In Part 1 we talked about the way our lives have been stripped down by this virus. Many of us are in isolation at home, with changed work lives and greatly diminished social lives. It is an opportunity for us to think about what it means to have our identity established “in Christ”. We looked at Ephesians and concluded that it means living whole-heartedly for Christ, and examined Romans 12:1-2 as an example of this. Eugene Peterson paraphrases that concept as “Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering.” Now we turn to Old Testament for clues as to what it means to live wholly for God.

The equivalent to this whole-life offering or sacrifice in the Old Testament is the concept of being wholehearted for God: tamim. That word is translated as complete, full, having integrity, perfect, whole; and is most often translated as blameless. However, blameless gives the wrong sense of this word. Blameless suggests purely a moral response, but tamim is a whole-of-life response.

Tamim is used extensively in Leviticus to describe the appropriate sacrifice to be made to God. There it is translated as being “without defect”, or “without blemish”. This provides the link with our Romans 12:1-2 passage. An appropriate sacrifice for an animal is to be “whole” or “integral”. An appropriate sacrifice as a human in Christ, is to be whole-heartedly for God in all we do; someone who is integrated or integral.

Deuteronomy 18:13 illustrates this: “You must be blameless (tamim) before the Lord your God” is the NIVUK translation. Eugene Peterson paraphrases it as a need to be “completely loyal to God”. It comes as part of a warning not to participate in occult practices, why? Those practices demonstrate that your whole heart is not devoted to God.

God’s work is also described as tamim. In Deuteronomy 32:4 it says,

He is the Rock, his works are perfect (tamim),
and all his ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong,
upright and just is he.

You can see that who God is, and how he works are perfectly linked together. This is further illustrated in David’s praise of God in 2 Samuel 22 (Psalm 18) from verse 24:

I have been blameless (tamim) before him
and have kept myself from sin.
The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
according to my cleanness in his sight.

‘To the faithful you show yourself faithful,
    to the blameless (tamim) you show yourself blameless,
to the pure you show yourself pure,
    but to the devious you show yourself shrewd.
You save the humble,
    but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them low.
You, Lord, are my lamp;
    the Lord turns my darkness into light.
With your help I can advance against a troop;
    with my God I can scale a wall.

‘As for God, his way is perfect (tamim):
    the Lord’s word is flawless;
    he shields all who take refuge in him.
For who is God besides the Lord?
    And who is the Rock except our God?
It is God who arms me with strength
    and keeps my way secure (tamim).

David’s identity matches God’s character and behaviour. We strive wholeheartedly for a God who is perfect, flawless, blameless, whole, secure.

It is important to realise that this is what it means to be made in the image of God. God is whole-hearted. There is no compartmentalisation of moral character or actions or thoughts or emotions or work. Everything is interlocked and whole.

This is what it means to be human. While the Fall described in Genesis 3 — the entry of evil in the world — has impacted on our ability to be integral, we must remember that being integral is the way we are meant to be.

In fact, we love it when we see it: that leader who is servant-hearted and kind, but firm and courageous, as well as a devoted partner; that stay-at-home parent who is consistent inside the home and out; that student who balances excellence in studies with caring for others and personal devotion to God.

In Part 3 we will look at the particular application of being whole-hearted, living with integrity.