About 740 years before Christ1, the prophet Isaiah had a vision of God sitting enthroned in the temple in Jerusalem. He described it like this:
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke (Isaiah 6:1-4).
More than 800 years later, the Apostle John also had a vision of the throne room of God. He wrote:
In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come” (Revelation 4:6-8).
All through the Bible, we see again and again that God is holy. The members of the heavenly court, the divine council, as some scholars call it, continually announce that God is holy. What’s more, we see in the Bible that even places associated with God’s presence become holy through that association. The result can be powerful. When Moses encountered God at a burning bush in the desert of Midian, almost the very first thing he heard was:
“Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God (Exodus 3:5-6).
And people associated with God can become holy as well. In the desert wasteland east of Egypt, God commanded Moses to tell the Israelites:
“Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy” (Leviticus 19:2).
Many centuries later the Apostle Peter wrote to believers in Christ:
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light (1 Peter 2:9).
And the author of Hebrews tells us:
Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14).
God is holy. And because he is holy, his people must be holy as well. Holiness is not an optional add-on for super Christians; it is a fundamental part of belonging to God at all.
What does it mean to be holy? If you spend much time in church, you’ve probably heard the word “holy” defined as separated or set apart. This is partly right, but the word actually means more than just that. Holiness also includes ethical purity. Millard J Erickson’s theological dictionary2 defines holiness as, “A condition of purity or freedom from sin or of being set apart to special service.” So being separated from sin is part of the definition. If you’re thinking that this sounds like being righteous is a part of being holy, you’re right. The same dictionary defines righteousness as, “the state of being just or morally pure, whether in one’s own strength or on the basis of imputed virtue.” Being free from sin, being righteous, is part of what it means to be holy.
So if God, who is living in me by his Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9), is holy, and if he calls his people to be a holy nation, just as he is holy, why don’t I feel holy? Why am I not free from sinning? I can’t think that God is doing anything wrong, so it must be me. What, then, do I have to do to live up to my calling, (which, by the way, is also your calling)? That’s what this article is about.
I don’t want to give the impression that I’ve got it all figured out, or that I’m consistent in actually living the little bit that I do have figured out. Perhaps the best way to think about this article is as a set of notes to myself about how I should be living. If they help someone else as well, that’s awesome.
What God Deserves
So, how can I live a holy life? I’ve touched just the tiniest bit on what holiness means, but theologians have been thinking about this subject for a long time. I couldn’t possibly read everything that’s been written about it, much less be able to explain it to anyone. On the ground, however, in my everyday life, I would sum it up this way: living a holy life simply means living in a way that pleases God. That starts with obeying what he commands; treating God like the king he actually is. Jesus said, “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46) and “If you love me, keep my commands” (John 14:15). Not just when I’m in the mood, or when he tells me to do something I like, but all the time. So let’s start with that.
Why should I obey God? There are a lot of good reasons, but I want to just focus on one right now, and that is; I should obey God because it’s what he deserves. Can we at least recognize that? God deserves my obedience. Heaven itself proclaims, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being” (Revelation 4:11). Everything I have, everything I have ever had, he created. I eat his food, I drink his water, I walk and work and sleep on his land. With every breath I take I’m breathing his air. God created the woman I married, and he created me. It all belongs to God by right of creation. The psalmist has it right:
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters (Psalm 24:1-2).
God created me, gave me life. Then, when I was dead in my own sins, he gave me life again (Ephesians 2:1-5). Because of who he is, and because of what he has done, God deserves my complete obedience.
There’s nothing particularly noble about paying somebody what I own them. Equally, when I treat someone exactly the way they deserve to be treated, I have not done them any special favors. On the contrary, giving somebody what they deserve is just ordinary fairness. It is the minimum standard.
Now, when you love someone, you naturally want to please them. You don’t want to only do the minimum that basic fairness requires, you want to go above and beyond. But, speaking just for myself, if I forget what the minimum standard is, I can all too easily do just the special feel-good acts of kindness and ignore the basic everyday stuff. I could very well end up like the people Jesus was addressing in Luke 6:46, calling him “Lord” but not acting like he’s my Lord.
So the first step is remembering that obedience is not something I do once in a while, when I want to give God a special present; it’s the minimum standard, the treatment he deserves 24/7. And the second step is to acknowledge that I don’t have an excuse.
Everything We Need
It’s a profound theological truth that I can’t, by my own efforts, achieve the obedience that pleases God. As the Scripture says:
There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus (Romans 3:22-24).
But it’s an equally profound truth that, while God does require me to live a holy life in obedience to his commands, he doesn’t expect me to do it on my own.
His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires (2 Peter 1:3-4).
However much God might deserve it, I’m not likely to try very hard to consistently obey him if I allow myself to be convinced that I can’t do it. That’s why it’s essential to understand this point, and to remember that I am more than just myself; the Spirit of God himself is living in me.
Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness (Romans 8:8-10).
And:
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed – not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence – continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose (Philippians 2:12-13).
To correctly understand this concept, however, it’s absolutely crucial to get the order right. I am not saved because I live a righteous life (Titus 3:4-7); the Scriptures are very clear on that, and we need to be clear in our own minds about it as well. Rather, I have been saved so that I can a live righteous life (Ephesians 2:8-10). Holiness, righteousness, living in obedience to God, is not the reason for my salvation, it’s the result of it. And it’s a result I should expect to actually see happen, because God is working in me to make it happen.
Growing in Grace
So that brings me back to my question at the beginning. If I know that God deserves my obedience and if he has already given me everything I need to live a life pleasing to him, why do I so often fail in doing it? The answer to that is both simple and life changing. A major part of the reason I am not consistently living the way I know pleases God, even though I want to, is that I’m still practicing. I haven’t learned everything yet. I spent many years developing bad habits, mental and spiritual as well as physical, and it takes time to replace them with new habits.
Like everyone else, I entered this world as a baby. I couldn’t read or write, hold a job, clean the house, or do any of the other things that adults need to do. I could not even go to the kitchen and get myself something to eat. All of those things came with time, with effort, and with practice. This is the universal reality of life. God creates living things by growing them. They start out small and simple, and develop over time and with experience. Even Jesus, although he was God, entered the world as a baby and had to grow “in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52). In the same way, we grow up spiritually as we live and practice and gain experience (Ephesians 2:14-15, Colossians 1:9-11, 2 Peter 3:18).
Most of us don’t remember learning to walk, but think back to when you learned to drive a car. Somebody, a relative perhaps, or a friend, sat beside you and told you what you needed to do, but it took practice before you could drive well enough to risk going out on a busy street. And I dare say you have probably not yet reached the level where you never make any mistakes at all.
Trying and failing is part of the process of growth. (Failing because you didn’t try, on the other hand, is not growth.) I already know what I need to do; study God’s word, pray, worship, meet with other believers, be a witness for Christ. The gap between knowing what to do and doing it well is filled with practice. You live a holy life, pleasing to God, the same way you get to Carnegie Hall in the old joke; you practice. A lot. Or you don’t, and you remain a spiritual infant (1 Corinthians 3:1-3, Hebrews 5:12-14).
For some of you reading this, that may not be the answer you want. There’s no magic secret, no shortcut. Holiness takes effort, and commitment and time. And it takes a lot of trying, and failing, and trying again. I’d love to give you the easy, fun way to instant maturity in Christ, but I can’t, because there isn’t one.’’
What I’m hoping, however, is that, for many of you, this article will be an encouragement to keep going. If you are actively working to become more like Jesus, and God’s Spirit is working in you as well, you’re definitely going to get there. It will take… as long as it takes. I don’t know how long that will be for you. I don’t know how long it will be for me, either. But in the end, “we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).
So that’s the process, as I have figured it out so far. Stay motivated: God deserves our complete obedience. Be encouraged: he has already given us everything we need to live godly lives. And keep practicing until you get it.
1. Give or take a decade. Our knowledge of events in ancient Israel is not as precise as one might like.
2. Erickson, Millard J.
1994 The Concise Dictionary of Christian Theology. Revised Edition. Crossway Books, Wheaton.