BEING HOLY LIKE GOD

by James Christian

"Be holy, because I am holy."
(Leviticus 11:45; 1 Peter 1:16, NIV)

    What does it mean for God to be holy?   Holiness means  "to be set apart."  The popular teaching today is that God is considered holy, because He is different, and therefore apart, from humans.  While this is true, it is only a small part of the truth.  Dogs are different from cats, but that does not make them "holy" in the full sense of the word; it only makes them different.  And humans are different from all the animals, but this does not really make them "holy"; it only make them different.  If our being different from the animals is all that is meant by being holy, there was no need for God to tell us, "Be holy," because we would be so already.

    For humans, holiness means being set apart unto God.  "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength" (Deut. 6:5) is the sum total of what it means to be holy.  We should do everything unto God.  We should walk, talk, eat, and sleep for the glory of God.  As Martin Luther had it, "A dairymaid can milk cows to the glory of God."

    We get an even clearer picture of holiness when we take heed of the Lord's command: "Be holy, because I am holy."  It is an interesting command, because the reason given for why we should be holy is because God is holy.  As we have seen, holiness is not merely being different; it is doing everything unto God.  What then does it mean for God to be holy?  It is a difficult concept to realize that the Lord Himself is given unto God.  But that's just what we must do—give ourselves to God in the same way that God gives Himself to God.  When Jesus walked the earth, He gave Himself completely to God's work.  In Christ, we see the extent of just how much we need to give ourselves unto Him.

    God is love (1 John 4:8).  God is faithful (1 Cor. 1:9).  God is merciful (Deut. 4:31).  God is righteous (Ezra 9:15).  God is the true God (Jer. 10:10).  "He is the Rock, His works are perfect, and all His ways are just.  A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is He" (Deut. 32:4).  And because God is all of these things, He desires these things as well.  Therefore, He is set apart unto God.

    Here's another way to look at it.  When I was in the Marines, a friend of mine had dated a girl in high school, and they still considered themselves to be a couple after had joined the Marines.  They were deeply in love and were considering getting married.  Unfortunately, after such a long time apart, he got the dreaded "Dear John" letter, and she called off the relationship.  Some time passed without any contact, and then my friend learned that she had gotten herself into a bad situation and was living with another guy (out of wedlock) who treated her horribly.  It broke his heart to know that she was being treated that way, and he really desired for her to come back to him.  He knew that he would treat her and take care of her much better.  Now, I understand that some people think another person would be much better off with them, and it is really just a selfish thing--that's not what I am talking about here.  In this case, my friend was a true gentleman, and I am convinced that he honestly would have treated her much better.  He wasn't being selfish; he was being loving.  This is how it is with God.  He knows that, whether we see it or not, we will be better off under His care than with anything else the world has to offer.  Therefore, God is showing His love to us when He tells us to be set apart unto Him.

    If we told someone, "Adore me, because I am full of myself," we would only succeed in displaying our own puffed up pride.  But this isn't the case with God.  God says, "Be holy, because I am holy:  Consecrate yourself to Me, because I am consecrated to Myself.  Abandon your life to Me, because I am abandoned to Myself."  While these statements would certainly be vanity coming from a human, these are the most humble statements when they come from God.  God humbles Himself by being abandoned to the Ultimate Best, and since there is nothing higher than God, He abandons Himself to God, who is love and righteousness.  He is the Best.  There is no better.

    Jesus Christ humbled Himself to God and all mankind by becoming a baby, living a life on earth, and suffering death on the cross.  But the cross was not the end of His humility.  We tend to think that once Christ was resurrected, He was no longer humble.  No, the truth is that He has never stopped humbling Himself.  Try to envision God's glory—the pure essence of righteousness, the Ultimate Best.  Now envision that same glory submitting itself to that perfect righteousness, that righteousness submitting itself to that Best, that Best submitting itself to that glory, and continuing forevermore.  In God, we see complete submission and complete goodness.  This is God's holiness.

    So if this is what it means for God to be holy, what does this say about how we are to be holy?  How much should we be set apart?  How much should we be abandoned to God?  We are not God, so it is difficult to even comprehend this perfect submission, but by thinking of God continually being set apart unto Himself—unto perfect righteousness—it gives us a picture of how we should live, and we should completely submit to the Holy Spirit that abides within us in the same way.  "So I say, live by the Spirit..." (Galatians 5:16).  "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him" (Colossians 3:17).

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