The prophet Isaiah saw seraphim – a particular type of sixed winged angel – praising God and crying “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts…” The term “holy” is used a lot throughout the word of God. You might even see it on the cover of your Bible. To put it simply, holy means something that is wholly different from anything else. It means distinct, separated for a cause. One of the most defining attributes of God’s character is that he is holy. Every other attribute he has is also a holy attribute. If you say he is all powerful., his power is holy. If you say he is all wise, his wisdom is holy. If you say he is the Creator, he is the only one that can create life and substance out of nothing, his ability to create is also holy.

God is a Holy God – God’s holiness is not up for debate. He has said a multitude of times in his word that “I am the LORD, beside me there is no other.” or similar words. He alone is God. He is in a category of his own. Nothing can compare to God, he is holy – completely different than everything else. God chose the people of Isreal to be his holy people. Out of the twelve tribes he chose the tribe of Levi to be a holy tribe. Out of the tribe of Levi, he chose the sons of Aaron to be a holy priestly linage, to perform the duties of the temple – to sanctify it or make it holy. God wants to make sure that the world knows he is Holy! That is the entire message of the children of Israel! That is the whole point of the Nation. They are to be Holy, because the God that called them is holy.

God demands us to be a Holy people as well. The tribes of Isreal were to be holy, but that did not go away when Christ died on the cross. The sacrifice ceased because he was the lamb slain from the foundation of the world, and he is the sacrifice that was laid down once for all. There is no more need for the sacrificial law of moses, because Christ was the Holy One of Israel who fulfilled all the law and the prophets. So, the holy sacrifice was made, no other can be made. The Jews rejected it, attempting to establish their own righteousness. The believing/repenting gentiles (along with believing Israel) have been grafted into and now we are to be holy. Not in the letter of the law, but by the Holy Spirit that indwells us. But that Holy Spirit will instruct us to live holy lives. Because we have been indwelt by God we must live holy lives.

It is no longer about eat this type of food, or wearing this type of clothing – those things may have a place, but the things that make us holy is the rebirth and following Christs commandments. We are to love our enemies, be kind to those who hate us, pray for those who despitefully use us, and truly follow Christ. This means that when we see in the Word that we are to forgive, we must obey. When we see the Word of God say that we should not have long hair as men (or short hair for women), we should obey. We should obey God concerning marriage and we should be earnestly praying for one another. We could list many commands of Christ and as his followers we should obey them all – we are his Holy people.

If you think I am talking about meritorious salvation you are sadly mistaken! That is like saying I could win the piston cup race by riding a unicycle backwards! I can’t merit salvation any more than I can reach heaven and pull down a star. We are not saved because we are holy, we are made Holy by his salvation. When the Holy Ghost of Almighty God comes upon you and dwells in you, he must produce fruits of holiness in your life! He will come to you while you are in the world, but he will forever be leading you out of the world. He will lead you to sanctification and holy living!

Sanctification – or holiness – always leads to glorification of God. That should always be forefront in our hearts and mind, how can I bring glory to God? Every action we take should be for the glory of God. Whether we eat or drink or whatever we do. Hebrews 12 talks about God disciplining his own children, the point of this is to make us holy. “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:” If we fail to live holy separated lives, we will not see God, and if we see God, it will cause us to live a more holy life.

True holy living does not cause a self-righteous attitude. It should cause the exact opposite. No, I don’t want my children watching filth on the TV or myself either, but if I am obeying God with the power of the Holy Ghost, I understand that my flesh is just as wicked as anyone else. If you allow TV in your home (which we do not) or a certain TV program, I am not to become uppity and never speak to you again because you do not meet my standard of holiness. I realize that I do not meet my savior’s standard of holiness. Now I may not allow my children to spend much time at your home and I may distance myself from spending too much time in fellowship with you in fear that I may lose ground on my walk with God, but it should never be in a holier than thou type of attitude. If anything, it should cause me to fear and tremble before a holy God because I know what my flesh is capable of. I’m not afraid to be called a bigot or any other slander, but I never want to not be moved to weep over sinners. People can see me live my life and call me all sorts of names, but I never want it to be in a place that the sin in others life or my own does not move me to tears. This was Christs example, and I desire to be like him.

1 Peter 1:15-17 KJV

¹⁵ But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;

¹⁶ Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

S.T. 
Acts 20:24
"But none of these things move me..."