Holiness: Christians are Called to be "Set Apart"

In our society, the word “holy” has become something of an antiquated term. In fact, when we do hear someone use it, it’s usually employed in a negative sense. For instance, people will commonly say that such-and-such a person always acts as though they’re “holier than thou.”

But, holy is a very special word with a deep meaning. In the Koiné Greek language in which the New Testament was originally written, the term hagios literally means “to be set apart,” “to be dedicated to God,” “to be pure, perfect, or worthy of God,” or “to belong to God exclusively.” Did you know that this is the exact same root word from which other terms in the English Bible are derived, including sacred, saints, sanctified, and sanctification?

Under the Old Testament, the Israelites were called to come out from among all the other nations as God’s special and sacred people—a holy nation (Exodus 19:5-6; Leviticus 20:7). Their leaders, laws, lifestyle, and liturgy were all to be marked by and reflective of God’s own holiness—his purity and perfection. However, it doesn’t require reading very far in the scriptures to see that they often failed to live up to God’s high standards. That is precisely why animal blood sacrifices were required to appease God’s wrath and judgment until the perfect, once-for-all-time sacrifice occurred through Jesus Christ on the cross.

Christians are still called to be holy (2 Timothy 1:9). The apostle Peter, quoting from Leviticus 11:44-45, writes, “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’” (1 Pet. 1:15-16, ESV). Later, he asserts, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (2:9). So what does all this mean for Christians?

It means that as believers in Christ, we belong to God just as the church also belongs to him. It means that our primary citizenship is not on earth but in heaven (Philippians 3:20). It means that the words that proceed from our mouths and the ways we use our bodies ought to reflect God’s holiness. It means that we ought to stick-out in the world like a sacred thumb, being markedly different in our speech and deeds from those living around us who don’t serve Christ.

Jesus once prayed for his followers that they would be in the world, but not of the world (see John 15:19). We must be distinct. Too many Christians these days are trying to blend in to the secular culture and their hearts and loyalties are divided. The way we conduct ourselves in private and public betrays our split allegiance between this temporary realm in which we now live and the eternal home for which we’re striving to someday enter in heaven. However, God calls us to his higher standard—to his perfect law of love found in his Holy Word.

Whether we’re spending time with our families and friends, out on the ball field or in the stands, at our place of employment, shopping in the grocery or department store, eating in restaurants, fishing on the lake or lounging by the beach, sitting in the movie theater, or perched in front of our televisions or computer screens, we must remember this truth: Everything we have, everything we are, and everything we are becoming belongs wholly to God. He ought to be our everything—our all.

Our sole purpose in life is to bring glory to God—nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. To be sanctified (or “holy-fied”) means that we are voluntarily set apart to God for his divine purposes, not ours. Let’s remember that reality throughout this summer wherever we go and whatever we do.

Our hearts, our souls, our minds, our bodies, our talents, and our possessions belong to God, and to him alone. Amen.