What Is Holiness? Let's Demystify It

One of the really popular songs when I was a preteen and getting ready to enter the youth group in the late 90s and early 2000s was "Take My Life (Holiness)", as made popular by Sonicflood.

Man, those were the days. It was a simpler time, for sure. Before social media, before smart phones, before endless calls about my car warranty, and just about everything everything else that makes the modern era special.

You remember how it goes, right? "Holiness, holiness, is what I long for." That'll be stuck in your head the rest of the day. You're welcome.

Holiness brings up a lot of different ideas—made more confusing by the Puritan and Holiness movements we've seen throughout the years, plus a strong lean towards personal liberty as the pendulum has swung away from unbiblical legalism.

Like, what even is holiness? Isn't that territory reserved for God alone (Revelation 15:4)? Am I even capable of longing for holiness? Can I be holy? Or if I can't be holy, is it legalism to even try?

The answer to most of those questions is yes.

What Is Holiness?

First and foremost, let's look at what holiness is. Then we'll see if those other questions don't just kind of answer themselves.

The simplest definition of holy, at least the Hebrew word for it, is actually way more secular than we might imagine. On its face, it means "set apart". Set apart from what? The surrounding context. At its core, the term holy doesn't have a positive or negative meaning, it simply means different than the surrounding context.

I drive a beat up old Nissan Xterra. Not too long ago, I went to breakfast in a really nice part of town, entirely by accident. If you were to watch my poor little Xterra rattle its way through the sea of Mercedes, Lexus, Audi, and Land Rover SUVs, you would've been able to say that in a sense, my car was "holy" or "set apart" from its context.

Is that a weird analogy? Absolutely. But I love my car and I'll drive it until the wheels fall off. Which might be tomorrow.

Obviously when we look at the totality of Scripture, we see that holy has a deeper meaning. Throughout Scripture, holiness is reserved for spiritual matters. It often refers to moral character.

When you apply that definition, the idea of being "set apart" it makes sense, doesn't it? I mean, read about what the cultures were like during Noah's time, Abraham's time, throughout the period of the Judges... well really just about everywhere that humans are mentioned in the Bible. We are decidedly not good (ahem, Romans 3:10).

Meanwhile, at many points throughout the Old Testament, God commands his people, the Israelites, to be holy. One of the clearest commands to this effect is found in Leviticus 20:7, God tells the people of Israel to "Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God."

Elsewhere, God tells the people to be Holy because he is holy. Now that we know the context of the word "holy" and the context of people around Israel, it makes sense, right? God calls his people to be different. He calls them to be set apart. It's a divine reminder along the lines of, "Hey, out of all the people on the earth, I chose you to be separate and represent me—start acting like it, good grief."

So really, in a sense, biblical holiness is the calling to represent Christ, and you know, actually act like it. The truth is that we can't just quietly follow Christ and not be separate from our context, at least not while being obedient to who Christ has called us to be.

Note that when I say we should be separate from our context, I'm not advocating for removing ourselves from our context. We should very much be an active presence in our communities, cultures, and marketplaces. Our biblical mandate to represent Christ is all the more effective when we operate in and through our cultural context while standing apart and representing the character of Christ at every opportunity.

Holiness, then, is a matter of character. It's not necessarily what we do, though when we have a character that matches Christ and see a character that is holy, what we do will certainly testify to the position of our heart. To be holy is to recognize that our purpose is so much more than the temporary stuff we see around us.

2 Corinthians 5 reminds us that we are ambassadors for Christ. We represent him. Holiness, as far as we are concerned, is representing Jesus in a culture that very much doesn't look like Jesus. So what does that mean for our questions from earlier?

Is God the Only One Who Can Be Holy?

Wait a minute, I just said that holiness is basically living like a Christian should in our daily lives. There doesn't seem to be anything particularly special about that, certainly nothing holy, right? So why do we have a whole special word for it? And why does the Bible say that God alone is holy in Revelation 15:4?

Let's look at that idea of holiness once more. Remember that he told the Israelites be holy because he is holy? In the context of all of creation, is there a single being who is more set apart than God? No way. It's simply not possible.

So in that single command in Leviticus, God is affirming both his identity, and our purpose. He is the very holiest, the very most set apart, and in the truest sense, the only one who is really set apart. And as his children, we have the distinct responsibility to represent him—we cannot do that if we don't seek to set ourselves apart (by our character, remember) from the world around us.

So is God the only one who is holy? In the very most literal sense, yes. His divine nature is unique and wholly set apart from all other creation.

But that doesn't change our biblical mandate or Christian imperative in the slightest. God is holy, yes. In the truest sense, he is the only one who is holy. But he has also called us to be holy.

Can I Be Holy?

A very important question to ask is whether or not we can even be holy.

Many people pause at verses like the one from Revelation above that illustrate that God is the holiest, and never move toward what that means for our own lives. If God alone is holy, that doesn't leave much room for us, right? And we are certainly no comparison to God, so to try would be folly.

I get it. God is the standard, and we'll never come close. Holiness seems like a goal too far removed from our ability, so there's no point in even trying. In fact, it might even be arrogance to try, right?

I want to consider two things as a part of this conversation that may clear up the issue of our own pursuit of holiness.

First, we are commanded to be holy. We find the command first in the Old Testament (as we've explored in Leviticus), but then to illustrate that the calling isn't only for the Israelites in the wilderness, Peter reinforces the command (with a quote) in 1 Peter 1:15-16.

"But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.'" - 1 Peter 1:15-16

And how are we to be holy? Through our conduct.

Peter goes on to remind the us that Christ has set us free from bondage through his blood for a purpose and a calling, and our response to that is to be obedient in representing him in our context and in every facet of our daily lives.

Second, remember that holiness simply means to be set apart. If God is the most set apart (which he is), and we are called to represent him (which we are) then our job is to live a life that is different than what we see around us.

As Peter wrote about this "set apartedness", he was writing to a group of people with a similar context to Israel when God gave them that first command.

First century Christians were being scattered all across Europe and Asia through both persecution and the natural progression of trade and emigration. As they entered completely different cultures and contexts, many of whom would meet persecution and tribulation, especially for those in Roman states under Nero, Peter wanted to remind them of one very important thing: remain set apart. Don't conform to the pressures and cultures of the world and fall into disobedience. Be an example of Christ in every way, as he has called you to be, and be holy.

So can we be holy? Yes! But we must have a right understanding of what that really means.

Holiness Does Not Mean Perfection

I think much of the confusion and misunderstanding around holiness comes from a misrepresented definition of holiness.

Somewhere along the line, I think we came to understand holiness as a function of perfection. If God alone is holy, and God alone is perfect, the two things must be related, right?

I think that's probably where the confusion has always stemmed for me. It's hard to wrap my head around using the same adjectives to describe myself and God.

But through the power of the Holy Spirit and the strength supplied by God, we can be renewed through him to be set apart and to be different and to reflect the light of Christ in the darkest of places.

But here's a really encouraging truth. If you are a believer—if you've put your faith and hope in Jesus and confessed him as Lord, then you are already holy.

The blood of Jesus has set you apart from the natural world and the natural order. Romans 8 reminds us that we are heirs with Jesus—the adopted children of God. That sounds pretty set apart to me.

And that's what really lies at the heart of holiness. Both in Leviticus and in 1 Peter the call to holiness isn't a call to change our identity or to change our character. The command is actually somewhat simple if we rephrase it a little: "You are already set apart: now act like it."

This brings us to one final danger, however. One very important question must be discussed, because we're human, and we're really good at messing things up. It's the matter of taking things too far. Ultimately, it's the question of legalism.

Does Pursuing Holiness Lead to Legalism?

Ah legalism. My old and trusty friend.

If we're not careful, as with all things, we can find ourselves in a dangerous position. Especially as we see that we are called to illustrate holiness through our conduct.

Holiness is indeed a reflection of our character, not our outward expression, but our outward conduct is very much the evidence of holiness. That's dangerous knowledge for our frail human sensibilities.

When we focus on the outward evidences of our faith, we begin to look for that checklist of things we can do to be better. By itself, this isn't a bad thing; we should all be seeking to improve ourselves and weed out the unclean in exchange for Christ's cleanliness.

The danger comes in the stale, lifeless pursuit of simple goodness. And that same danger is why old, dusty legalism is as comfortable as a well-worn blanket.

Relationships are hard. The submission of ourselves to Christ is hard. Walking every single day and every single moment in the restorative power of Jesus, setting your mind on him instead of all the temptations this world has to offer is hard.

You know what's easy? Checklists. It's so much easier to just mark the boxes and go on about the day. That's why we're so drawn to cold and clinical legalism. It's easier.

At least, that's what it wants us to think. The truth is that Jesus' burden is far lighter than the burdens we throw onto our own shoulders (Matthew 11:30). Following Jesus certainly isn't easy, but by the power of the Holy Spirit, it's easier than dragging ourselves forward by the bloody knuckles of legalism.

That's the call to holiness. To simply follow Jesus and act like it. Yes, there are steps that we need to take responsibility for in our own lives. It'd take a whole other post to fully explore the transformative differences between nominal Christianity and authentic faith.

But suffice it to say that we have work to do as believers—I don't think that's news to anyone. Holiness is an important part of that journey, though.

Holiness isn't some far off thing that is reserved for God alone. It's also not a closed-door meeting between crusty Puritans toeing the legalistic line of personal restriction.

Put simply, holiness is this:

In Christ, you are set apart. What are you going to do about it?