What Does “Holy” Mean?

I believe one crucial ingredient to healing our moral confusion is the recovery of the biblical idea of holiness, which includes private morality but so much more—the very life of God IN us.

Holiness is not just for advanced Christians but stands at the beginning and center of God’s call on our lives: “Be holy, because I am holy” (Lev. 11:44; 1 Pet. 1:16 also 1 Thess. 4:3&4).

Holy: “set apart” or “dedicated” to God—to belong to God. “I will be your God, and you will be my people,” says Yahweh (Lev. 26:12; Heb. 8:10).

Thus, prior to any consideration of morality, biblical holiness describes a unique relationship that God has established and desires with his people. (Jn 17:3)

 

This relationship has moral ramifications, but it precedes moral behavior.

*Being set apart for God. 

* Being set apart from the evil acts of sin.

*As God’s people, Living on the side of the Cross we have been cleansed from our sin.

*The sacrifice of Jesus has made us clean in the sight of God.

*We have been made holy through Jesus.

**We can now interact with God because of this great gift.

So we being made holy through Jesus—we need to STOP acting like sinful, unsaved people.  Amen!

 

We are to honor God with our every breath and our every thought.

1 Peter 1:15 Instead, be holy in all that you do, just as God who called you is holy.  16 The Scripture says, “Be holy because I am holy.”

The Bible is holy because it is the Very Word of Almighty God, but what does holy mean?

 

To begin to understand what holy means, we must first consider God.

¨      God is not like us. He is higher (Isaiah 55:8-9).

¨      God does not think like we think

¨      God does not do like we do.

That higher form of thought and action is what holy is.

 

We could just pass it off and say God is holy because He is God, and I am not holy because I am not God. If we did that (and some of us do), we would be neglecting a very clear command in the Holy Scriptures: “Be holy, because I am holy” (1 Peter 1:15).

 

*Holiness is elevating God in our minds and recognizing that He fills the earth and knows our every thought (Psalm 139:2 and Psalms 19).

 

Holy living can be as simple as asking ourselves what God wants us to do before we do it. Just before we consider losing our temper, passing along some piece of malicious gossip, or possibly saying a cuss word, stopping to think, “Will this honor God?”

To be holy is to recognize that God exists and that He will reward those who look for Him in every facet of life (Hebrews 11:6).

Being holy is a process, and that process, like a journey, begins with the first step.

Guide me Lord Jesus to become all that You have planned for me and may my actions honor YOU!   Help me become more Holy for Your Glory and my joy.   Amen