Holiness is the characteristic of God’s nature that is at the very core of His being. It is expressed in trisagion – “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty” (Isaiah 6:3, Revelations 4:8). Nothing of God’s character is emphasised thrice, other than holiness. Because God is holy, He never compromises on anything that is evil or wicked. Therefore, a Christian cannot be indifferent to the holiness of God – “Be holy, because I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16).
God’s Ten Commandments to the Israelites gave them the awareness of what holiness was (Exodus 20:3-17). As representative of God to the pagan nations, God wanted His people, the Israelites, to live in holiness. Holy living differentiates God’s people from those who are not. It differentiates Christ’s followers from those who are not.
To put it simply, holiness means “keeping every detail of your life under God’s scrutiny.” It means unsullied thinking with the mind, unsullied talking with the tongue, and unsullied walking with the feet” (Oswald Chambers’ My Utmost for His Highest). Sin has separated us from the Holy God. Through the death of Jesus Christ, God can put each of us back into perfect union with Himself. God has sanctified us through Jesus Christ, so we must keep ourselves holy in all aspects of our life. “Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14).
Today, there are far too many distractions around us. Some of them are not inherently bad; they are good, noble and morally justifiable, but if they are distracting us from our relationship with God, we must not adopt or tolerate them. Whenever we have to make a decision about the way we should act or how we should live, we must keep in mind that God’s command is not “Be happy” but “Be holy”.
Who among the gods
is like you, Lord?
Who is like you—
majestic in holiness,
awesome in glory,
working wonders?
(Exodus 15:11)