According to the dictionary, holy is often associated with God. It can also mean “sacred” or “endowed or invested with extreme purity or sublimity.
I have heard many preachers explain holy as being “set apart for God” or the idea of being “separate” from the world and/or the things of the world. The difficult part of this is God is usually the one described as holy. How is it that Paul, the author of Romans, would ask me and other believers to present our bodies as holy?
Is it true that God would expect us to be holy? Let’s consider what scripture has to say about this.
- Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love Ephesians 1:4
- That He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish Ephesians 5:27
- For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. 1 Thessalonians 4:7
- But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:15-16
The idea of holiness among the children of God is not limited to the New Testament. The following are Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) references that teach this concept of individual holiness as well:
- Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy. Leviticus 19:2
- For I am the LORD your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy. Leviticus 11:44
Holiness is necessary in order to please God and to approach God, and for that reason we need to diligently seek it in our lives.
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