"Since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.'"
—1 Peter 1:16
Of all the characteristics of God that the Bible points out, none is more emphasised than God's holiness. Over 900 times, God is described as holy in scripture. And because He is holy and pure, He cannot commune with imperfection and He cannot tolerate sin.
This poses a challenge for us sinners because life comes only from being with God. But our transgressions have separated us from God completely. The only way we can return to God is to be holy. But how do we become holy?
We Cannot Be Holy on Our Own
Left to our own nature, we will remain sinful. We cannot achieve holiness by our own strength. But that's why Jesus came—to set us free from the sin that we could not deal with on our own. Now Christ becomes our holiness by imputing His righteousness on us and removing our sin and shame.
Ephesians 2:8 says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God."
The only way we can be holy is for God to make us holy and to impute Christ's holiness upon us.
Let the Holy Spirit Change You
As we surrender to Christ and His justification, the Holy Spirit will come into our hearts and change us from the inside out. While we don't become perfect overnight, God sanctifies us and makes us grow from glory to glory. It's expected that as we grow more in God, we grow more and more into His holiness.
1 Peter 1:2 says, "according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you."
Moralism Is Not the Goal
As we progress more in our walk with God, we will become more and more moral. Remember though that moralism is not the goal.
This is the mistake that the Galatians made. Paul gave them a piece of his mind when he said, "Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" (Galatians 3:3)
As Jesus becomes the start of our process of becoming holy, it is Him as well who brings us to its completion. We don't grow more independent from God in holiness but become more and more dependent on Him to remain holy. Christ is the only way to holiness and the only means by which we remain holy.
