Be Holy for God is Holy

There is a simple yet profound command in the Bible which, in my opinion, we as Christians take far too lightly: ‘you shall be holy, for I am holy (Lev. 11:44,1 Pet. 1:16). Christian, you are to be holy because your God is holy. What is holiness? God has holiness and we potentially have holiness; ours comes from God and His standards. “Holiness is the image of God put in moral terms. Holiness is not one quality God has among others, rather it defines His character as a whole” (Daniel Heimbach). God manifested His holiness in the law, which forbids all sin and all its modifications, both overt acts and subtle thoughts, doing evil and not doing good (Jas. 4:17). Our holiness is made possible through the atonement provided by Christ, and we live as holy by following God’s moral law completely as taught in all of Scripture.

Back in our command to be holy there is an extremely important aspect to the way it was given. God commands us to be holy and gives His own character as the reason. We are to be holy, for He is holy. This means the command is as weighty and enduring as God’s very nature, which never changes in the slightest (Mal. 3:6, Jas. 1:17). Since
God always has and always will continue to be perfectly holy in all of His infinite self, we as believers can never excuse ourselves out of pursuing holiness. Holiness is a biblically moral lifestyle that grows from an ever-increasing understanding of God, an ever-increasing understanding of the Bible, and an ever-growing passion in our relationship with Jesus Christ. It grows through much effort, joyous discipline, and carefully and painstakingly seeking and following God’s will.

Holiness is hard to pursue. If it were easy it would be a much more popular topic of conversation in Christianity. I have very often heard variations of the question, ‘how much of blank can I do before it is a sin?’ While this can be a legitimate question, I believe it is the wrong type of question for Christians to ask. I believe it comes from a fundamental misunderstanding of just what God called us to when we were justified by the holy blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot (1 Pet. 1:19). We are not called to live a life that is marginally better than other people’s. We are not called to a life where our good deeds outweigh our bad, for even that line of thought fails in the scope of God’s calling. We are called to a life of transcendent excellence. Be holy. Shame on us for wanting merely to be good. God has called us to be holy. To follow His moral law perfectly because He, who saved us, is HOLY, HOLY, HOLY.

We as Christians must abandon our compromises with the world in areas of clear violation of Biblical morality, we must abandon our pursuit of carnal pleasures (Rom. 6:12,13), we must abandon contentment with being ‘good enough’ where we are; ‘since He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all you do’ (1 Pet. 1:15, emph. added). Set your minds on things that are above (Col. 3:2) and pursue holiness.