Different Levels Of Holiness
Are They Real?
As we came off the big topic of God’s holiness earlier this week, I wanted to take some more time to digest what we really read and learned this past week. The idea of not just holiness in us, but a perfectly holy God can at times seem too momentous for us to even consider and understand. And yet, not only is it good to know about holiness, but we are called to participate in being holy as well. If you read our post earlier this week, you remember that we discussed how we can be holy, but how God is perfectly holy. Now this doesn’t sound impossible or improbable to anyone, but it still begs the question, ‘Are there different levels of holiness?’ This seems like an interesting and intriguing aspect of holiness to study. Is holiness a characteristic that we can grow in more and more? Or like the Holy Spirit, is it just something that you simply have or don’t have? This is a great question and one that scripture does a great job of answering. Look at what Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 7:1 “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let’s cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” If being holy like we’ve discussed in the past is all about being ‘set apart’, then are the levels of holiness just reliant on how set apart from the world we really are? In essence, yes! This is what Paul is showing us in this passage.
Death To Sin
There is a reason here as to why he ties together cleansing ourselves from sin with perfect holiness. The more and more we separate ourselves from our sinful nature, the more holy we will find ourselves becoming. I’m sure you know someone you’ve seen at church or noticed in your personal life who just seems like they have a perfect walk with the Lord. Everything that happens to this person never seems to shake them up as much as it would you or someone else, and their trust in the Lord is honestly something you wish had. I promise you that their life has not always been this way. The number of sinful patterns that they have had to work through and put to death or the amount of bad relationships that this person just had to walk away from to grow in holiness is probably more than we know. The hardship that we must walk through in order to become holy involves a lot of life change because we are taking what our natural flesh desires so much, and throwing it out for what our Lord desires. And while God is the only one who has achieved perfect holiness, there is also no question that there are others who have walked with Christ longer than we have, and by default, have become holier than we are as well. This different level of holiness of course is not there so that people may brag about themselves, but quite the opposite. The growth in holiness that people experience just goes to show how amazing God’s life-changing power really is. When a sinner is rescued by the Holy Spirit by leading him to the gospel and growing him in sanctification, imagine how prideful and idiotic one must be to claim, ‘Look at everything I’ve accomplished!’ This is again why we are told in 2 Corinthians 10:16-17 “But THE ONE WHO BOASTS IS TO BOAST IN THE LORD. For it is not the one who commends himself that is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.” When we grow in holiness because we die to sin, we can only credit God and Him alone for this miraculous change in our lives.
Happiness In God
Is this simply all there is to it? Does being set apart for the Lord only mean being set apart from sin? While this is definitely an aspect of growing in holiness, I believe we can zoom out and see an even bigger picture as to how a person can come to destroy the sin that is in their lives and grow in holiness. David Mathis shows us what this bigger picture is. He notes, “True happiness in God is the heart of true holiness in us. And genuine holiness in us, soul and body, begins with souls happy in God, leading to bodily words and works that conform and testify to his worth.” That’s right, being truly happy in who God is is what I believe will lead to ultimate holiness on this side of heaven. I have yet to meet someone who has grown in holiness and is miserable because of it. By no means was it an easy path to get to where they are, but the satisfaction that they have in the Lord is something that they wouldn’t trade for the world. This is why Mathis goes on further to say, “In Scripture, we do not find a holiness in tension with true happiness. The two are tied together intimately.” When we put to death the sin in our lives, we are truly being set apart from the rest of this world, yet the desire to partake in this can only come from someone who is fully satisfied and happy in God and not in their old sinful ways. This is why Isaiah 26:3 tells us, “The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, Because he trusts in You.” When our minds are truly set on God and satisfied in Him, peace and happiness will follow. And when the peace and happiness of our Lord fill our minds, we can truly put to death the old ways of our lives, and grow in the holiness that He has made available for us. The more we do this, the more and more we will find ourselves being holy, just as God has called us to be. Not out of force, but out of love and pure happiness because of who God is.
Sources
[1] Blue Letter Bible. (n.d.). Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/
[2] Mathis, D. (2023, October 4). Can I be holy without happiness? Desiring God. https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/can-i-be-holy-without-happiness
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