Holiness is defined in Webster’s dictionary as “dedicated or consecrated to; sacred; devoted to the service of God” or “morally and spiritually excellent.”
I used to think of holiness in the “morally and spiritually excellent way”, like this: God has called us to be holy. This means I must be perfect. I must make morally correct decisions at all times. I must always do what is right. I must be worthy enough. I must feel holy. I must look holy. God’s holiness was something to strive for. Heaven’s holiness was something to earn. To be holy, I must go to church, and attend Bible studies, and have personal devotions every day. Being holy was synonymous with being a good Christian and fitting in with the Christian crowd. Holiness was up to me, individually, attaining personal holiness, perhaps with a little help from God on the side. C. Baxter Kruger said, “Instead of holiness being a name for the incomparable love of the Father, Son, and Spirit, it became a matter of law, morality, and ethical perfection. In the mix and flow of Western history, a legal understanding of holiness slipped behind the fellowship of the Father, Son, and Spirit and became the fundamental truth about God – at least in our minds. This holiness is not relational…not the expression of love…When legal holiness became foundational for our idea of God, the biblical story was reframed in terms of law, guilt, and punishment. God is holy (legally speaking). We have failed; there must be restitution.” Kruger says that this is how holiness came to be understood in Western Christianity over time. It became a burden, a pressure to conform, and a guilt-producing mandate.
Now, I am coming to understand holiness more in terms of “dedicated or consecrated to; sacred; devoted to the service of God.” Or I’ve heard it put this way: “to be set apart for a special purpose.” In this way, holiness isn’t about me, but it’s about being one with God. It’s me being a part of God’s whole. It’s remaining connected to the vine, as described in John 15:4, “In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me.” Holiness is letting God’s love live in and through me. I can be little old ordinary me, not worthy of anything on my own, but called by God to be part of something much greater than me. Holiness is being the person that God created me to be. Holiness connects me to the Spirit of Jesus, who is actively working all around me. In this way, I am a part of God and others and the universe. All who are seeking to follow God’s Spirit of love working in the world are holy. We are a part of something very special. C. Baxter Kruger puts it this way, “The holiness of God is an expression of the utter uniqueness…of the trinitarian love. There is nothing like it in the universe. It is in a class by itself, set apart, incomparable.” Incomparable, indeed! This is freedom. This is good news.
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