What is Holiness?

SHORT DEFINITION:
Holiness means set apart, separated out, sacred, and pure. The word implies something unique, righteous, blameless, and of great worth. Truly, God alone is Holy (Rev 15:4).

Revelation 15:4
Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.

LONG DEFINITION:
Holiness means set apart, separated out, sacred, and pure. The word implies something unique, righteous, blameless, and of great worth. Truly, God alone is Holy (Rev 15:4).

There is one God with one nature who created all good things. Isaiah 45:18 says " For this is what the Lord says-- he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited-- he says: 'I am the Lord, and there is no other.'" God is the creator of all existence and the source of all life. Existence is possible by His decree. God spoke the world into existence.

There is only one God and no other. (Isaiah 45:22) Nothing is like God. (Exodus 15:11) He is set apart from all other things. Everything else has been created. God is the source of creation. Everything else needs God. God is complete in Himself. He is separate and unique. (Pslams 89:6)

God is sacred. He is not to be viewed or treated like everything else. He is to be revered. Isaiah 8:13 says, " The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread..." God has all the power of the universe. He has the power to give life and destroy life. He is the one we should dread. (Luke 12:5) We should fear Him in honor and respect of His person. Knowing God, we should seek to please Him and fear His displeasure.

Holiness is God's alone. He is pure. He is deserving of our worship and praise. He is the Lord Almighty. As such, anything apart from God cannot be considered holy unless it has been set apart by God for Himself. God has set aside a people for Himself from all the earth. (Isaiah 41:9) These are God's people. They are to be holy just as He is holy. God has set them apart to be His. (Leviticus 20:26) They have also set themselves apart as God's alone, and set Christ apart in their hearts as their God. (1 Peter 3:15)

Christ is the Holy One of God. In Luke 1:35, the angel said to Mary, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God." He demonstrated God's Holiness by coming to earth and being tempted in all ways that human's are tempted. (Hebrews 4:15;
Matthew 4:1-11) He overcame all temptation and proved that He is pure and righteous. Through suffering, Christ carried His cross to His death according to His Father's will so that those who are unholy could be forgiven their sins and come to know God. This is a demonstration of God's power, righteousness, holiness, love, and mercy. (Romans 5:8) Christ was not forced unto the cross. He went willingly and overcame the world by His goodness. He died and was raised three days later to new life. Truly, He was the Holy One of God who has made us holy by the shedding of His blood. (Hebrews 13:12)

Holiness is best illustrated in marriage. In marriage, a man and a woman share a sacred union where two become one. The man and woman commit themselves to one another agreeing that they are set apart for each other, and each other alone. This is a sacred agreement to be honored and upheld every day of their lives until death. If either one should commit adultery, they have defiled the marriage.

Anyone who has fallen in love can appreciate marital holiness. The human heart has been designed by God for love between two. When we experience adultery or unfaithfulness, our hearts suffer in deep pain. Our love was reserved for just that one person and yet, it was not returned or shared.

Likewise, God desires such a holy union with us. God is holy by nature. He is the one God in whom all existence depends. Humanity, however, is just a mere creature. We are dust made of atoms and molecules. Despite this, God loves us. He created us for love. He desires a union of love. His desire is that we will love Him as our God and Lord. In addition, that we would love one another. This means setting God apart from all other things in our heart. We live for Him, worship Him, and desire Him.

1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

We become holy when God is our holiness. (1 Corinthians 1:30) When God enters into a union of love with us and puts His Spirit in us, then we are holy. We are set apart from the rest of creation. We love the true God and no other God. We don't put ourselves first, but put God first. We show that God is holy because we have uniquely given God all our worship, praise, and love as our God; not because we are trying to earn something, but simply because of who God is. He is holy, and we worship God as being holy because He is.

Christ is the revelation of God. Christ is the image of God. (Colossians 1:15) Christ is the Holy One of God. Therefore, human holiness means setting Christ apart as the Lord over us. We bow down and worship Jesus Christ because He is God. (Philippians 2:10)

When we worship anything other than the true God as our God, we are defiled. In the garden, Adam and Eve sinned. They disobeyed God and listened to Satan instead. They defiled themselves by putting something other than God first in their life. As such, they became impure and they were ashamed. They saw their nakedness and were afraid of God
(Genesis 3:10) because He is holy and they were no longer clothed with God's holiness.

In worship, we consecrate ourselves to God. We worship God in spirit and truth (John 4:24) and Him alone. (Exodus 20:3-6). We set ourselves apart to Christ in surrender. We say, "Here I am. I am yours alone. You are God. I give all to you." This is what it means to be holy. We are sacred because we worship Christ and Christ alone.