What Is Holiness?
I Think I Know…
To kick off the month of March, I wanted to discuss a topic that I believe was more mainstream and could be relatable to current events. As I was thinking about what to write about, a plethora of ideas came to mind that Christians really need to be aware of and consider. Topics that stretch from politics, to church practices, to overall sin issues in our society. And yet, after thinking for a while about each of these, the main point that tied each of the topics that I thought of together was holiness. I really do believe that throughout the Church today, God’s holiness is being attacked on just about every front. From the way we gather, to the ways we even talk about God in our culture today, I believe holiness is less and less a part of American Christianity. And while we have many questions that we will hopefully answer about this biblical doctrine, the first and foremost question I want to answer is what really is holiness?
So often when we think of the word holiness, we think of someone as just acting prideful and thinking themselves better than everyone, and that’s really a shame. Whenever we read about the holiness of God or how we are called to be holy, we sort of skim over it as if it is just a suggestion, and never really take into consideration what it means. Throughout much of the Old Testament, we see God refer to Himself as holy and call His people to be holy as well. One of the most common definitions of this word comes from the Hebrew term ‘qāḏôš’. Which means ‘sacred, holy, Holy One, saint, set apart’. One of the first places we see this in scripture is in Leviticus 11:45 “‘For I am the LORD who brought you up from the land of Egypt, to be your God; so you shall be holy, because I am holy.’” This call to be holy is seen from the very beginning of God’s Word when He rescued His people from the land of Egypt. And from this definition, we see that to be holy means to be sacred and set apart. This is what I believe is the biggest issue with how we view holiness today. Either we think holiness is bigotry on God’s end or we think holiness is nothing special because of how often we see it mentioned in scripture. Neither of these two stances could be further from the truth.
Favoritism?
To start, if we really do think that just because God calls us to be set apart from the rest of the world, that this means He is showing some kind of favoritism, we are ignoring the rest of God’s Word. Romans 2:11-12 tells us, “For there is no partiality with God. For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law;” God is not partial with His people by showing more love and favor to one over the other. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, which means whatever love we receive from Him is not out favoritism, but out of His own love and grace. This is what is so disappointing about Christians being so turned off by particular rules for men and women in scripture. We think that just because God’s Word has a particular structure for the men and women that He has created, that this means God is bigoted and favors one sex over the other. As we can see, this couldn’t be further from the truth. If we are called to be ‘set apart’, then these rules are in play to separate us from the rest of the world. God’s people should look different from the rest of the world, and a huge way we do this is by living according to how God has called us to. As R.C. Sproul so beautifully puts it, “The primary meaning of the word is “separate,” or, if you will, theological apartheid. That which is holy is that which is other—that which is different from something else.”
No Big Deal
What about the other end though? How often do we undermine holiness simply because we hear it mentioned all throughout God’s Word? This I fear is way too common in the Church today. Think about this for a second…God calls His people to be holy just as He is holy in Leviticus. Is this possible? Not permanently, otherwise we would have to agree that we would never sin again! So while this command may seem impossible(which is why we need Christ), does this mean we should just ignore this command? Not at all! Look at what we are taught in the New Testament, even after Jesus has come in 1 Peter 1:14-15 “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance,but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior;” This call to be holy is still something we must try and achieve, even on this side of the cross. So this call to be set apart is not just relevant in the Old Testament, but it is relevant in the New as well. We must be willing to follow all that God commands of us, so that we may be set apart from this world just as He has designed. The call to be holy is not some command that is to be simply overlooked and ignored. It is quite the contrary. In order to live holy, we must follow the guidance of the Spirit and strive with all that we have in us to accomplish this. To view God’s holiness as anything less than this is simply disrespectful to the command and character of our God. Despite whatever we may have been taught about holiness growing up, I hope and pray that as we live our Christian lives in the world today, that we never forget that we are called to be set apart from the rest of the world. No matter what it is or where we are, may holiness radiate off of us through His Spirit, so that the lost may know who we belong to and why we are different from those around us.
Sources
[1] Blue Letter Bible. (n.d.). Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/
[2] The Meaning of Holiness by R.C. Sproul from The Holiness of God. (n.d.). Ligonier Ministries. https://www.ligonier.org/learn/series/holiness-of-god/the-meaning-of-holiness
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