Holiness: the Christian’s Purpose and Challenge

Holiness is walking according to God’s standards in our spiritual pilgrimage here on earth. It is the Christian’s great challenge. When we speak of holiness, it virtually means living separated from everything that is depraved and unclean; it is the absence of the corruptibility to which we are inevitably exposed and which we cannot avoid. It is walking according to God’s will and, as a consequence, continually reflecting it in our relationships with others: in our family, with our spouses, our children, our coworkers, our neighbors, and our brothers and sisters in the faith. If we have been redeemed by Christ and regenerated by the Holy Spirit, it is incompatible and unbiblical for us not to open our hearts, in an act of conscious will, to embrace a life of holiness.

Holiness is God’s greatest attribute, and it is the standard for the Christian’s life and conduct. It must be evident not only in what concerns our relationship with God, but also in our relationship with our neighbor. We who have been reached by the grace and mercy of God by acknowledging His Son Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior have in Him the way to live a life of holiness. Jesus Himself said: God is light, and there is no darkness in Him at all. Therefore, we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth (1 John 1:5–6 NLT).

In this verse, Christ gives us a perspective on God’s holiness that could well awaken in the Christian an awareness of the sin we carry with us, like an outstanding course we will never pass with top marks. Holiness opens the way for us to experience God through a renewed relationship with Him, but also with humanity and with everything around us. We must desire to be holy, set apart for God. Holiness cannot be attained automatically or overnight. When we are born again into a life in Christ, we leave behind our past of Adamic condemnation. Christ cleansed all our sins, cast them into the mire of anguish forever, and we are reborn as children in spiritual matters; that is why we need instruction to learn to walk the beautiful path of holiness. We need to grow spiritually every day, for we are called to sanctify ourselves for the glory of God.

The prophet Isaiah says of our future redemption: “And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it, but He Himself shall walk with them; whoever walks in this way, though he be a fool, shall not go astray.” We are called to reproduce God’s holiness in our lives, to renew our minds, to put off the old self, and to clothe ourselves with the self created according to God in righteousness and holiness. It is of no use to try to grow in a good relationship with God while, on the other hand, demonstrating in our Christian practice that we walk according to the flesh, vices, hypocrisy, and immorality. The new self, conformed to the image of Christ, must be renewed in everything: in knowledge, in conduct, in the exercise of morality, and in the practice of godliness, compassion, and love for one another. That is holiness.

Holiness is God’s will for your life. There is no other option. Traveling the path of holiness, consciously and focused on Christ, will bring us security and peace. When we decide to walk in holiness and cast off all the contamination and abomination of the world, we not only glorify God, but are also used by Him for His glory. The work of the Spirit of God is precisely to make us holy if we voluntarily submit to God and His purposes. The fruit of the Spirit in the Christian life is your goal and mine. He will produce complete holiness in our being, in every dimension, which will be blessed by the Spirit of truth. In this beautiful process of sanctification, guided by the Spirit of God, we will find the strength needed to cast out of our lives everything that separates us from Him and begin to live a glorious, generous, victorious life that is useful to others.

God bless you!