Pursue Holiness: Be Holy

If I sat down next to you on a plane and asked you what ‘holy’ means, how would you respond? I’m guessing some of us might throw out words like ‘church’ or ‘cemetery’, ‘pure’ or ‘sacred’. And we’d be right. There are places that are more ‘holy’ than others, people and objects more pure and sacred than the rest.

So then, how would you react if I upped the ante, leaning-in to ask: how are you holy? Do you believe you can be holy? My own pulse races at the thought of being put on the spot in such a way, maybe because my first thought is that I don’t want to sound self-righteous. Because, well, God is holy. And I’m certainly not God. In that light, there’s no way I can be holy. Right?

Only, that’s not right. Scripture actually calls us to “be holy in everything [we] do, just as God who chose [us] is holy” (1 Peter 1:15 NLT, my changes). 

Friends, the interrogation is over, so let’s get off this plane and head down that brick-paved road toward the ancient cathedral we can see just on the horizon. Let’s sit awhile in that holy place and give our holy God space to pour into our hearts and minds – for it seems we need a better understanding of what it means to be holy. 

Clarifying the Terms

Perhaps the most significant adjustment we might need to make in our understanding or assumptions of what God asks of His children lies in the difference between the ideas of ‘salvation’ and ‘sanctification’. Paul differentiates them:

“God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.”

2 Thessalonians 2:13 NASB

By digging into the Greek terms for ‘salvation’ and ‘sanctification’, we can better understand what Paul is saying to the church struggling to trust God and their faith in Him because of persecution and false teachings. The Greek word for ‘salvation’, sótéria, holds the idea of a person’s soul being saved by faith in the Messiah.¹ It denotes an “exclusive foundation” in Christ, as noted in Acts when Peter declares, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

This saving work is by faith and grace only. It is given once and for all time. No actual effort is required on our part. Once we are in Christ, we are made holy (Hebrews 10:10).

Salvation ‘gets worked out’, however, through an ongoing process called sanctification, which brings about “holiness of life.”² The Greek term for ‘sanctification’, hagiasmos, clarifies that this holy transformation only happens by way of the Spirit.² And, at the same time, more is required of the believer. First, we must stand firm on our “faith in the truth” (2 Thessalonians 2:13). Second, believers must put in some effort in order to continually grow and become more like Jesus (Philippians 2:12). In other words, Christians, who are set apart as God’s children, are also called to pursue holiness (Hebrews 12:14). 

Embracing God’s grace, Jesus’ truth, and Holy Spirit’s ongoing work in us fuels this pursuit and enables us to be holy.  

It may feel as though we are splitting hairs, but sometimes such precision and accuracy are necessary in order to understand more fully what it is that God has done and continues to do in our lives. It helps to know what God has accomplished and what He’s still asking of us. It’s impossible to find a perfect metaphor for this both-and way of salvation and sanctification, but maybe it helps to compare it to marriage. 

The wedding vows on the big day seal the deal; it’s the one-and-done commitment. We don’t have to keep going back to the altar and get married over and over – kinda like salvation. Yet the wedding is but the beginning of a lifetime of choosing love, working out differences, and remaining faithful. Marriage is where the real ‘work’ begins – kinda like sanctification.

Hopefully our time together clarifies for us the difference, as well as the connection, between ‘salvation’ and ‘sanctification’. Because as we set out to be holy, we must recognize that it’s a different call from salvation, from having been made holy in Christ by our belief in Him. However, this commitment is not the end of the Christian life on earth. Rather, it’s the first step toward a lifetime of pursuing holiness and being changed by it.

So Let’s ‘Be Holy’

Peter doesn’t come up with this command to be holy on his own. He actually picks it up from the days of the Law (see Leviticus 11:44). By imposing it onto the early Church, he’s reminding believers that even under grace we’re still meant to be holy in all we say and do – because we’re God’s people. Because God. Is. Holy. 

When Eugene Peterson takes those ancient words and wraps them in a more modern vernacular, we get a better feel of what it is we’re being called to:

“As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, ‘I am holy; you be holy.’”

1 Peter 1:14-16 MSG

Obedience. A way of life shaped by God’s life. A life that’s energetic and blazing with holiness.

The grace Christ extends to all who put their faith and hope in Him is not the same thing as a VIP badge to go and do as we like, nor is it a free pass to skate-by because we’ve already gotten our ticket to heaven. This Christian life is meant to be shaped by God’s life in such a way that we find wholeness as well as holiness, in such a way that we shine – or blaze – with that holiness for others to see. So they’ll see God in us. So they’ll want Jesus too.

Peter wants us to understand that “our holiness derives from [God’s],”³ In other words, we need to know what it means that God is holy. And for such understanding, we look to the Word and Spirit. 

However, ‘be holy’ is not a call to be God. “God is holy with an absolute holiness that knows no degrees, and this He cannot impart to His creatures.”⁴ Yet there is some part of His holiness that He does share with His children.⁵ For instance, the minute we say our big YES to Jesus, our spiritual position changes. We’re immediately set apart and brought into the family. We’re allowed to enter the Most Holy Place and commune with our Father because we’ve been made holy. 

Once the ‘wedding’ is over, we step into life with the Father, Son, and Spirit. Then as we intentionally, obediently step into rhythm with Holy Spirit and exert the effort of being holy, God chooses to continue sharing bits of His holiness with us. 

And as we build this relationship with Christ, we’ll bump into what Tyler Staton calls “the gap between biblical promise and everyday experience.”⁵ We’ll feel our unholiness and see how far we still have to go. But instead of giving into discouragement, we trust that the Spirit will help us on every step of this pursuit of holiness. He will show us the way toward “spiritual health and maturity.”⁵ 

Friends, I know this is a bit like trying to eat the wedding cake while taking vows and dancing the Macarena. It’s a lot, all at once. It’s why we’ll spend several weeks exploring, unpacking, and hopefully embracing a life shaped by God and His holiness. For now, it’s enough to know that being holy looks like “all our attitudes and words and actions” coming into “harmony with [God’s] infinite worth.”³ 

For now, rest in the Father who loves you – because there’s good news to take with you: as a follower of Jesus, you’ve been made holy! So step into the Father’s presence and give Him some love. Here’s a challenge to ponder as you go about your week: be holy! Not all at one time. Not in your own striving and strength but by the power and grace of Holy Spirit in you. And, certainly, not by yourself. Together, we’ll pursue holiness!

Let’s pray:

Father God, hallowed be your name! We come before you humbled and in awe of your purity and power, your perfect holiness. We thank You for all the ways You’ve been holding us together, especially as we’ve sought to know You and your holiness better. We pray that You would continue to help us stand firm in our faith in Jesus so that Holy Spirit can lead us into a better understanding of who we are in Christ, of how He has already made us holy simply for putting our faith in Him. And as our spiritual eyes enable us to see ourselves more clearly, may we be moved with the desire to be holy in all we say and do, to put in the effort it takes to be sanctified. Lord, help us want to pursue holiness so that we might be shaped by your life and blaze with holiness – for all to see, all for your glory. In your holy name we pray, amen.
(inspired by Matthew 6:9; 1 Peter 1:14-16; Hebrews 10:10; Philippians 2:12; 2 Thessalonians 2:13)

Resources: I love sharing with you the books, podcasts, articles, and anything else that has inspired, encouraged, or taught me. These are humble offerings with no expectations.

• 1 – Biblehub for sótéria
• 2 – Biblehub for hagiasmos 
• 3 – John Piper’s message/article “Christ Died to Make Us Holy”
• 4 – A.W. Tozer’s book, Knowledge of the Holy,^ chapter twenty-one
• 5 – Tyler Staton’s book, The Familiar Stranger^
• We’ve begun a brand new series, so that means we have a brand new Spotify playlist, Pursue Holiness. It’s a little longer than I usually create, but I had fun finding songs for each of the topics we’ll cover this season, including each fruit of the Spirit! LOL. I pray the music blesses you with the power of Holy-Spirit-presence, the words of Truth, and the holiness of God.
• My monthly newsletter, The Abiding Life, goes to email inboxes the first week of each month to those who have subscribed on my website. I also post them on Substack. My most recent edition can be found there, and you can subscribe for future newsletters on Substack, here.
• Many of you have found me on Substack. Thank you so much! And, if you’d like to listen to (rather than read) these weekly posts, you can do so on Substack. It’s easy to see and use the audio bar across the top of each post. While you’re on Substack, check out the ministry I’m blessed to be part of, the Devoted Collective.

Rhythms: As my newsletter’s title infers, we seek to develop an abiding life in this space — a place where we can get informed but also be transformed as we learn to abide in God’s presence throughout our days. I like to think that developing rhythms is one way to aid us in our desire to become more Christlike.

• As we progress in this fall series, we’ll be talking more and more about the rhythms we can engage in as the ‘means of grace’. Such rhythms are not tools to earn grace or holiness; rather, they’re active disciplines we enter into with Holy Spirit; they’re ways or places we can be transformed by God’s holiness.. Very simply, the ‘means of grace’ are outward practices we employ in order to be more fully shaped by God’s life; in other words, they are the ‘means’ to being and living holy.
  
  This week, let’s put our focus on personal prayer. Let’s engage in conversation with the Lord about His holiness and about our desire to be more holy — to be more like Him. Talk with Him. Walk with Him. Journal and sing along with Him. Allow your thoughts to continually come back to the idea of being holy, allowing yourself to ask God questions, to process your thoughts, and to set your mind on this journey of sanctification.

• We’re all called to share the truth about who Jesus is. One way you can do that is by sharing this site and telling others your own stories of faith experiences. May we use our whole selves to tell others about our holy God!!

Featured Photo by Nadia Valko on Unsplash
“All the Bits and Pieces” Photo by Victoria Soldaska on Unsplash.
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