Holiness is a common theme throughout Scripture but often a challenging one to grasp fully, especially as it relates to us personally. We are both called holy and also called to be holy. Can we make sense of this apparent ambiguity? Do we experience a disconnect between these two aspects of our holiness?
From God, For God
A good start to any study on holiness is to see what God has called holy. Try this exercise: search the Bible for two-word phrases where the first word is ‘holy’. You may be surprised to find as many as 50! Moreover, looking through the list, two distinguishable categories seem to emerge.
Some things get their holiness directly from God himself, from his presence. Moses stood on holy ground not because that piece of earth was holier than any other, but because God was there. The same could be said of the holy mountain and the holy city.
Other things are called holy as they are set apart for God, being devoted to him and his service. Such items would include the utensils in the Tabernacle and the Temple, the holy furnishings and articles. But these were things. What about the people in the list? The holy apostles, prophets, brothers and sisters, the holy nation mentioned in both the Old and New covenants? In other words, what about you and me?
Holy, Holy, Holy God
To explore this further, given that holiness is found either in God’s presence or by being set apart for him, we should begin with the holiness of God himself. One obvious passage is Isaiah 6, where the Prophet recounts his experience of God’s throne-room and the angels’ thrice-holy declaration of the Lord Almighty. No other description of God uses this threefold formula. Nowhere do we find “Love, love, love is the Lord Almighty”, or something similar about his mercy or grace.
We meet the same declaration in Revelation 4. God has not changed - he is never less than thrice holy; he cannot be otherwise. Moreover, holiness is not really an attribute of God, rather, it defines him. It is not a standard to which he conforms, he is that standard. Holiness is intrinsic to who he is, almost a synonym for his deity. The Bible doesn’t define holiness; it just points us to a holy God.
We often want to know what God is like. The truth is, he isn’t like anything or anyone. In fact, he is unlike. This is the best way of trying to understand his holiness. In Isaiah 40:25, God asks two rhetorical questions: “To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” The response is obvious: God is incomparable, unequalled. To underline the point, the questions are asked by the Holy One.
We cannot grasp the true meaning of divine holiness by starting with someone or something of great purity and then saying God is like that, only more so. Being holy means that he stands alone: unique, incomprehensible. We think best about God when we accept that he is transcendent, exceeding all limits.
We often want to know what God is like. The truth is, he isn’t like anything or anyone – in fact, he is unlike.
Undone, Restored
Isaiah’s reaction to the holiness of God is most illuminating. His cry of ‘woe’ seems inadequate. The word ‘ruined’ or ‘undone’ does not tell the whole story. He literally feels deconstructed; he experiences an unravelling, a falling apart. Yet this is not the end for Isaiah. It is not his death, but his commission. He is torn apart in order to be put together again - floored and then restored.
Our English word ‘holiness’ ultimately derives from older words which contain a sense of wholeness or health. Holiness is what keeps us healthy in God’s terms and wholly in line with him (pun maybe intended!). It is God’s holiness that puts us together in the right order. Isaiah’s experience was one of disintegration but the intention behind it was to reintegrate him for the purposes of God: not a pleasant experience, but necessary for greater service.
Here is a great mystery. A holy God can fill us with terror one moment yet with peace the next. His holiness attracts us, yet also makes us want to hide. We long to be holy and can be frustrated by our lack of holiness. We know it is our destiny, yet we have learned to live with unholiness - to look upon it as natural, almost expected, in our lives and the world around us. Instead of holiness being ‘the life desired’, we run away as though it is something to be dreaded. We are aware that holiness is important to God, but we can’t bring ourselves to make it important to us, all the time knowing that failing to walk in holiness limits our walk with the Lord as his Holy Spirit is grieved or quenched.
This is our dilemma. Like the Jewish people, we are chosen and called holy, but also called to begin a process of becoming holy – ‘as he is holy’, a phrase that resonates six times across the Testaments. God gave his ancient people a great deal of revelation about holiness. It was foundational to their identity. He didn’t choose them because they were holy. He set them apart so they could learn to become a holy people, based upon his own identity.
A holy God can fill us with terror one moment yet with peace the next. His holiness attracts us, yet also makes us want to hide.
Submitting to Discipline
How can we learn this more effectively? One important answer is found in Hebrews 12:10, part of a section on discipline. God disciplines us as a father disciplines his children. It is painful at times, but necessary, and worth enduring for our greater good. But notice how the verse ends: “God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.”
God often disciplined Israel for this purpose; so too us. How we respond to his discipline will determine how much we share in his holiness. Discipline is not to be equated with punishment (though it may include this); rather, it is part of being discipled.
To share in his holiness, we must submit to his discipline when it comes. To refuse or reject it means we stay at the lower level of holiness, that of the utensils and furnishings, rather than becoming greater servants as Isaiah was called to be. We will still be called holy – set apart for him – but by denying our calling to become holy – transformed into his likeness – we will stay disconnected and frustrated.
The various objects that were set apart as holy could not grow in holiness. Only people have that greater calling, as only people can receive the Holy Spirit who transforms us from the inside out.
Dare Prayer
There are plenty of prayers for happiness, but not enough for holiness. Augustine used to pray, “Lord make me holy, but not yet”. That sort of prayer does not connect us to a holy God or take us deeper into his presence. Let’s not make that mistake! Here is a rather different prayer to help. I call this sort of prayer a ‘dare’ prayer: I dare you to pray it! But it is the kind of prayer that God is listening out for, that he longs to answer. Why not try it?
“Discipline me, my Father, that I may share in your holiness.”
Or, if you’re more daring, try:
“Please discipline me, my Father, that I may share in your holiness.”