The preachers quoted here describe holiness as likeness to Jesus in heart and character, and as God's own work in his people by the Spirit. They insist it is a matter of the heart before it is a list of outward duties, and that it is far more than what a person avoids.
The Bible's words for "holy", the Hebrew qadosh and the Greek hagios, carry the idea of what is sacred, set apart.12 They are used first of God. The seraphim cry, "Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts" (Isaiah 6:3), and Isaiah's answer is "Woe is me!"
From God the word passes to whatever belongs to him. Israel was to be "an holy nation" (Exodus 19:6), and the command that sums up Leviticus is "Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy" (Leviticus 19:2). Peter repeats it to the church: "as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation" (1 Peter 1:15).
In the New Testament holiness is both a standing and a calling. Believers are already "sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints" (1 Corinthians 1:2). Yet sanctification, hagiasmos,3 is also a process: "this is the will of God, even your sanctification" (1 Thessalonians 4:3), and they are to "follow ... holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14).
The classic practical treatments keep both sides. J. C. Ryle wrote, "Holiness is the habit of being of one mind with God according as we find His mind described in Scripture."4 John Owen, expounding Romans 8:13, taught that believers put sin to death by the Spirit, and gave the warning, "be killing sin or it will be killing you."5 The Westminster Shorter Catechism defines it: "Sanctification is the work of God's free grace whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God and are enabled more and more to die unto sin and live unto righteousness."6
Evangelicals have differed on how far holiness may go in this life. The Reformed tradition speaks of a growth that is real but never complete before death. John Wesley taught that believers may be made perfect in love, while allowing that "there is no such perfection in this life, as implies either a dispensation from doing good, and attending all the ordinances of God, or a freedom from ignorance, mistake, temptation".7 Both sides agree that holiness is required and that it is God's work.
Holiness, then, is not chiefly a code. It is likeness to God as he is seen in Christ: a heart set apart for him, shown in conduct. Scripture puts the two together in one sentence: "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Philippians 2:12-13).
- Strong's Hebrew 6918, qâdôwsh: "sacred (ceremonially or morally); (as noun) God (by eminence), an angel, a saint, a sanctuary".
- Strong's Greek 40, hágios: "sacred (physically, pure, morally blameless or religious, ceremonially, consecrated)".
- Strong's Greek 38, hagiasmós: "properly, purification, i.e. (the state) purity; concretely (by Hebraism) a purifier".
- J.C. Ryle, Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties and Roots, "Chapter 4".
- John Owen, Of the Mortification of Sin in Believers, "Chapter II: The principal assertion concerning the necessity of...".
- Westminster Assembly, Westminster Shorter Catechism, "What is sanctification?".
- John Wesley, A Plain Account of Christian Perfection, "Part 15".
In their own words
Each line below is quoted exactly from a sermon on this site. Follow the link to hear or read it where it was said.
Holiness is that state of our moral and spiritual nature, which makes us like Jesus in His moral and spiritual nature.
Samuel Logan Brengle
in Holiness: How to Get It
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Holiness is His special gift to His believing people; holiness is the work He carries on in their hearts, by the Spirit whom He puts within them.
J.C. Ryle
in We Must Be Holy
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Holiness is rightness or rectitude of character, inspiring righteousness, which is rightness or rectitude of conduct.
G. Campbell Morgan
in Holiness: It's Definition
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Holiness is the filling with that which is good and divine--the disposition of Jesus.
Andrew Murray
in Holiness
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Holiness is not merely a list of external duties; no, holiness first and foremost is a heart issue.
David Smithers
in A Holy Priesthood
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Holiness is far more than just what I don't do.
Chuck Smith
in Our Commitment to Holiness
Listen at 34:07
Where they differ
These preachers approach holiness from different sides. For one it is a Person and not an experience; for another it is an act of the will; for a third it is the glory that sets God apart from everything he has made.
Holiness is not an it, it is not an experience, nor is it a blessing, it is a person.
Alan Redpath
in Fourfold Challenge to Holiness
Listen at 21:07
Holiness is conformity to all perceived obligation--it is an act of the will, and must be a unity.
Charles Finney
in Christian Character
Read in context
Holiness is that awful glory by which divinity is separated from all that is created.
B.H. Clendennen
in Holiness and Revelation
Listen at 33:22
What Scripture says
- Leviticus 19:2 be holy, for the LORD your God is holy
- Isaiah 6:3 the seraphim's cry before the throne
- Hebrews 12:14 follow holiness, without which no one shall see the Lord
- 1 Peter 1:15-16 as he who called you is holy, be holy in all your conduct
- 1 Thessalonians 4:3 this is the will of God, your sanctification
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