"Be holy because I am holy," says the Lord.
Hebrews 12:1-3 (NIV)
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
In Hebrews 12:4-11 we are told that we can overcome our sinful nature by heeding his discipline. God disciplines us because we are His sons and daughters and as such, He loves us. Discipline in love is an integral part of God’s character.
Hebrews 12:4-11 (NIV)
4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”
7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
In verse 10 we are told that God disciplines us for our own good so that we can share in His holiness – for it is written “Be holy, because I am holy.” See Leviticus 11:44 and 1 Peter 1:15-16 below.
And being holy is the subject of this article, so let’s examine from the scripture what it means for us to be holy.
What is holiness?
In the verses below we can see that it has always been God’s intention for His people to be holy because He is holy. The Lord tells us to consecrate ourselves and be holy.
To consecrate oneself means to dedicate oneself to a higher purpose, for a Christian today this means our purpose is to dedicate ourselves to God through His Son Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Apostle Peter quoted "be holy for I am holy* from Leviticus 11:44 in 1 Peter 1:15-16 and thus we know without a shadow of doubt that this instruction still applies to Christians today! And God adds to the verse from Leviticus by telling us to be holy in all we do!
Lev 11:44 (NIV)
I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy.
1 Peter 1:15-16 (NIV)
But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
And the Apostle Paul reminds us that we have been called to live a holy life, not because of who we are or because of what we do, but solely because of who God is and because of His purpose and His grace upon us as sinners and what He does in our lives. We get what we don’t deserve, eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord and Saviour! It is not about us it is all about Jesus who is our righteousness.
1 Timothy 1:9
He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time.
Holiness is a characteristic of who God is, and as such holiness and being at peace with our brothers and sisters in Christ should be of paramount importance to us as believers, because without holiness we will never see (or truly know in the Spirit) God!
Hebrews 12:14 (NIV)
Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.
To get a better picture or understanding of the above verse let’s examine the verb ‘will see’ from its original Greek meaning. ‘Will see’ is translated from the Greek word horaó (hor-ah-o, Strong’s 3708) and in its broad definition means: to see, perceive, attend to, look upon, experience, discern, beware of. In Biblical spiritual terms it is to see properly metaphorically, meaning: "to see with the mind" (i.e. to spiritually see), and to perceive with inward spiritual perception. In other words, by being led and guided by the Holy Spirit and, as the Apostle Paul says, living life in the Spirit (Romans 8).
And now, whilst we are in Greek mode and before we can look at what the Bible teaches on being holy, let’s first understand what the word holy means from the original Greek text of the New Testament.
Holiness is from the Greek word ‘hagiotes’ meaning holiness or sanctity – holiness is God’s sanctification work in us once we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, in other words once we are born again. Sanctification is a process that we go through on our walk to Christian maturity, and it is achieved by being obedient to His Word and by being led by His Holy Spirit – living life in the Spirit (Romans 8). Hagiotes is derived from the Greek adjective ‘hagios’ which means set apart (for God) for the specific purpose of being holy and sacred.
From this we can safely conclude that God expects us, as Christians, to set ourselves apart to be holy because He is holy. In fact, Hebrews 12:14 above states quite emphatically that we won’t see the Lord unless we pursue holiness.
Also, as we endeavour to pursue holiness, we will experience a measure of pain as He chastises us for our own good, through the process of dying to self – discipline is part and parcel of God’s sanctification (a bringing to holiness) process.
Nevertheless, this chastising process (sanctification) will yield within us the peaceable fruit of holiness and righteousness in Christ Jesus.
Hebrew 12:9-11 (NLT)
9 Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever?
10 For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness.11 No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.
In other words, that which is holy belongs to God, and conversely whatever belongs to God is holy. We are sanctified and made holy and "set apart for a holy use or purpose" by God, and to find out what our use and purpose is in Christ Jesus we need to live life in the Spirit. We need to always be led by the Holy Spirit.
God has selected us to be His servants and has called us to come out of this world, to be different and separate from the rest of the world. Jesus said in His prayer to the Father for the Apostles,
John 17:14-16 (NIV)
14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.
The Christian must live in this present evil world, but his life must be different from the lives of the other people that are in the world – who are not born-again, who do not know Jesus as Lord and Saviour. In other words, our lives and the way and manner in which we live, must reflect God’s holiness. We must be imitators of Christ and reflect His nature in all we do and say.
We, as born again believers in Christ Jesus, must come out from any of this world's ways that are sinful and evil, out from the religious and spiritual "Babylon" that is this whole world. The world is Satan’s domain and so we must set ourselves apart from it.
2 Corinthians 4:4-6 (NIV)
4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
Revelation 18:4 (NIV)
4 Then I heard another voice from heaven say:
“‘Come out of her (the world), my people,’[Jer 51:45)
so that you will not share in her sins,
so that you will not receive any of her plagues;
Making such a distinction and living by it is one of the many ways that God's true servants are different from the rest of the world.
Instead of being immersed in the lawless and sinful ways of the world, we should put our thoughts on better and higher things, things that are worthy of our salvation in Christ Jesus, thoughts and actions that lead to eternal life and not on worldly things that are in opposition to God and that lead to eternal death – eternal separation from God in a fiery hell!
Philippians 4:8 (NIV)
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
This scripture makes is very clear that we should avoid filling our minds with entertainment that is sinful: void of (God’s) love, lustful, sexually illicit or that is filled with murder, hatred, evil, violence, abuse and all other such evil things. In this way we will be able to be at peace with others because the God of peace will be with us.
We often justify our sinful actions by saying things like: "It’s only a song — it's only make-believe, it's only a movie or that’s who I am."
On the contrary that is not who you are in Christ Jesus, you are a new creation, the Bible says this:
2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV)
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
We cannot call ourselves Christians and continue to walk in the ways of the world – we must walk in the way of the Spirit (be holy)! Christians need to be different from the rest of this world — to say no to sin, to evil and to wrong things as it is written:
2 Corinthians 7:1 (NLT)
Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God.
We will continue to be holy if we live a life of holiness in the reverent fear of God. That is the way of obedience and conformity with God's ways and His Word. That is living life in the Spirit. In this way we will bring glory, honour and praise to Jesus!
God wants a glorious Church without spot or blemish. Jesus gave his life for the Church in order to make her holy through the process of sanctification.
God calls us to be holy as he is holy, and we can’t do this if we are clinging on to the pleasures that the world throws at us, for friendship with the world is enmity with God. In fact, God is so opposed to those that call themselves Christians yet live in disobedience to the Bible and continually live a life in willful sin that he calls them adulterers, vow breakers and his enemies.
If you reject God’s process of holiness and sanctification, then you are not born-again and you will be going to hell if you do not become truly repentant of your sin! Without holiness no one can see God! I do not say this to be horrible, I say this because it is God’s truth and I care about your salvation!
James 4:4-8 (AMP)
4 You adulteresses [disloyal sinners—flirting with the world and breaking your vow to God]! Do you not know that being the world’s friend [that is, loving the things of the world] is being God’s enemy? So whoever chooses to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think that the Scripture says to no purpose that the [human] spirit which He has made to dwell in us lusts with envy? 6 But He gives us more and more grace [through the power of the Holy Spirit to defy sin and live an obedient life that reflects both our faith and our gratitude for our salvation]. Therefore, it says, “God is opposed to the proud and haughty, but [continually] gives [the gift of] grace to the humble [who turn away from self-righteousness].” 7 So submit to [the authority of] God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him] and he will flee from you. 8 Come close to God [with a contrite heart] and He will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; and purify your [unfaithful] hearts, you double-minded [people].
Prayer
Dear Father
In the name of Jesus, I pray that you would continually fill me with your Holy Spirit and help me to overcome the desires of my flesh and help me to be holy just as you are holy so that my life will bring glory to Jesus and be a true witness to the unsaved. Amen!
To Jesus belongs all glory, honour and praise!
Jesus the Name above all names!
Last update: 18 August 2023.
Thank You Brother Ray for a wonderful teaching on the Importance of being Holy & Living a Holy Life! I'm so blessed by this and grateful for this message! God Bless You Abundantly my friend.
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