1 Peter 1:16b
Be holy for I am holy.

Do we really expect what God wants of us or do we settle for what the world has conditioned us to be?

Holiness is far from how the world sees you and me.

The question would have to be how would the world define holiness and how does the Bible define holiness?

The worlds definition: the quality or state of being holy; sanctity. A title of the pope (His holiness/Your holiness)

The word holy is defined: declared sacred by religious use or authority; consecrated: dedicated or devoted to the service of God, the church or religion. Having a spiritually pure quality; a holy love; refers to something that is the object of worship; holy refers to the divine, that which has its sanctity directly from God or is connected with Him; Something that is hallowed has been made holy by being worshiped.

Holy days are referred to: Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy

Sacred shrines are referred to as holy:

The ground is referred to has holy: We sing songs about holy ground.

Notice we haven't talked so much about people being holy. We've primarily talked about places and things.

These are not bad definitions at all. In fact they are very good definitions of holiness apart from God relating directly to man.

How many of you would be curious to know what God expects of us regarding holiness?

Let's take it a step further. How many of you want to be what God wants you to be?

Here's what He has said. Be holy for I am holy.

Here's the definition from the original language in Greek.

Hagios = sacred, pure moral, blameless or religious, consecrated, saint.

Let's break it down:

sacred = to regard with reverence

pure = free from contamination, pollution or dirt, clean; containing only one characteristic for a trait. (like love) maintaining the same quality throughout its duration; of unmixed descent or ancestry.

moral = conforming to Biblically accepted principles of right conduct; virtuous; upright

blameless = to be completely without fault

religious = I heard the word religious defined in negative terms that for the most part caused me not to want to associate myself with being religious. Here's a definition that fits well with being holy. Scrupulously faithful; conscientious

consecrated = to dedicate oneself to the service and worship of God

saint = a person of great virtue or benevolence

Let's examine how God sees us.

Does God regard us with reverence?

Does God see us as pure?

Does God recognize us as being moral and blameless?

Does He see us religious?

What about being consecrated?

Does He see us as saints?

We ought to be concerned about how God views us because if we expect to be what He wants us to be we have to see ourselves the way He sees us.

I John 3:2 &3 Beloved, now we are children of God and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

1 John 4:17 & 18 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.

Romans 8:16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs- heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ...”

In the book of Revelation Jesus speaks to the possibility of being many things including being holy. He says in Rev 22:11, “He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still.”
If we do nothing else today I want us to get us “being what God wants us to be and know that it's possible according the the scriptures”

Here's what I haven't heard the word say:

I haven't heard the word say have faith in being holy.

I haven't heard the word say believe you can be holy.

I haven't heard the word say you'll be holy someday.

I haven't heard the word say work on being holy.

Here's what I have heard – Be holy for I am holy.

Leviticus 11:44 says “For I am the Lord your God, You shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on the earth. 45 For I am the Lord who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”

The Lord spoke to Moses in Leviticus 19:2 “Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.”

Leviticus 20:7 Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy for I am the Lord your God.”
verse 26 of the same chapter says, “ And you shall be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine.

What we've established so far is that it is the will of God for us to be holy.

Now to know the will of God and to do the will of God are two separate things.

On the being holy part of things we have to ask the question:

How is God Holy?

We can just say He is because He said “I am holy.”


We can go around in circles on this for a long time. The fact is that when God said, “I Am Who I Am” (Exodus 3:14) that covered all of who He is including being holy.

Here's the other question that's not so easy to answer:

How are you and I Holy?

This is what we're hoping to discover today. God's told us to be something and I don't believe He would have given us a command if He didn't expect we could execute it.

Be holy...is the command God has given us.

To live holy is to be one with God

To exist holy is to be one with God

To embody holiness is to be one with God

For us to be holy is to be one with God in all circumstances.
I want to tie this teaching in with what we looked at last week.

Go to Hebrews 12 – let's read verse 2-14

Key scriptures: Hebrews 12:10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.

Hebrews 12:14 Pursue peace with all men, and holiness without which no one will see the Lord:

Other Reference Scriptures:

Romans 8:29, I Thessalonians 4:7, Ephesians 4:24 & I Corinthians 3:16,17

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