The first time the word "holy" appears in the Bible is in Genesis 2:3, where we learn that the Sabbath, i.e. Saturday, the last day of the week in which God rested had been set apart and declared "holy" by God. In Leviticus 11:44 we learn that God is holy and that He calls us to consecrate ourselves in order to be holy as well. So, it can be safe to say that holiness has to do with something God has chosen to separate from the whole and set apart. Holiness is something that is wholly God as well as something wholly of God in which we are called to participate.
From Arthur Pink, "The Godhood of God!:"
"The God of Scripture is infinite in Holiness. The "only true God" is He who hates sin with a perfect abhorrence, and whose nature eternally burns against it. He is the One who beheld the wickedness of the antediluvians, and who opened the windows of Heaven and poured down the flood of His righteous indignation. He is the One who rained fire and brimstone upon Sodom and Gomorrah, and utterly destroyed these cities of the plain. He is the One who sent the plagues upon Egypt, and destroyed her haughty monarch together with his hosts at the Red Sea. He is the One who caused the earth to open its mouth and swallow alive Korah and his rebellious company. Yes, He is the One who "spared not His own Son" when He was "made sin for us — that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." So holy is God and such is the antagonism of His nature against evil, that for one sin . . .
From J.R. Miller, "What is a Christian Life:"
"Men talk about holiness and pray for it, as if it were something entirely apart from their everyday life, something that has nothing whatever to do with their conduct in their domestic, social and business relations. They sing, "Nearer, my God, to you," with glowing fervor, but do not realize that the prayer can be answered only by the lifting up of their own lives to the plane of God's requirements. Holiness is not a mere sentiment, not a vague vision of glory overhanging us like a heavenly cloud; not a rapture or an ecstasy; not something which God sends down to wrap us like a garment in its radiant folds. Holiness is the most real and practical thing in this world! If being holy means anything at all, it means being true, honest, upright, noble, pure, gentle, patient, unselfish. Holiness is not all prayer and church-going and hymn-singing; it is life and conduct. It is not a Sunday religion, but a week-day lifestyle. We really have no more religion than we get into our everyday life, at home, in business, in all our conduct. We are Christians only so far as the Christ living in us, is manifested in a Christlike life."
"The God of Scripture is infinite in Holiness. The "only true God" is He who hates sin with a perfect abhorrence, and whose nature eternally burns against it. He is the One who beheld the wickedness of the antediluvians, and who opened the windows of Heaven and poured down the flood of His righteous indignation. He is the One who rained fire and brimstone upon Sodom and Gomorrah, and utterly destroyed these cities of the plain. He is the One who sent the plagues upon Egypt, and destroyed her haughty monarch together with his hosts at the Red Sea. He is the One who caused the earth to open its mouth and swallow alive Korah and his rebellious company. Yes, He is the One who "spared not His own Son" when He was "made sin for us — that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." So holy is God and such is the antagonism of His nature against evil, that for one sin . . .
He banished our first parents from Eden;
He cursed the posterity of Ham;
He turned Lot's wife into a pillar of salt;
He sent out fire and devoured the sons of Aaron;
Moses died in the wilderness;
Achan and his family were all stoned to death;
the servant of Elisha was smitten with leprosy!
Behold therefore, not only the goodness, but also "the severity of God" (Romans 11:22). And this is the God that every Christ-rejector has yet to meet in judgment!"
From Arthur Pink, "Sin's Presence:"
"In this life, holiness, my reader, consists largely of pantings after it—and grievings because we feel ourselves to be so unholy. What would happen to a man still left in this world—if he were full of sin one day and then made absolutely sinless the next? Let our present experience supply the answer. Do we not find it very difficult to keep our proper humble place, both before God and our brethren, when the evil within us is subdued but a little? Is not that evidence we require something to deliver us from self-righteousness? Even the beloved Paul needed "a thorn in the flesh" lest he "be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations" given him (2 Corinthians 12:7). The man after God's own heart prayed, "O Lord, open you my lips; and my mouth shall show forth your praise" (Psalm 51:15): as though he said, "If You, Lord, will help me to speak aright, I shall not proclaim my own worth nor boast of what I have done—but will give You all the glory." As God left some of the Canaanites in the land—to prove Israel (Judges 2:21-22), so He leaves sin in us—to humble us."
"Men talk about holiness and pray for it, as if it were something entirely apart from their everyday life, something that has nothing whatever to do with their conduct in their domestic, social and business relations. They sing, "Nearer, my God, to you," with glowing fervor, but do not realize that the prayer can be answered only by the lifting up of their own lives to the plane of God's requirements. Holiness is not a mere sentiment, not a vague vision of glory overhanging us like a heavenly cloud; not a rapture or an ecstasy; not something which God sends down to wrap us like a garment in its radiant folds. Holiness is the most real and practical thing in this world! If being holy means anything at all, it means being true, honest, upright, noble, pure, gentle, patient, unselfish. Holiness is not all prayer and church-going and hymn-singing; it is life and conduct. It is not a Sunday religion, but a week-day lifestyle. We really have no more religion than we get into our everyday life, at home, in business, in all our conduct. We are Christians only so far as the Christ living in us, is manifested in a Christlike life."
The narrow road that we redeemed, adopted, children of The Lord are called to traverse during this mortal life’s journey is the Way of Holiness that starts in the Garden of Eden in Genesis and will end in the city of New Jerusalem in Revelation.
"The pursuit of holiness to which our God calls us is waged on the battlefield of spiritual warfare. We are holy in the Lord; therefore, we are to be holy. We enjoy a positional holiness as saints of God by virtue of our union with Christ. We practice progressive holiness at the command of our God and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit."
Ephesians 5:8 (cf. Longman, God is a Warrior, 61, for characteristics of spiritual warfare). Note: This indicative-imperative of holiness is juxtaposed in Paul's salutation to the Corinthians in 1Corinthians 1:2.
Therefore, what does it really mean to be holy?
And, how does one pursue holiness?
John Calvin was a 16th century French Theologian and Pastor. He was also a major figure in the Protestant Reformation. He lived from 1509 to 1564 dying at the age of 55. Calvin was a very accomplished writer having published commentaries for almost the entire Bible. He wrote catechisms, church liturgy, and a few Reformed confessions. His most notable work however would be his Institutes of the Christian Religion. In his book, “A Little Book on the Christian Life,” he makes the following claims:
“The goal of God’s work in us is to bring our lives into harmony and agreement with His own righteousness, and so to manifest to ourselves and others our identity as His adopted children.”
“We have been adopted by the Lord as children with this understanding—that in our lives we should mirror Christ who is the bond of our adoption. And truly, unless we are devoted—even addicted—to righteousness, we will faithlessly abandon our Creator and disown Him as our Savior.”
“God has manifested Himself as Father to us. If we do not manifest ourselves as sons to Him in turn, we prove ourselves to be extremely ungrateful (Mal. 1:6; 1 John 3:1).”
Calvin goes on to say:
“To begin with, what better foundation can Scripture give for the pursuit of righteousness than to tell us we should be holy because God Himself is holy?”
“When we contemplate this relationship between ourselves and God, let us remember that holiness is the bond of our union with Him. Not, of course, because we enter into fellowship with Him by the merit of our own holiness. Rather, we first of all cling to Him, and then, having received His holiness, we follow wherever He calls us. For it is characteristic of His glory that He has no fellowship with sin and impurity. Holiness is the goal of our calling. Therefore we must consistently set our sights upon holiness if we would rightly respond to God’s calling.”
“To what purpose did God pull us out of the wickedness and pollution of this world—wickedness and pollution in which we were submerged—if we allow ourselves to wallow in such wickedness and pollution for the rest of our lives?”
“It’s not right that the sanctuary in which God dwells shouldresemble a filthy stable.”
In “My Utmost for His Highest”, Oswald Chambers discusses “The Supremacy of Jesus Christ”and makes the following comments:
“The holiness movements of today have none of the rugged reality of the New Testament about them. There is nothing about them that needs the death of Jesus Christ. All that is required is a pious atmosphere, prayer, and devotion. This type of experience is not supernatural nor miraculous. It did not cost the sufferings of God, nor is it stained with “the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 12:11). It is not marked or sealed by the Holy Spirit as being genuine, and it has no visual sign that causes people to exclaim with awe and wonder, “That is the work of God Almighty!” Yet the New Testament is about the work of God and nothing else.”
“The holiness movements of today have none of the rugged reality of the New Testament about them. There is nothing about them that needs the death of Jesus Christ. All that is required is a pious atmosphere, prayer, and devotion. This type of experience is not supernatural nor miraculous. It did not cost the sufferings of God, nor is it stained with “the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 12:11). It is not marked or sealed by the Holy Spirit as being genuine, and it has no visual sign that causes people to exclaim with awe and wonder, “That is the work of God Almighty!” Yet the New Testament is about the work of God and nothing else.”
We’ve been given the following instruction a very long time ago:
Leviticus 11:45: I am the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.
Leviticus 11:45: I am the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.
Do you agree with Calvin’s inference that without understanding & consistently focusing on "holiness," we cannot rightly respond to God's calling on our lives....and that we (either consciously/unconsciously) are allowing ourselves to wallow in sin described as "such wickedness and pollution"?
Do you feel confident that you could accurately explain the concept of "holiness" to either a new or an unbeliever?
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