“We have come to believe and to know that you are the holy one of God.” (John 6:69 NIV)
We see Jesus as gracious, kind, patient and forgiving. As we walk with Him, we begin to long for these same traits to be reproduced in our own lives as evidence of His residence. But do we also see Him as holy? Do we recognize and replicate this high commitment to righteousness in our own flesh?
We tend to forget that the God of the Old Testament is still the God of the New; His spoken expectation for His chosen people is still holiness. So much so that He first sent His Son and then His Spirit to move us toward that end. Honestly, it’s been my experience that personal holiness is impossible without the power of the Holy Spirit. Spirit infilling brings about combustion; He offers supernatural horsepower to our human effort. If we allow Him full leading, the Holy Spirit will always propel us in the direction of the Most High God, toward holiness and away from depravity.
The trouble with holiness happens when we try to work it from the outside in. The law only alerted Old Testament believers to the heart issues that held them back from their original design of true intimacy with a holy God. The beauty and power of being temples of the Holy Spirit is that now He can begin deep within. Soul transformation starts as a seed of surrendered belief and works it’s way to the surface.
Being holy is indeed an Old Testament command:
“I am the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt to be your God, therefore, be holy because I am holy.” (Leviticus 11:45 NIV)
But it is repeated and therefore reinforced in the New Testament:
“For it is written, be holy as I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:16 NIV)
Holiness is still God’s heart for His people. Set-apartness is an appropriate response to God’s grand salvation efforts: both the exodus and the cross. Furthermore, holiness is essential to intimacy with the Almighty.
“Without holiness no one will see the Lord.” (Hebrews 12:14 NIV)
Holiness is how we move closer to God, as we systematically set aside the sin that betrays and destroys intimacy with Him. Holiness is also how others see God in us; it is notable when we repeatedly choose Him over the affections of the world.
Lord, help us long for holiness. Not for the sake of a perfect record or a cleaned up life, but for the sake of proximity with You. We want to return to Garden living; walking and talking and enjoying our God. You’ve begun this restoration through our salvation, but please empower us anew by Your Holy Spirit. Change us from the inside out. Make us holy as You are Holy. Amen.