The Beauty of Holiness
Living out the Nature of God to the Glory of God
Imagine living in a world without the curse of sin, sickness, and death—a place without hospitals, nursing homes, funeral homes, cemeteries, doctors, or prisons. Seldom do we stop and realize the effect the fall of man has had on our lives and society because we are immersed in a world full of darkness and despair.
In the beginning, God created Adam and Eve in his image (Genesis 1:27). They lived in a world free from the curse of sin. While the Bible offers few details about their environment, we can imagine it as a place of beauty and perfection, a place where God gave them dominion over every living thing on the earth (Genesis 1:28). Here, the holiness of God was on display in full glory.
Holiness is the nature of God. It is who and what he is. His holiness is a description of his absolute perfection. When we say he is a holy God, we acknowledge his qualification to be Lord of the universe and the Master of our lives. When Adam and Eve sinned, they brought the curse of sickness and death into the world. The authors of Scripture reference this throughout the Bible. When David wrote he was born in sin (Psalm 51:5), he was writing of the curse of sin that continues today. The apostle Paul writes,
For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. (Romans 8:19–23)
God’s redemptive plan brings his creation back into a right relationship with him. It starts with his redemption of mankind through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It finishes with him presenting the redeemed with a new heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21:1). The Bible opens and closes with a universe without sin, saturated in God's holiness.
Even in a world full of sin, God requires holiness of his people. God’s desire for us to be holy is both a calling and a command. There is constant tension in the life of every believer caused by us striving to live a sinless life while living in a body that has a sinful nature. This is the tone of Romans 7, when the apostle Paul cries out,
Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. (Romans 7:24–25)
Holiness in the Covenants
In the Old Testament, the tone of God’s desire for his people to be holy came in the form of a command.[1] This was achieved through the sacrifice of animals and ceremonial cleansing commanded by the Levitical Law. The standard of holiness in the Old Testament dealt primarily with how the Israelites lived, addressing little regarding the condition of their heart. In the New Testament, the standard evolved not to exclude the outward man, but to include the condition of the heart and mind. Inward transformation was now possible because of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. People could be holy for the first time in God’s redemptive plan because they had the Spirit of God living inside them. New Covenant holiness is the result of God’s Spirit transforming us into the image of Jesus Christ.
Holiness moved from ritualistic cleansing to inward purity with the dawn of the New Covenant. The Mosaic Law was fulfilled in Christ and the “record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands” was nailed to the cross (Colossians 2:14). The New Covenant did not abolish the eternal moral law of God, but rather instituted a new expression of his moral law through the law of Christ:
You have heard that it was said to those of old, “You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.” But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, “You fool!” will be liable to the hell of fire. (Matthew 5:21–22)
God’s moral law evolved to cover not only the prohibition of outward sinful acts but also the condition of the heart. The call to holiness is now for our thoughts, motives, drives, desires, and deeds to conform with the will and purpose of God. This cannot be achieved through mere discipline alone. We all have a poor track record of doing what we know is right by sheer force of will. To be holy is to be dead to our carnal desires and to be alive in Christ.
[1] Leviticus 11:44–45; 19:2; 20:26.