What does it mean to live a life of “Holiness”?
In 1 Peter 1:13-16, Peter writes to believers saying, “Therefore prepare your minds for action, keep sober in sprit, and fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in your behavior, because it is written, ‘You shall be Holy, for I am Holy.’” Peter is quoting from Leviticus 11:44 and 19:2.
What does it mean that God is Holy?
Passages like 1 Samuel 2:2 and Isaiah 6:3 are just two of many examples of passages about God’s Holiness. Another way to say it is Absolute Perfection. God is unlike any other (Hosea 11:9) and His holiness is the essence of the “otherness”. He is high above any other, and no one can compare to Him (Psalm 40:5). His very being is complete, absent of even a trace of sin (James 1:13 and Hebrews 6:18).
His love is Holy love, His mercy is a Holy mercy, and even His anger and wrath are Holy anger and Holy wrath. These concepts are difficult for humans to grasp; just as God is difficult for us to understand in His entirety.
What does it mean for us to be Holy?
When God told Israel to be Holy in Leviticus chapters 11 and 19, He was instructing them to be distinct from the other nations and God has set them apart from other people. They are His special people, and they were given standards that God wanted to live by so the world would know they belong to Him.
When Peter repeats the Lord’s words in 1 Peter 1:16, he is talking specifically to believers to be “set apart”. As believers we need to be “set apart” from the world. We need to be living by God’s standards, not the worlds. God isn’t calling us to be perfect, but to be distant from the world.
Finally, how can we become Holy?
Holiness only results from a right relationship with God by believing in Jesus Christ as our Savior. If we have not placed our faith in God’s son alone to save us from our sins, then our pursuit of Holiness is in vain. So we must first make sure we are born again believers (John 3:5-7). If we truly are believers, then we recognize that our position in Christ automatically set us apart from the world (1 Peter 2:9).
After all, we have a relationship with THE living God! Then we must daily live a “set apart” life, not trying to blend in with the world, but instead living according to God’s Word.
Prayer: Preciously Heavenly Father, please help me every day to be “set apart” from the world and not to conform to tis way. Amen.
-Terry Hess