Sullivan church of Christ – Sullivan, MO
Date: February 26, 2006
“BE YE HOLY”
A Study of the Biblical Doctrine of Holiness
Ben Justice
A survey conducted by the Barna Research Group found that 73 percent of
Americans believe that a person can become holy, regardless of his past. The
survey states that 21 percent (or one out of five) of Americans consider
themselves holy. This survey also asked Americans to define holy. 21 percent
admitted they didn’t know how to define how to be holy.
The term “holy” or “holiness” is found very often in both the Old and New
Testaments. Holiness, therefore, is very much a Biblical subject. Even though
many do not know how to define what holiness is, the Bible most certainly
defines what it is. The Word of God says, “Be ye holy” (2 Pet. 2:16). God would
not tell us to do something without defining how to do it. The Bible teaches us
how to be holy people.
HOLINESS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
Time and time again, the people of God (the Israelites) were referred to as “holy”
people, separate and distinct from the world. Although there are a number of
Hebrew words translated “holy” or “holiness” in the OT, the Hebrew word most
often used is qadash. This word, as used in the OT, describes things, places,
days, and persons. Naturally, it is also applied to God, usually described in the
OT as the “Holy One.” It is not our intention in this article to explore every area
in which the word is used. Our focus will be primarily upon persons as being
“holy.”
The original Hebrew word is defined by Wilson as, “to be pure, clean; to be holy,
sacred; to be regarded as holy, to pronounce holy. . . . ascribed to all those
things which in any way pertain to God, or his worship; . . . a holy thing,
something sacred, consecrated to God, . . . free from the defilement of vice,
idolatry, and other impure and profane things” (William Wilson, Wilson’s Old
Testament Word Studies, Pg. 220). One author noted that “the idea of
separation lends itself best to the various senses in which the word ‘holiness’ is
employed” (J.C. Lambert, The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia —
Vol. 3, Pg. 1403).
Perhaps to better understand the true nature of holiness is to consider the
opposite of holiness — what holiness is not. The OT makes some very vivid
contrasts between that which is holy and that which is not. In many scriptures,
the contrast is made between who the people of God are and what they do and
who the people of the world are and what they do. Very simply, in order for the
people of God to be holy is for them to be different and set apart from the people
of the world; in other words, the people of God don’t practice the same things as
the people of the world do. Concerning the nation of Israel, they were not to be
like the people of the other nations. Note the following scriptures in this regard:
Lev. 10:10 — “And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between
unclean and clean.” This verse clearly shows that there is a difference between
the holy and the unholy; there is a difference between the clean and the
unclean. The Bible consistently marks a line of demarcation between the holy
and the profane.
Leviticus 18 is all about holy living. Listen to v. 1-3 — “And the Lord spake unto
Moses, saying, (2) Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the LORD
your God. (3) After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do:
and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither
shall ye walk in their ordinances.”
In Leviticus 18, God warned Israel about the sin of incest (v. 6ff), the sin of
fornication (v. 19-20), the sin of homosexuality (v. 22), and the sin of bestiality
(v. 23). God warned them of the consequences of committing these sins in v. 24-
30. The thought continues into chapter 19. God said to Israel in Lev. 19:1-2 —
“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, (2) Speak unto all the congregation of the
children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am
holy.”
In Leviticus 20, God warned Israel about the sin of idolatry and witchcraft (v. 1-
6). Then, in v. 7, God said to them, “Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy:
for I am the LORD your God.”
In Lev. 20:23, the Lord said, “And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation,
which I cast out before you: for they committed these things (these things are spelled
out in the previous context — v. 9ff), and therefore I abhorred them.” Then, in v. 26,
God, again, reminded them of their holiness — “And ye shall be holy unto me: for
I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be
mine.”
If there is a key word in the book of Leviticus, it has to be the word “holy.” It is
used at least 93 times.
Deut. 7:6 says, “For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy
God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon
the face of the earth.”
Deut. 14:2 says, “For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD
hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are
upon the earth.”
Deut. 23:14 says, “For the LORD thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver
thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy: that he
see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee.” Fellowship with God on the
part of the Israelites was contingent upon their holiness. The same is true
today.
Deut. 28:9 says, “The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he
hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and
walk in ways.”
According to 2 Chr. 29:5, filthiness is incompatible with holiness.
Listen to the words of Ezra 9:1-2 — “Now when these things were done, the princes
came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not
separated themselves from the people of the lands, doing according to their
abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the
Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. (2) For they have taken of
their daughters for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy seed have mingled
themselves with the people of those lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath
been chief in this trespass.” The phrase “have not separated themselves from the
people of the lands, doing according to their abominations” (v. 1) should be
connected to the phrase “holy seed” (v. 2). To be holy is to be separated from the
ways of the world. To be unholy is to be joined to the ways of the world.
Specifically, Ezra was speaking about religiously mixed marriages.
[MORE NEXT WEEK]