A Treatise on Holiness

In an ever-secularizing world, holiness seems to be a forgotten thing, or an unknown thing altogher.  However, more than any other attribute or characteristic of God, He is described as holy.  Additionally, this holiness is something that, through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the personal application of the Word of God, Christians are to exhibit as well. 

Metaphorically, it can be thought of in this way: if a liquid is, in its purest form, the color red, then everything that the liquid comes into contact with will have the attribute of red.  Similarly, God in His very essence and being is holy.  He cannot be separated from His holiness because holiness, in its basest form, derives from the holiness of the Lord God Almighty.  Therefore, it stands to reason that a believer who, by confession and faith, has received God's grace and the Holy Spirit is now living within him or her, then the holiness of God will be present.

Thus, an understanding of holiness and what it is to be holy is in order for, as stated explicitly by the apostle Peter, "But just as He who called you is holy, be holy in all you do; for it is written, 'Be holy, because I am holy (1 Pet. 1:15-16).'"  So, in reality, holiness and being holy is not merely a suggestion but it is a necessity for the believer.

To be sure, only a believer in Christ Jesus who has been baptized in the Holy Spirit is capable of being truly holy, for only a believer will have access to He who is holy.  This is like saying that the only people who can have toes are those that have feet.  If you have no feet (are not a believer), then you will not be able in any sense to have toes (be holy).

Becuase holiness is such a fundamental part of God, a basic two-part definition is in order and should serve as both the rubric and the barameter of holiness in our own lives.   First off, to be holy is to be set-apart, separate, not only of degree but primarily of kind.  That is to say that God's holiness, and by extension believers' holiness, means that we are of a different kind, separate from that which is not holy.  This is what is meant by the phrase, "in the world but not of it."

Secondly, holiness refers to moral purity.  Think of two glasses of water.  One glass is full of sediment and impurities, while the other is absolutely pure H2O.  The pure glass, lacking any literal impurity is holy in that it is absolutely and utterly pure.  The other would be akin to unholiness, full of impurities and, thus, lacking holiness.

The second sense of holiness often rubs people wrong, believers and unbelievers alike, because to understand holiness in this, quite literal sense, means that believers are to be holy as God is holy, an outright impossible acheivement, correct?  No.  The essential component here is to separate what God has made holy and what God is/will make holy.

In the former, God has made us holy in our souls and in our economical (sin) standing before His justice.  In this sense, we are already holy.  Redemption, salvation, justification, these are areas of already holy.  In the latter, God is and will make us holy.  The is refers to the process of sanctification by which the Holy Spirit applies the Word to us directly in our lifelong transformation.

In this sense, we are being made holy.  The will here refers to the glorified state that believers will find themselves on the otherside (post-mortem) of eternity.  When this occurs, we will be made perfectly holy because we will be blessed definitively with the utter presence of the Holy Lord.  This is beautiful!  So, when we use the language of holiness, now we may have a better understanding both of its vital significance as well as what it means for us today.  And praise be to God who has seen fit in His pleasure to bless us with His presence so as to make us holy as He is holy!