I had a simple realisation about holiness the other day – it’s not what I thought it was:
(please follow this logic)
If holiness = sinlessness or moral perfection
And if sin is the breaking of God’s laws
Then holiness = the perfect
keeping of God’s laws
According to Jesus there are only two laws:
Thou Shalt love the Lord with all your heart
Thou Shalt love your neighbour as yourself
There are no ‘thou-shalt-not’ laws – so holiness is not defined by what you don’t do
There are only ‘thou-shalts’ – so holiness is achieved by DOING, it is active
Both ‘shalts’ are to do with love – therefore holiness can only be defined in the context of love
Love can’t exist outside of a relationship
therefore holiness can’t exist outside of a relationship
Holiness is only defined in and by loving relationships
So when we say God is holy we are saying that He is in continuous loving relationship
When God says we are to be holy he is saying that we are to continuously act in love
We can sometimes think of holiness as being “apart from”, “aloof”, “holier than thou” or “separate from” – it turns out it is the opposite
Jesus was a friend of tax collectors and sinners – true holiness is attractive
His holiness was defined by these relationships it wasn’t separate from them
This is our primary quest as Christians
You will find, if you think about the things that cause you to stumble and make you feel unholy, that these things are mostly, if not all, due to a distortion, perversion or absence of love
We are to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength
Everything flows from this – as we are in relationship with Him and experience His holiness – his perfect continuous relationship of love – we are made whole
“But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”