"But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: 'Be holy, because I am holy.'" (1 Peter 1:15-16).
Holiness is not a blessing reserved exclusively for the clergy, missionaries and a few elderly church members. Every Christian—rich or poor, healthy or infirm, old or young, educated or uneducated, powerful or powerless, from every nation—is called to be holy.
We are called to be holy because God Himself is holy. Holiness replicates His character and achieves His purpose. Because it reflects God's nature and is the natural outworking of His redemptive intention, holiness is both a privilege and an imperative for all believers.
THE HOLINESS OF GOD IS AN UNDERLYING THEME THROUGHOUT THE SCRIPTURES
To praise God for the deliverance of the Israelites from Pharaoh's army, Moses leads the children of Israel in singing this hymn (Ex 15:11): "Who among the gods is like you, O Lord? Who is like you—majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?"
King David exalts the holiness of God throughout the Psalms. "Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name," he declares; "worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness" (Psa 29:2).
The prophet Isaiah's vision of God's glory is uniquely revealing. Isaiah received a heavenly visitation while worshiping in the temple. The vision commenced with the seraphs calling out to one another (Isa 6:3): "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory."
"Holy, holy, holy" is the theme song of heaven. By repeating "holy" three times, the seraphs heralded God's holiness in the superlative.
Since the Hebrew language lackes comparative terms, there is no word for "holier" or "holiest." Comparatives are expressed by repetition. For example, the tar pits described in Genesis 14:10 come from a translation of the Hebrew phrase be'erot be'erot ("pit pit"). A "pit pit" signifies a large pit. Based on the geographic location (the Valley of Siddim), the translators chose to describe it as a tar pit. Another example of word repetition is Isaiah 26:3: "You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trust in you." The Hebrew phrase for "perfect peace" is shalom shalom. In Isaiah 6:3, "holy" is used not merely twice but three times, to characterize God's superlative hoiness.
In John's vision of heaven, the four creatures surrounding God's throne never cease praising Him, declaring incessantly His superlative holiness. "Day and night they never stop saying: ' Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come'" (Rev 4:8).
The Hebrew word for holy (qadesh) and its derivatives is used more than 700 times in the Old Testament. It means " that which pertains to deity." Its fundamental force is "to set apart an object from ordinary usage for a special (religious) purpose or function."
The root of the word for "holy" predates the Hebrew language. Originally, it did not carry moral significance. The character of the pagan gods affected their followers' behavior, who reasoned: "If Baal lies, I can lie; if Baal is promiscuous, I can be promiscuous." The Cannanite word for holy referred to a cult of "temple prostitutes." This usage is reflected in Genesis 38:15 where the word translated "prostitute" is qadesha, meaning "holy." Prostitutes were considered "holy" because they "belonged to (a) god."
We are made holy—sanctified—when we give ourselves completely to the Holy One of Israel. He then achieves our sanctification, purifying our thoughts, disciplining our speech, and transforming our actions.
God revealed to His people that only He is entirely pure, right, true and loving. Moreover, His presence makes places, objects and people holy. The place where Moses stood before the Lord was holy ground because God was present there (Ex 3:5). God declared Israel's wilderness encampment to be holy because "the Lord your God moves about in you camp" (Deut 23:14). The people themselves are holybecause God is with them: "You are a people holy to the Lord your God...the Lord has chosen you to be His treasured possession" (Deut 14:2).
The goal in the Scriptures is that God's people "walk in the light" and share in the character of God. God's salvation includes not merely forgiveness and justification. These are great acts of grace, but they are means to the end—that we might be transformed by the Holy Spirit into the image of Christ, reflecting God in all we say and do.
