There is often talk in church-land about the importance of “personal holiness,” but there seems to be a lot of confusion about it. What is it exactly; how can we get it; and what does it look like in our lives? Personal holiness must be pretty important because the writer of Hebrews urges us to “Pursue…the holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.”[1] So we’d better figure it out or—get this—we won’t ever see God. That’s pretty alarming, right? We all want to see God and to be in His presence.
What is it?
For some reason when I think of holiness, the first picture that comes to mind is a shiny, glowing cloud. And when I think of a holy person, I think of someone who is good on the inside and the outside. They have a pure heart within them and a glowing aura around them—maybe even a golden halo above them. Is that what we should be pursuing in order to see God, moral perfection and some kind of golden glow? Is that what personal holiness is all about?
In essence the word “holiness” means “set apart.” Most basically, it speaks of something being separated from something else. In Scripture the term is used in many places and translated in many ways. The words “holy,” “holiness,” “sanctification,” “sanctified,” and “saints” are virtually synonymous, all coming from the same Hebrew and Greek roots. These terms all speak of the same general idea of being set apart.
People, places, and things are said to be “holy” throughout the Bible. God Himself is called “holy,”[2] the dirt beneath the burning bush where Moses stands is called “holy ground,”[3] the temple and its many utensils, furnishings and sacrifices are referred to as being “holy,”[4] Jesus is called “holy,”[5] and Christians are referred to as “saints,”[6] or “holy ones.”
Generally speaking, here’s what we can say: God is Himself holy; He is set apart and transcendent over everything He has created; and, He sets apart certain people and certain things within His creation for His own possession and purposes. That is basically what holiness is. It speaks of being set apart by, and belonging to, the holy God.
Therefore, personal holiness is not really about cleanliness on the inside or the outside. It is not a glowing aura around you or a golden halo above you. It is not moral uprightness or personal piety. It is a status conferred upon us in association with the holy God. It is being set apart by Him, united with Him, belonging to Him, and enjoying all the privileges and blessings of belonging to Him.
Now, if that is what personal holiness is, how can you get it?
How can you get it?
Under the guise of pursuing personal holiness, Christians are regularly exhorted to take all sorts of radical measures: to go to some places religiously, like church, and avoid other places at all costs, like bars. We are urged to engage in some activities with tenacity, like family devotions, and to abstain from others entirely, like watching movies.
The most holy people are apparently the ones who are in church every time the doors are open, but avoid the mall like the plague, the ones who have family worship every day, but wouldn’t think of owning a home theatre, the ones who shun potty-mouthed beer drinkers and only associate with religious right-wingers.
Is that how we get holiness, by doing some things and not doing others, by hanging around with some people and rejecting others? Am I more holy today if I wear a nicely pressed suit and go to church instead of staying home in my sweats to watch football?
How do we attain holiness? Simply, and gloriously, there is only way. It is the same way we gain every other spiritual blessing we possess. It is granted to us as a gift of God’s grace through Jesus Christ. When God works in our hearts to convert us, such that we repent of our sin and believe in Jesus, we are once and for all made holy. Our personal holiness is gained by God’s work, not ours.
There are numerous places in Scripture which make this point, but to see it most clearly let’s consider the context of the book of Hebrews. Remember the statement referenced earlier from Hebrews 12:14 “Pursue…the holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.” Well, the surrounding context of the book helps us understand clearly the nature of this holiness which we need in order to see God.
While this verse is often taught in such a way that would lead me to think that I had better get my act together or I won’t see God, that is not at all what it is saying. It is not suggesting that I’d better increase my holiness by having a more reverent attitude, or by memorizing more Bible verses, or by turning down my friend’s invitation to see the latest Marvel superhero movie. Those could all be appropriate, and even advisable, but they are not really the point of the verse in Hebrews.
The prior context of Hebrews makes it unmistakably clear that the sort of holiness God is referring to is the holiness that is found in Christ alone. That is the kind of perfect holiness we must pursue and without which we will not see God.
In the book of Hebrews the author is passionately exhorting his Jewish readers to trust fully in Christ and to resist the constant temptations to return to the outward rituals and practices of the Old Testament for their personal holiness, lest they prove to be unbelievers and fall from grace (cf. 6:4-6; 10:26ff.).
Over and over the author makes the point that we do not make ourselves holy by our own activity, but that we receive holiness by Christ’s activity for us:
NIV Hebrews 2:11 Both the one [i.e. Jesus] who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.
NIV Hebrews 10:10 And by [God’s] will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
NIV Hebrews 10:14 because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
NIV Hebrews 13:12 And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood.
So let’s get this straight: who makes who holy, and on what basis? Jesus makes us holy, and He does so on the basis of His perfect life and perfect sacrifice for us. We are made holy by His work for us, not ours for Him. We are the passive receivers, not the active providers of our holiness:
We could say it this way: personal holiness comes from the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Holiness, like every other spiritual blessing, is a gift of God’s grace. It has nothing to do with what we do for God and everything to do with what He has done for us through Christ.
Holiness is not up to us. There are no degrees of holiness which rise or fall dependent upon where you go or don’t go, how good an attitude you have or how bad an attitude you have, how pure or impure you are, or how well you behave or how poorly you behave. You are either holy, in Christ, or you are not holy, out of Christ. If you have believed in Christ, you are holy. Period.
There is no need to work hard for holiness, to shed any blood, sweat, or tears for it. Jesus’ blood, sweat, and tears will suffice…As if any sacrifice we make for Him could hold a candle to the sacrifice He has made for us anyway.
Now, I know what many of you are thinking: “Wait a minute, if people believe that then they will surely rush headlong into rebellion and debauchery! And, what about all the passages which exhort us to live a holy life?”
What can you do with it?
Make no mistake, God’s gracious gift of holiness in Christ has major practical implications. When you are personally holy because of Jesus, you get to do a lot with this privileged status! You really have been set apart by Him and you get to—by His supernatural power—think of people the way He thinks of people and act toward them the way He would act. Your personal holiness in Christ absolutely will affect how you view people and even how you use your time.
There are several passages of Scriptures which encourage us to live out our holiness, to let the reality of our holiness transform our lives and our dealings with others.
Peter exhorts us in this way: “…but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior;” (1 Peter 1:15). In essence, Peter is urging us to live consistent with our new identity in Christ—to be who we are in Christ.
We are set apart by a loving, gracious God through our union with Christ in order to be loving, gracious people. Thus, we are encouraged over and over to behave in such a way that matches our new identity. For example, our association with the holy God ought to make us loving people,[7] sexually pure people,[8]self-controlled people,[9] content people,[10] etc. That is what holy living looks like. It is very different from the norms of the world.
But we must understand that these God-glorifying attributes emanate from us not as we pursue personal holiness as something we gain for ourselves, but as something given to us by God through Christ. We live from our holiness, not for it. Holiness is a gift of God’s grace like every other spiritual blessing we enjoy.
In light of the clarity of the Gospel, and all that we have considered about being made holy by Jesus, it cannot be that these passages are telling us to live this way in order to become holy, but rather because we are holy.
Personal holiness comes from the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, and it propels us forward in a life that looks like His, a life characterized by self-denial and radical love for sinners. Jesus holiness did not compel Him to withdraw from the world, but to invade it with redemptive love. Our blood-bought, grace-given status of personal holiness moves us the exact same direction for the good of others and the glory of God.
[1] Hebrews 12:14
[2] Exodus 15:11; Isaiah 6:3
[3] Exodus 3:5
[4] Leviticus 8:11; Matthew 23:17
[5] John 10:36
[6] Psalm 16:3; 34:19; Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:2; etc.
[7] 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13
[8] 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7
[9] 1 Timothy 2:15
[10] Ephesians 5:3