Considering God's Holiness

We’re living in a culture of compromise instead of a state of separation. That's what the Hebrew word for "holy" means. God's people are called to be set apart or separate from the surrounding cultures and their idolatry. Learn more here.

With this new understanding, consider these well known scriptures:

Exodus 19:6 and 1 Peter 2:9 both refer to Israel as “a holy nation.”

A quick glance at Israel in the Bible and today could leave you baffled. There are many faults in this nation that does not live up to what God intended. When the Scriptures call Israel a holy nation, it isn’t suggesting that Israel is perfect or sinless. But it points to the fact that Israel’s calling is for a specific purpose in the earth.

In Leviticus 11:44 and 1 Peter 1:16 we read “Be holy as I am holy.”

Many have understood this to mean that we are required to be perfect like God. If we could be perfect on our own or simply encouraged to do so, we wouldn’t have a need for the sacrifice of Jesus. But we know that’s not true. We simply cannot do it.

In these verses, God is not putting something on us that we cannot carry out. We are not required to be perfectly sinless on our own. He is saying he wants us to choose to be uniquely different from our surroundings and focused in the way He is. The meaning of holy in this case points to the fact that we are not of this world.

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God calls his people to be holy, and His Word teaches us that the way to be holy is first through salvation and then evidenced by actively separating from the people and things that oppose what God deems holy.

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My pastor says all the time, "Church is meant to comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable." Because separation for holiness' sake is vital for growth and even sustainability. It’s important for the individual and his walk with Christ as well as the church as a whole.

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Compromising holiness for the things of this culture will destroy the believer, the church, and the reputation of Christ for those who are not believers. Even choosing something good like hard work or family or rest can become a compromised point of our lives because they’ve become an idol in some form or fashion and steal our attention away from God and His Word.