Articles
Becoming Holy
One of the most important commands given to the Israelites by God was one with which we may be familiar: “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy” (Lev. 19:2). God demanded His people be holy because He was holy, but also because the people of the nations surrounding them, and the ones they would drive out of Canaan, were not. God had told them, “It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you go in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God drives them out from before you” (Deut. 9:5). Though all other nations were unholy, ungodly, and unrighteous, His people were not to be.
Everything about God and service to Him was to be holy, too. When Nadab and Abihu offered profane fire on the altar and God struck them down, Moses told Aaron afterward that God had said, “By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; and before all the people I must be glorified” (Lev. 10:3). When the tabernacle and all its articles were prepared for service, and when Aaron and his sons prepared for service (Lev. 8), they were all consecrated; that is, they were set apart, and made holy to God. That was what He demanded.
In the New Testament, Peter reiterated the commandment given in the Old Testament, applying it to those who lived as God's people under Christ; to the early Christians Peter wrote, admonishing the early disciples they should not be “conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy’” (1 Pet. 1:14-16). Holiness was not just demanded of the Israelites, but is expected of any who are God's people. Paul would admonish the early disciples, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service” (Rom. 12:1). In other words, disciples must be willing to give their lives over to God — but not just as whatever we happen to be; God wants disciples who are holy servants.
So important is holiness that the writer of Hebrews would admonish the early disciples, “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14). From this, we may see that holiness is vitally important for any who desire to be with God in eternity! No one will see the Lord without it!
Knowing this, it would be in our best interest, then, to ensure we know what it means to be holy, would it not? If we do not understand what it means, we probably will not attain to it, and we might even end up as something or someone who is completely opposite of the kind of disciple God desires us to be. So, what does it mean to be holy?
In the Old Testament, the word translated as holy is the Hebrew word qadosh, which means something as sacred, but goes back to the root meaning of separation, and setting apart for God's use and service. It could apply to setting apart inanimate objects for God's service (cf. Lev. 8:30), but for our purposes, let us consider its application to people; in that sense, the meaning is a separation from the world and a willful offering of self to God for His service. The Israelites were admonished to live holy lives, in contrast to the ungodly ways of the nations around them.
In the New Testament, as we have noted already, God still demanded holiness of His people, and that separation from the world must continue to define His people. The Greek word is hagios, which means essentially the same thing as the Hebrew word, with a further implication of being morally blameless. Paul reminded the Corinthian disciples that they could not have fellowship with those living in sin and unrighteousness because God had demanded, “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you” (2 Cor. 6:14-17). God being their Father was conditioned on them separating themselves from the worldly ones, and there could be no holiness unless and until they were willing to separate themselves from the worldly.
Becoming holy to God as His people demands we do not run with the world in their ungodliness and desire for worldly things. Paul put it this way to those in Colossæ: “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth” (Col. 3:1, 2). He would go on to write about the need for them to put to death the old man and his ways that they might become the new man “who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him” (Col. 3:4-10). In his letter to the Ephesian brethren, Paul said they must put to death the old man and “put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:24). Again, one cannot be holy while still walking in the ways of the world.
This change of heart and life is what we call repentance — something demanded of “all men everywhere” by God (cf. Acts 17:30). Unfortunately, some religious leaders teach repentance is unnecessary, while others teach that the change of heart will be brought about by some miraculous 'work of grace' on the hearts of predestined individuals, so those who hear and believe them do absolutely nothing, waiting on some miraculous intervention to give them a new heart and make them that 'new creature' with no personal involvement or desire to do so. Is it any wonder, then, that so many professing believers seem to be no different than the world?
But lest we look at these people and think we have it all sewn up because we do things strictly according to the pattern and follow God's word exactly — doing nothing without express authority as shown in God's word — let us think again. Serving God and worshipping God as He demands is not what makes us righteous and holy. There was a time when God's people thought that their service to God was what made them holy and acceptable to Him, though in their hearts they had not exalted Him and sought His desires about their own personal comfort (Hag. 2:6-14). He notes that bringing sacrifices to Him, while ignoring and neglecting His house, rendered their offerings unacceptable.
Today, it might be tempting for us to think that just because we come to worship every Sunday and Wednesday, come to every Bible class, sing every song, pray every prayer, and throw a little contribution in the plate each week as it passes by is going to make us acceptable to God.
Now, don't get me wrong; we should desire to do all of these things — and more. But the doing of those things is not what makes us holy to the Lord. What makes us holy is separating ourselves from sin and having a heart that loves the Lord above all else (cf. Matt. 22:37), and seeking Him and His righteousness first (Matt. 6:33). Becoming holy isn't a matter of ritualistic behavior and checking off a list; becoming holy and maintaining that holiness is a lifelong endeavor “to keep oneself unspotted from the world” (Jas. 1:27).
Yes, God's people must be holy. Let's ensure we are just that. —— Steven Harper
