mtu, Si Tendo8. The Goal Is a Person, Not an Action

Hili linatuleta kwenye kiini cha jambo, nalo ni rahisi kukosa kuliona. Tunaposikia “iweni watakatifu,” kwa silika tunaligeuza kuwa orodha ya matendo ya kufanya na dhambi za kuepuka. Lakini lengo la utakatifu hatimaye si tendo hata kidogo. Lengo ni Mtu, na Mtu huyo ni Yesu Kristo. Tunajitahidi kuwa watakatifu kama Yeye alivyokuwa mtakatifu; utakatifu, kwa msingi wake, ni kufanana na Kristo — kufanywa kama Yeye. Kuna kiitikio cha kuabudu kinachopendwa sana kilichojengwa chote kuzunguka kilio kimoja cha utakatifu, na shauku hiyo, ikieleweka vizuri, ni shauku ya Kristo Mwenyewe.This brings us to the heart of the matter, and it is easy to miss. When we hear "be holy," we instinctively turn it into a checklist of actions to perform and sins to avoid. But the goal of holiness is not finally an action at all. The goal is a Person, and the Person is Jesus Christ. We strive to be holy as He was holy; holiness is, at bottom, Christlikeness — being conformed to Him. There is a well-loved worship chorus built entirely around a single cry for holiness, and that longing, rightly understood, is a longing for Christ Himself.

Hili linabadilisha tabia nzima ya ufuatiliaji. Kama utakatifu ungekuwa orodha ya matendo, tungeweza kuwa na kiburi kwa kuishika au kukata tamaa kwa kuivunja. Lakini kwa sababu lengo ni Mtu, ufuatiliaji wa utakatifu unakuwa ufuatiliaji wa Yesu — kumpenda, kumtazama, kukua hadi kufanana naye. Hatukimbilii kiwango kisichoshikika; tunamfuata Mwokozi, na tunapomtazama, tunabadilishwa kuwa mfano wake. Utakatifu si chini ya uzito wa kimaadili, lakini ni zaidi sana: ni kuwa kama Yule tunayempenda.This changes the whole character of the pursuit. If holiness were a list of actions, we would either grow proud at keeping it or despair at breaking it. But because the goal is a Person, the pursuit of holiness becomes the pursuit of Jesus — loving Him, beholding Him, growing to resemble Him. We do not chase an abstract standard; we follow a Savior, and as we look to Him, we are changed into His likeness. Holiness is not less than moral seriousness, but it is much more: it is becoming like the One we love.

9. Waliotengwa Katika Ulimwengu Huu9. Set Apart in This World

Utakatifu wa namna hii unaonekanaje katika maisha ya kila siku? Unaonekana kama kuwa tofauti kwa kweli — umetengwa kwa ajili ya Mungu, bila hamu ya vivutio vinavyowameza wengine wote. Mfikirie Yohana Mbatizaji, aliyeishi nyikani, aliyekataa kuonekana au kusikika kama ulimwengu wake, na aliyekuwa ametengwa kabisa kwa ajili ya Mungu, asitake chochote ambacho kingemvuta mbali na wito wake. Maisha yake yalikuwa ya ajabu kwa majirani zake hasa kwa sababu yalikuwa yamejitoa; alikuwa mtu aliyewekewa alama kwa ajili ya Mungu, na utofauti wake wenyewe ndio uliokuwa ujumbe wake.What does such holiness look like in everyday life? It looks like being genuinely different — set apart unto God, with no appetite for the distractions that consume everyone else. Consider John the Baptist, who lived in the wilderness, refused to look or sound like his world, and was wholly set apart unto God, wanting nothing that would pull him from his calling. His life was strange to his neighbors precisely because it was devoted; he was a man marked out for God, and his very difference was his message.

Maonyo mawili kutoka katika maisha ya kujitoa kikamilifu: Kwanza, utakatifu unagharimu kifo cha nafsi kila siku. Kama Paulo alivyosema, “Kila siku mimi ninakufa” — utu wa kale unasulibiwa upya kila asubuhi, na kufa huko kwa nafsi kunakoendelea ndiyo jinsi maisha yaliyotengwa yanavyoishiwa kwa kweli. Pili, jihadhari na utakatifu bandia. Inawezekana kujenga “vilabu vitakatifu na mahekalu ya starehe” yenye raha yanayoonekana ya kidini huku yakibaki yamefuatisha kabisa upendo wa ulimwengu kwa starehe. Utakatifu wa kweli si starehe ya kidini; ni kujitoa kwa moyo wote, kwa kutengwa, kwa Mungu mtakatifu.Two warnings from the radical life: First, holiness costs the daily death of self. As Paul said, "I die daily" — the old nature is crucified afresh each morning, and that ongoing dying to self is how a set-apart life is actually lived. Second, beware of counterfeit holiness. It is possible to build comfortable "holy clubs and temples of comfort" that look religious while remaining utterly conformed to the world's love of ease. True holiness is not religious comfort; it is wholehearted, set-apart devotion to a holy God.

Kwa hiyo amri inasimama, na haiponde kama ilivyosikika mwanzoni. Kuwa mtakatifu ni kuwa tofauti kwa sababu Mungu ni tofauti; kutengwa kwa sababu Yeye ametutenga; kuwa wakweli kwamba bado hatujafika, na wenye tumaini kwa sababu siku moja tutafanana naye; kupumzika katika utakatifu ambao tayari umetangazwa kuwa wetu katika Kristo, na kutumia siku zetu tukimfuatilia Yule aliye utakatifu wetu. Na hivyo shauku ya ndani kabisa ya mwamini, shauku ile ambayo kiitikio kile kinaiweka katika wimbo, inageuka kuwa shauku ya Mtu — na jina lake ni Yesu.So the command stands, and it is not as crushing as it first sounded. To be holy is to be different because God is different; to be set apart because He has set us apart; to be honest that we have not yet arrived, and hopeful because one day we shall be like Him; to rest in the holiness already declared ours in Christ, and to spend our days pursuing the One who is our holiness. And so the deepest longing of the believer, the longing that chorus puts into song, turns out to be a longing for a Person — and His name is Jesus.

Mtihani wa Mwisho wa Sehemu ya 5Unit 5 Final Exam

Njia ya Cheti: maswali 20 ya kuchagua jibu. Shahada ya Mshiriki: maswali ya kuchagua jibu na maswali 10 ya kujaza nafasi. Shahada ya Uzamili ya Huduma ya Kiungu (M.Div.) na Shahada ya Uzamili ya Teolojia (Th.M.): maswali ya kuchagua jibu, ya kujaza nafasi na maswali 10 ya majibu mafupi. Asilimia 90 ya kila sehemu inahitajika ili kufaulu. Usipofaulu, mtihani utasubiri muda mfupi kabla ya kujaribu tena.Certificate track: the 20 multiple-choice questions. Associate: multiple choice and the 10 fill-in-the-blank questions. M.Div. and Th.M.: multiple choice, fill-ins and the 10 short-answer questions. 90% of each part is required to pass. If you do not pass, the exam waits a short time before you can try again.

📖 Masomo ya Kozi — ya Lazima na ya Heshima
Cheti na Shahada ya Mshiriki: heshima si lazima. Soma matatu yoyote kati ya masomo matano ili kupata heshima; hakuna mtihani tofauti wa masomo ya lazima unaohitajika.

M.Div. na Th.M.: masomo yote matano yaliyopangwa ni sehemu ya kozi. Mtihani wake tofauti ni wa lazima baada ya kuanzishwa; tazama ukurasa wake kwa kanuni ya sasa. Heshima inabaki kuwa ya hiari na haichukui nafasi ya mtihani.

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