What is Holiness?

 

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. In Leviticus 11, God tells us to consecrate ourselves and be holy because He is holy.

And the Apostle Peter confirms that this scripture still applies to the Church today when he quotes it in 1 Peter 1:15-16! 

And the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 1:9 says a similar thing when he tells us that God has called us with a holy calling for His own purpose and grace.

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 Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Hebrew word for consecrate in Leviticus 11:44 is "qadash" pronounced "kaw-dash" and means to be set apart or to be consecrated as holy. (Strong's 6942).

The Apostle Peter quoted this scripture in 1 Peter 1:15-16 and thus we know without a shadow of doubt that this instruction still applies to Christians today!

Lev 11:44a (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.”

2 Timothy 1:9 (NKJV)

who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began,

Holiness is a characteristic of who God is, and as such holiness should be of paramount importance to us as believers and something we should be earnestly seeking, because without it no one will ever see the Lord!

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.

Before we can look at what the Bible teaches on being holy, let’s first understand what the word means from the original Greek text of the New Testament.

Holiness in the verse above is from the Greek word ‘hagiotes’ meaning holiness or sanctity. 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 to Him. In fact, Hebrews 12:14 above states quite emphatically that the we won’t see the Lord unless we pursue holiness.

Also, as we endeavour to pursue holiness, setting ourselves apart to Him for sanctification, we will experience a measure of pain as He chastises us for our own good when we go astray, through the sanctifying process of dying to self. As John the Baptist says: "He must become greater I must become less."

John 3:30 (AMP)

 He must increase [in prominence], but I must decrease.

Nevertheless, this chastising process will yield within us the peaceable fruit of holiness and righteousness in Christ Jesus. We are trained by God's sanctification and chastening process in Christ Jesus!

Hebrew 12:9-11 (NKJV)

9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. 11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

In other words, that which is holy belongs to God, and conversely whatever belongs to God is holy. We are sanctified 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.

As God's children we are called to be holy and we must clothe ourselves appropriately in order to show ourselves holy and set apart from the world. The character of the true child of God should look like this:

Colossians 3:12-17 (NKJV)

12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. 14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. 15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

We are God's elect and He has chosen us to be His children and to serve others as Jesus came to serve, and He has called us to come out of this world, to be different and separate from the rest of the world - to be holy! To love others as He loves us! We are a royal priesthood, a chosen generation and it is our responsibility to reflect this to the world.

John 15:16-17 (NKJV)

16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. 17 These things I command you, that you love one another.

1 Peter 2:9-10 (NKJV)

9 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; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

The heavenly host sing of God's holiness to the 3rd degree. We are called to be holy in a fallen world as this reveals God's glory to the whole world!

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. 2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;

The whole earth is full of His glory!”

Revelation 4:8 (NKJV)

The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying:

“Holy, holy, holy,

Lord God Almighty,

Who was and is and is to come!”

Jesus reminds us that we are not of this world,

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 he 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 in Christ Jesus!

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.

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 children and 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:

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 and all other such things.

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, 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 (NKJV)

Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

We will continue to be holy if we live a life of holiness in the reverent fear of God, in the power of the Holy Spirit and to the glory of Jesus. That is the way of obedience and conformity with God's ways and His Word. This is living life in the Spirit.

God wants a glorious Church without spot or blemish. Jesus gave his life for the Church in order to make her holy and blameless:

Ephesians 5:26-27 (NIV)

26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless

My dear Readers, if we are not reading and study the Bible for ourselves, how on earth can we become washed and cleansed by it and know how to pursue holiness!

Prayer

Dear Father

In the name of Jesus I pray that you would continually fill me with your Holy Spirit and help me to be holy just as you are holy. Help me to read and study your Word daily and help me to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit and in the reverent fear of God that I may glorify Jesus.  Amen!

To Jesus belongs all glory, honour and praise

Jesus the Name above all names!

Remember: Reading this article is no substitute for reading and studying the Bible for yourself. My word is flawed the Bible is not!