Be Holy as I am Holy

Holiness--what is it?

God is holy. God tells us to be holy like He is holy. But what in the world does that mean? When we put our faith in Him, He says we ARE holy, so what does it mean to be holy after that? Can we become un-holy?

What does holy even mean?

Is it just some religious word that is to be thrown around in the church? A good Christianese term to confuse outsiders? My son's pants always have holes in the knees, is he to be considered holy? When we are spoken of by God to be holy, it simply means to be "cleaned and set apart for a special use". Particularly as used in religious devotion. It is used in contrast to the ordinary and common use items.

In our house, we have used "Mama's special dishes" to demonstrate an example of something that is clean and set aside for a special use. We wouldn't call them holy, but when you are speaking in relation to a deity, the reference is "holy".

Be holy as I am holy


In 1 Peter we read: "13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

I think wrestling with this is the heart of Christianity. When we are born again, we are told that we are cleaned and set apart--holy. So, Peter here goes on to tell us to "be holy in all your conduct". He is now referring to behavior. You have been set apart by God--this is His work and you can't change it--but how you now live can be described as un-holy or holy. The big question, of course is, what does it mean to live holy?

I am holy

When I am asked by a fellow believer, "What parts of the God's law shall we keep and which ones are not for today"?, I reply, "We are to live holy as He is holy." What I mean by this is that we can get lost in the minutia of picking what we should and shouldn't do, instead we should strive to be like God! God is holy. God is perfect, clean, and set apart from us. We should strive to be like Him.

But how?

When we strive to be like God in His holiness, we stop looking at pesky little tidbits of the law to obey and we seek to KNOW God. The Pharisees looked at the pesky little tidbits of the law and Jesus condemned them. God's holiness can't be reduced to a checklist of dos and dont's. Wear this--don't wear that. God must be observed in His written word, His creation and also God must be observed as He dwells within us by the Spirit.

In the letter to the Romans it is expressed this way: "5 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's."


From Genesis to Revelation

We must develop an understanding of God's holiness from the entire bible. Pieces of Him are revealed throughout the scriptures. All the scriptures are ultimately about Him, because even when He speaks of us, man, we are His creation and therefore revealing more about Him. We are made in His image.

Creation

We must develop an understanding of God's holiness from the world He created. Look around at His majestic creation and breath it in.

By the Spirit

1 John 2:27 "But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him. 28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. 29 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him".

1 Corinthians 3:16 "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple".

Why doesn't it work?

In the history of the church there have always been those who will fall in the ditch on one side of the road or the other. Either we fall in the ditch of "legalism", which is trying to impress God with our holy deeds and the keeping of the law. We try to keep both God's law and the multitude of laws we have created on our own.
or
The other side of the road which is the ditch of "licentiousness". This is where a license is given to any and every practice even if it is forbidden by God. It is also know as antinomianism, which means, against the law. You can easily imagine what this would look like.

Narrow road


The road to holiness is narrow and it is easy to fall in the ditches, but by God's grace and repentance we can get back up on the road and become "holy as He is holy". We'll never be perfect, but Jesus demonstrated the way to please our Father.
John 15:8 "By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full."

No help at all

I'm sorry if I did not give you the easy answer you were looking for, but becoming holy is your project, not mine. I cannot be the Holy Spirit in your life. There are no checklists and you are a unique creation of God. He is working within you. The body of Christ--the church--is here to help, yes, but we don't have a list for you to follow. Follow us as we follow Christ--is about all we have to offer. We are family after all.
Have confidence though: Philippians 1:6 "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."