God's holiness sets Him apart from evil and He expects His people to be holy by being set apart from evil also. Evil comes from within the heart and defiles. Holiness sets forth God's plan for His people. Believer's become holy because of what Jesus Christ has achieved for them.

Holiness originated in the Character of God and is the quality of God that sets Him apart from the physical realm of His created world. Holiness can only be first applied to God and is associated and interwoven with purity and righteousness. This excellence is expressed through His righteous actions.

Holiness is in the revealed character of God communicated at times to things, places and persons engaged in His service.

Holiness is what God is. Holiness is God's unique quality of nature. God's nature is perfectly holy. God Himself is majestic in holiness. God's nature of holiness is pure and loving. His words and promises are holy, His Name is holy, His Spirit is holy, His dwelling place in heaven is holy.

God's holiness makes sin objectionable to Him and He cannot be in the presence of sin. His holiness is celebrated in worship by His created beings.

The holiness of God is manifested also in the persons and work of Jesus Christ and The Holy Spirit. The Triune God is holy in essence and in quality. God The Father, Son and Holy Spirit is the Holiest of All.

Everything in the Old Testament begins and ends with the holiness of God. Holiness is the moral excellence of God and was the standard for the life and ministry of Jesus. His character cannot be altered and those who bear His name are to be like Him in character.

God's holiness is beyond comparison and is our standard for holy living.

Jesus, God's Only Begotten Son The holiness of Jesus is seen in His divine nature and work. Jesus Christ has paid the penalty for humankind's sin, taking away the need for the Laws of ceremonial holiness (Heb. 8-10).

Jesus is the personification of holiness. He reinforced God's demands for holiness amongst disciples to have a higher quality and degree of righteousness than that of ceremonial holiness.

The recognition of Christ's holiness leads to the realisation of sin, unworthiness, worship, awe and adoration. The Holiness of Jesus Christ is divine Power. Evil spirits recognised Jesus Christ as The Holy Son of God who can destroy them.

Jesus Christ was set apart as God's servant. His life is consecrated to the will and purpose of God, The Father. Christ died for The Church in order to make it holy. The Church is a holy nation and is to have holy fellowship.

God's People are called to holiness, being distinct from other people, to be separate from other nations. The values of the world system can be dishonouring to God and destructive.

To be holy is to be set apart to display appropriate behaviour towards God and others.

Believers are called upon to be like God in His holiness. Becoming holy is seeking after God. The sacrificial work of Jesus Christ purifies believers. Holiness is equated with purity, a purity of innocence before God.The Church ascribes praise to a holy God because He is set apart from everything else. Disciples of Christ are to pray that God The Father's Name be treated as holy.

Christians are called to be a holy people, set apart as God's own people, consecrated for divine use. The life of a Christian is to be a living, holy sacrifice. Believers are purified by the truth of the Word of God.

Offerings and tithes are associated with worship and are holy unto God.

The Purpose of Holiness. God in His holiness desires a holy people amongst whom He can dwell and who may be with Him forever in His Kingdom.

His purpose for His people is to reflect His nature, attitudes and characteristics in their actions, thoughts, attitudes and words. Christians in the Kingdom of God are to be able to effectively worship, witness and serve God as they prepare for their eternal future with Him.

God's presence is with His people who are holy. Holiness is required for worship, godly service and leads to seeing God, including the gift of Eternal Life through Jesus Christ, God's Only Begotten Son, The Perfect Sacrifice.

Holiness in Believers. Christians are enabled to grow in holiness because of the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, foreshadowed by the Old Testament sacrificial system and through the sanctifying work of The Holy Spirit.

Holiness begins with God's initiative; He chooses that His people are to be holy and this unique state is bestowed as an honour by the gift and favour of His presence, by His Covenantal Relationship and by His Sovereign action.

Holiness in practice is a reflection of Christlike character. Holiness demands a different way of life by shunning worldly practices that defile, which are not in obedience with God's Word.

Holiness is shown by caring for the disadvantaged, guardianship and concern for truth and justice as well as loving one's neighbour.

Holiness is to characterise believers who have entered a personal and spiritual relationship with God through Christ. God's holiness brings purification of those who believe. Purification and atonement enables believers to grow in holiness.

Humankind's response to God's holiness is repentance, belief, trust and obedience.

Believers who are holy will judge the world and their ultimate destiny will be sharing God's holiness for ever.

Ethical Holiness (1 Pet.1:15) Behaviour in social, personal and family life should reflect the holiness of God's character. Holy conduct taught by Jesus summed up living holy lives by loving God with all your heart and neighbours as yourself.

If these two commandments are carried out by believers, all other commandments are obeyed in these two. They encompass all of God's other expectations and are certainly within reason to do, as a response to His grace.

God continually demonstrated His care for the aged, the homeless, the fatherless, the oppressed and the stranger. Holiness begins in the heart, spreading in the family and community.

Taking the Lord's Name in vain or any verbal profanity, is an example that is contradictory to a lifestyle of holiness. Obedience to God is the proper response and reply, whether in words or in action, to God's grace. He has given believers many examples of how to live in obedience.

Honouring parents and provisions to be given to the poor in the land is anticipated, handicapped people are to receive the right treatment, foreigners and strangers are to be treated with respect. Proper sexual relationships are expected, respect towards elders, including not seeking revenge for self-justice and compensation.

The Ten Commandments and Jesus' Commandments are the basis for conduct referring to a personal covenantal relationship, they reveal the level of commitment to God by the quality of behaviour. Unswerving obedience with the help of The Holy Spirit, is a life set apart for God.

Contact with the profane desecrates the holy. The holy must be treated with respect. Holiness convicts. There are warnings against contempt for the holy.

To seek holiness apart from other Christlike qualities is to wander away from the way of holiness itself. There are differences between God the Creator's holiness and pagan attempts to define holiness.

Without the concept of a personal God to discern the meaning of existence, paganism has formulated many ways to express and perceive 'holy'. A believer's goal is not to get side- tracked.

People are caretakers of all what is God's. Living such a life of holiness will attract others to Christ and will be rewarding in this life as well as in eternity.

No one can ever be or become holy alone. Believers are a holy community and are invited into God's holy presence with others who desire nothing less than God's holiness through Christ. Believers begin to comprehend holy love. Holy love is declared to be the means God uses to develop character in His children in order to establish quality of purity that they will be vindicated from every possible charge at the judgement seat of Christ.

Those who walk after the Spirit are led by Him into holiness of conversation.

God cannot be known apart from His holiness and His holiness will eventually be recognised by all creation.

Holiness is a gift of God's Grace to believers and requires covenantal faithfulness and whole-hearted obedience to Him. Holiness grows in response to God's Word.

Christians are to live holy lives in the midst of an evil world. God sanctifies His people in answer to the prayer that Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Jesus Christ, the believer's Redeemer is the strongest and gracious argument for the heart of purity and sincerity, however holiness will not be perfected in believers until the return of Christ.

Managed by Stefan Kreslin, Last updated August 2017