Holy Things Don’t Make Holy People

Josh Taylor

Published on July 2, 2026

Haggai 2:13 (CSB)
“Then Haggai asked, ‘If someone defiled by contact with a corpse touches any of these, does it become defiled?’ The priests answered, ‘It becomes defiled.'”

Haggai begins with a question for the priests. It is a strange one. A man is carrying consecrated meat in the fold of his garment, and it touches bread, stew, wine, or oil. Does the food become holy? The answer is no. Holiness does not spread by touch.

Then a second question. If someone defiled by a corpse touches that same food, does it become defiled? It does. Notice the one way street. Take a pure glass of water and drop in ink. Is the water pure any longer? No. Take a glass of ink and add a drop of pure water. Does it become pure? No. It stays defiled. Sin is contagious. Holiness is not.

Then the prophet turns the ruling on the people. They were standing on holy ground, doing holy work, and God called it defiled. Why? Because none of that work made their hearts holy.

This applies to the church today. You can sit under gospel preaching, sing the hymns, give in the offering plate, and still need a clean heart. You cannot launder a dirty heart through religious activity. The activity comes out stained.

You can stand close to holy things and still be far from God. So the question is not whether you live near holy things. The question is whether Christ has made you clean. Religion says, get near holy things and you will become holy. The gospel says, come to Christ and He will cleanse you.

When Jesus touched the leper, He did not become unclean. The leper became clean. His holiness was stronger than the disease. Reach out to Him in faith, and He will cleanse you. Will you come to Christ?

Reflect

Name the holy thing you have been standing near and quietly trusting to do what only Christ can do. Your habits. Your church. Your history. Hold it up and look at it honestly, then stop asking it to cleanse you, and carry the heart underneath it to Him instead.

Pray

King Jesus, I have trusted nearness when what I needed was cleansing. I have stood close to holy things and stayed unclean, and I cannot scrub my own heart however long I work at it. So I quit pretending. Wash me in Your blood. Make me clean from the inside out, and let Your holiness be the thing that spreads in me until there is nothing of the old stain left. Amen.

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Pastor Josh Taylor

Holy Things Don’t Make Holy People