To be holy is to be set apart, sanctified, and morally consecrated. God is holy (1 Peter 1:16). Jesus is holy (John 6:69). The Spirit is holy (Acts 2:4). Since each member of the Godhead is holy, we should not be surprised that God demands that we are holy. God has always demanded such from His people. In Isaiah’s great prophecy about the dispensation of Christ, he wrote,

Isaiah 35:8-9 (ESV)
⁸ And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray. ⁹ No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there.

Christianity is “the Way of Holiness.” As Christians, we are God’s holy nation (1 Peter 2:9). Let us not make the same mistake that the Jews of old made. They were God’s first holy nation. God told Moses to tell the people, “Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel” (Exodus 19:5-6).

Sadly, Israel did not listen to God. Instead of being holy, they rebelled against Him by not keeping His commandments and, ultimately, rejected His Son as their Savior. As a result, the kingdom was taken from them and given to a people who would bear the proper fruit of the kingdom (Matthew 21:43). The church is composed of the people to whom the kingdom was given.

Are you living a holy life? It begins by making sure you are abiding by the moral principles of the gospel. That alone will separate us from a sinful world. The way we talk, dress, and live our daily lives, should set us apart from those living in sin. We must avoid falling into the trap of trying to be like those around us.

Romans 12:2 (ESV)
² Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Are you different from the average person in the world? Our behavior should be such that there is an obvious difference between God’s children and those who belong to the devil. The local church will only be as holy as the members that make it up. If we want to be a part of an ideal church that is holy, we must be holy as individuals.

What if some refuse to live holy lives? In that case, the church must keep itself pure by disciplining the unfaithful. When a man was living an unholy life at Corinth, Paul said, “When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 5:4-5). The purpose of this was not only to save this man, but also to keep the church pure. Paul reminded the brethren that “a little leaven leavens the whole lump.”

An ideal church never tolerates sin, whether it is doctrinal or moral. Neither should we.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.