Be Holy As God Is Holy
You may be thinking, Be holy? Me? There is no way I can be holy.
And you would be absolutely right. And absolutely wrong.
The truth is, there is no way you can be holy by yourself. But God can make you holy. Jesus prepared the way for that to happen when He destroyed the separation between you and God that existed because of sin. Sin is not compatible with the holiness of God.
God said to His people, “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy” (Leviticus 19:2). But He is not issuing a command to “be holy” the way we say “sit” to a dog. He is extending a gentle invitation to us that says, “Come and be holy like Me.” But we can’t just say, “I’m going to be holy today” and then we are. Only when we invite God’s nature to permeate ours—when we set ourselves apart from the world and align ourselves with Him—can we be holy. We are made holy by being in close contact with the holiness of God.
The more we look to Jesus, the more we become like Him. The more time we spend in the presence of God, the more we take on His attributes. We are “being transformed into the same image from glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18). It’s something He does in us when we live His way. It’s nothing we can take any credit for, because it’s all Him.
Holiness is not an external code or set of rules. A holy person obeys God’s rules, but it happens from the inside out. In other words, the Holy Spirit in you teaches and guides you, and helps you obey. Otherwise, it would be as if you put oranges on a tree and called it an orange tree. If the vitality of the oranges doesn’t come from within, it is not connected to any source of life. That means no real growth.
Receiving Jesus and memorizing Scripture doesn’t make you holy. You certainly must do those things, but that is just the beginning. God says to be holy as He is holy. But we cannot make ourselves holy. The rules of the Bible don’t make us holy. Our own righteousness doesn’t accomplish anything. Our righteousness is based on receiving Jesus, who is righteous, and being filled with the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit in us that makes us holy.
Being holy means “to be set apart. “That means separating ourselves from anything that is not holy. We do that by living in obedience to God and loving Him more than we love anything else. It’s recognizing that all the world has to offer is not our source of significance. God is. We are not taken out of the world; we are put into the world. But the world is not our source of life.
As we grow in the Lord, the Holy Spirit becomes a self-corrector inside of us. We are guided by Him, and we find that we do obedient things without even questioning whether we want to anymore. And if we ever think of doing something wrong, we sense an unmistakable pricking of our conscience that is done with scalpel-like precision.
Being holy doesn’t mean being perfect. We can never be that. So don’t let perfectionism overcome you. Perfectionists are always frustrated because they can’t make everything perfect. I know, because I am one of them. We make ourselves miserable seeing all the imperfections in our marriage, in our work, in our life, in the world. We must learn the difference between having order in our life, which we can’t function well without, and trying to make things perfect, which will not only drive us crazy but everyone else around us as well.
The good news is that we are going to especially enjoy heaven, where everything is perfect and in order all the time. But until then we have to come to terms with the fact that we cannot be perfect and we cannot make things perfect. And we can’t judge other people’s imperfections. We have to give others the same grace God gives us. This includes our spouse, children, boss, friends, family members, and pastors. We can’t expect them to be as perfect as we want
Being holy is not as easy as it sounds. (Don’t worry; I know it doesn’t sound easy.) But it is not as impossible as it sounds, either. Because of who you are, God’s child, and because of who lives in you, the Holy Spirit, you can be holy. God refers to you as part of a “holy nation” of believers who have been called out of darkness (1 Peter 2:9). You are called to separate yourself from all darkness and sin. “As obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct” (1 Peter 1:14-15). You have to take deliberate steps to clean up your act.
This Is The Way You Clean Your House
Here are some practical things you can do to open your life and heart to the holiness of God.
Ask God to Purify Your Heart
The closer we walk to the Lord, the purer our hearts will be, and the clearer we will see Him. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8).
Get Rid of Any Ties to Another Religion or Faith
God clearly commands that we are not to have any other god but Him. Isaiah speaks of a path we are to walk as believers. And only those who partake of the holiness of God can walk on this path. “A highway shall be there, and a road, and it shall be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for others. Whoever walks the road, although a fool, shall not go astray” (Isaiah 35:8). That means even if we make a dumb mistake, because we are believers in Jesus and have no ties with any other gods, we will be led in safety.
It also says that we shall obtain “joy and gladness” (Isaiah 35:10).
This will not happen if we have ties to another religion or faith.
Get Rid of Books or Artifacts Glorifying the Occult or Other Idols
These things have to be destroyed and not given to someone else to compromise and confuse his or her life. Spirits are associated with such items, and you do not want them to be associated with you or anyone else. “Many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all” (Acts 19:19). Ask God to show you anything you need to get rid of.
Separate Yourself from the World
Separating yourself from the world does not mean you can never go to a gas station, grocery store, or restaurant again. It means that the Holy Spirit in you must never be aligned with the spirit of darkness in the world anymore. We must cleanse ourselves of all pollution of our flesh, mind, and spirit and seek to live a holy life (2 Corinthians 7:1). It doesn’t mean we never associate with unbelievers. It means we don’t allow the world to dictate our thoughts, beliefs, and actions to us.
Pursue Holiness with a Humble Spirit
We cannot dwell with the Lord if we don’t have a humble heart. “Thus says the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones'” (Isaiah 57:15). In order to see God, we must desire His holiness. “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). We cannot do that without a humble heart.
Worship God Often Every Day
Worship is the direct link to God’s holiness. As we worship God— especially for His holiness—we become an open vessel into which God pours His holiness.
When that happens, we are changed by it. The unholiness of the world loses all appeal. “God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness” (1 Thessalonians 4:7). Don’t forget that we become like what we worship. The more we worship God for His holiness, the more His holiness will permeate our life. We must “give unto the Lord the glory due to His name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness” (Psalm 29:2). The angels around the throne of God are continually praising Him for His holiness (Isaiah 6:2-3). We must also do that whenever we can.
When a great multitude of enemies came to battle against Jehosha-phat, he and his people fasted and prayed for help from God (2 Chronicles 20:1-4). God told them, “Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s..
.tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you” (2 Chronicles 20:15-17). Then Jehoshaphat appointed worship singers to go out before the army and “praise the beauty of holiness” (2 Chronicles 20:21). As they did that, the enemy was completely defeated. What a great lesson for us.
God loves you so much that He wants to share Himself with you. He even wants to share His holiness, which is the essence of who He is. “No one is holy like the Lord” (1 Samuel 2:2). When you stand in praise, He fills you with His holiness, and it causes you to win the battle against your enemy.
Jesus was holy on earth (Acts 4:29-30). He was in the world but not of the world. And He is our role model. He devoted Himself entirely to God and wanted only God’s will to be done. He died for us— paying the price for our unholiness—and rose again to be victorious over death and hell, and He sent us the Holy Spirit to be an absolute guarantee that we have access to the holiness of God.
Praise God for His holiness, and let it become a reservoir from which you daily draw your own holiness.
Lord, help me to be holy as You are holy. Jesus, help me to walk as You walked on earth (1 John 2:6). Enable me to be an imitator of You (Ephesians 5:1). Wash over me with Your holiness and cleanse me from the inside out of anything in me that is not holy. Reveal whatever is hidden within me that I need to be rid of—any attitudes, thoughts, or sin that must be gone from my life. Separate me from all that separates me from You, Lord. Help me to get rid of anything in my life that does not glorify You. Give me the conviction and strength I need to step away from whatever is not compatible with Your holiness in me. “Who is like You, glorious in holiness?” (Exodus 15:11). You are mighty and have done great things for me. Holy is Your name (Luke 1:49).
Help me to continually maintain a humble heart of worship before You. Purify my heart and mind so that I can be a partaker of Your holiness (Hebrews 12:10). You are worthy of all praise and honor and glory, for only You are holy.
“O Lord, You are my God. I will exalt You, I will praise Your name, for You have done wonderful things” (Isaiah 25:1). I sing praise to You, Lord, and give thanks at the remembrance of Your holy name (Psalm 30:4). I worship You in the beauty of Your holiness (Psalm 29:2).
In Jesus’ name I pray.
Having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
2 Corinthians 7:1
Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully.
Psalm 24:3-4
We, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life. Luke 1:74-75
I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.
Romans 6:19
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
