My parents informed me at the start of the fourth grade that I would attend a local Christian school. They said the school provided a more rigorous academic curriculum and a more positive environment overall.
However, I wasn’t happy when they told me the dress code. My hair couldn’t touch my collar, ears, or forehead. I had to wear a collared shirt, at least a polo shirt with three buttons, and two of the three buttons had to be buttoned. The polo shirt was required to be tucked into dress-type or khaki pants with a belt.
I think I was allowed to wear sneakers. I don’t remember.
It was the 80s. I was nine years old. This is what it meant to be Christian, right?
Fortunately, most people within Christianity have changed their ideas of dress code and what is appropriate to something far more reasonable and biblical, at least in my estimation.
Growing up, though, people associated this with a changed life. Change your dress code, and your life changes. I distinctly remember a friend of mine in high school choosing to follow Jesus. He cut his long hair and wore dress clothes to public school. The idea of holiness was associated with these outward cultural displays.
But is this what the Bible means when the writers encourage us to live holy lives? Does God really care if I tuck my shirt in? Scripturally, holiness appears to be much deeper and more important than the right haircut or clothes. And now, by Christ alone, we can also be holy.
What Does the Word Holy Mean?
The biblical word holy holds central significance within the scripture. The word holy is rooted in the Hebrew term godesh and the Greek word hagios. It appears throughout the Bible to describe God’s nature, attributes, actions, and expectations placed upon his people.
Essentially, holy refers to something or someone set apart or consecrated for a specific purpose. God, by nature, is wholly different from the things of this world. He is eternal and righteous, whole, at peace, and the source of truth and love. Those attributes, and more, set him apart from the things of this world, which are temporal, rebellious, broken, divisive, and full of lies and hate. Further, he is Creator, and we are the creation.
Since God and his Kingdom transcends his creation, his “set apart” nature results in actions and choices that differ from this world. God’s holiness then signifies absolute purity, righteousness, and moral excellence. In the Bible, God is often called the Holy One, signifying his complete separation from sin and perfect character.
God is truth, so he only speaks the truth. God is love, so his actions are loving. God is just, so his choices are just.
We have been created in the image of God, separate from all else in creation (Genesis 1:26-28). A day was set apart for us; God spoke everything else into being but fashioned humanity with his own hands; God personally breathed life into humanity, not any other creature. His relationship with humans, Adam and Eve, was also unique from any other in creation, as was his purpose and plans for us as his representatives and co-workers on Earth.
Adam and Eve broke that relationship by sinning, so we chose to be of this world and lies instead of the heavenly purposes of the original design.
Thankfully, God didn’t leave us there. Through his revelation—and his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ—we can come back into that relationship, even having more in the New Covenant by being his actual children, New Creations with more than even Adam and Eve had.
Holiness in the Old Covenant
The concept of holiness is deeply intertwined with his call for his people to reflect his nature. We will reflect God’s holiness if we walk with and follow him.
Leviticus 19:2 states, “Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.” This command highlights the expectation for God’s people to embody moral and ethical excellence, mirroring the character of their Creator. Peter later repeats this command in one of his letters to the church.
In the Old Testament and Covenant, God’s call to be set apart and holy can be seen in the moral and ethical laws which guide his people. The Ten Commandments provide a framework for holy living, emphasizing reverence for God, respect for others, and righteousness in personal conduct.
Further, the concept of holiness (being set apart) was embodied in the worship and rituals of ancient Israel. The tabernacle and later temple were considered holy places (set apart places) where God’s presence dwelled, and strict regulations were in place to maintain the purity and sanctity of those places. The priests were consecrated in specific, physical ways to become morally and ceremonially holy. The whole nation of Israel was also meant to live differently than the nations around them.
However, the Old Covenant was completely external. It never could change the sinful nature of humanity. The laws of the Old Testament only managed sin and death, never eradicating them for something better. That came in Christ.
Holiness of the New Covenant
In the New Testament, holiness takes on new dimensions with the advent of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus inaugurated a new era of redemption and transformation through his life, death, and resurrection.
In the Old Testament, holy ones were mostly associated with angels from Heaven. Beginning in Daniel 7, within prophesies of the coming Kingdom, that changes. Humans, those of the Kingdom, are referred to as holy ones. In the New Testament, holy ones (or saints) are associated exclusively with those who have a saving relationship with Jesus.
We’ve been given the indwelling Holy Spirit once we are born again from God, partaking in the divine nature. The Spirit’s sanctifying work enables us to do as the Old Testament demanded: to “be holy as I am holy.”
1 Peter 1:15-16 repeats the Leviticus passage:
“But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’”
Christ’s death and resurrection transform us from the inside. We gain an inner holiness that can lead to an outward life characterized by love, purity, humility, and righteousness. We have been set apart within and are called to live a life separate from the world’s corrupting influences to embrace a life of dedication and obedience to God’s commands.
Where Does the Bible Give Clear Instructions about Being Holy?
As referenced above, the concept and instruction of holiness are central to the whole Bible.
In Leviticus 11:44-45, God commands the people of Israel to be holy because He is holy. It establishes the foundation for the pursuit of holiness, emphasizing that holiness reflects God’s character and a call to live according to His nature.
We are people of the New Covenant. Our freedom in Christ is meant to empower and inspire us to holy living. New Testament scriptures reflect this call.
Romans 12:1-2 encourages believers to offer their bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. It emphasizes the transformation of the mind and a renewal of one’s thinking, enabling believers to discern and follow God’s perfect will.
Ephesians 4:22-24 teaches believers to put off their old selves, characterized by sinful desires, and be renewed in their minds’ spirit. They are called to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
1 Thessalonians 4:3-7: The Apostle Paul instructs the Thessalonian believers (1 Thessalonians 4:3-7) to abstain from sexual immorality, maintain holiness in their relationships, and honor God with their bodies. This passage highlights the importance of sexual purity as a manifestation of holiness.
The writer of Hebrews exhorts believers to strive for peace with all people and for holiness, without which no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14). This verse emphasizes the pursuit of holiness as a necessary condition for experiencing a deep and intimate relationship with God.
The entire Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) is Jesus teaching the nature and culture of the Kingdom. That famous and central sermon is Jesus telling his followers, “This is what Heaven is like, and this is how you should live on Earth.” It is a deeper declaration of the Old Testament law. “You’ve heard it said don’t kill,” Jesus said, quoting the Ten Commandments, “but I say don’t hate.”
The new holiness Jesus calls us to within the Sermon on the Mount is a life of holiness and love within, not simply religious obligation. If I love others as God loves them, if I don’t hate them, then I won’t kill them.
Can Christians Be Holy Alone?
We choose to follow Christ and give our lives to him, dying to ourselves to live truly. We surrender to God personally.
At the same time, we can’t live a holy life apart from the Body of Christ. The call to love God is intricately linked to our call to love others. This is made clear through the New Testament.
When asked about the greatest commandment, Jesus gave two:
“Love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. And the second is just like it, to love our neighbor as ourself.” (Matthew 22:34-40)
The night before his death, Jesus commands, “love one another as I have loved you” (John 13:34). Our love for other disciples is a command. To live holy is to live according to the commands of God.
The Apostle Paul teaches us that we need one another in the Christian community, the Body of Christ. “The hand can’t say to the foot, I don’t need you.” (1 Corinthians 15:15-31)
We can’t follow Christ’s commands without a relationship with other believers. Consider all the “one another” passages: love one another, bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2), prefer one another (Romans 12:9-13), etc. As Hebrews 12:22-24 says, we haven’t come to the Old Testament mountain of Sinai:
“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.”
Through Christ alone, we are a part of the heavenly Jerusalem and the church of God.
God places gifts within the church to teach, mature, heal, and forgive us.
There may be exceptions where individuals may find themselves physically separated from a Christian community, whether because of persecution and the lack of access to Christian gatherings or even being jailed due to our faith. God gives grace in these circumstances, but we are to endeavor, when possible, to encourage one another daily and not forsake the assembling of ourselves together (Hebrews 10:24-25).
Hebrews even connects refusing to meet together with unbelief and falling away (Hebrews 3:12-13).
God has called a holy people, a holy family, so let us do all we can to take advantage of the holiness within our brothers and sisters so we can all grow into a greater expression of Heaven while here on Earth.
Photo Credit: © Getty Images/pcess69
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