Leviticus 20:26, “You are to be holy to Me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be My own.”

In the Old Testament, the word “holy” appears 431 times, not counting the word “holiness.” The Hebrew word for holy is “qodesh,” which means “apartness, sacredness,” or “separateness.”

The Greek word used for holy or holiness is “hagios,” and means pretty much the same thing that the Old Testament word “godesh” means, which is “pure, morally blameless” or “set apart.” The word “holy” appears 180 times in the New Testament, and if you include “holiness,” that number rises to almost 200. It’s obvious from the Bible that being holy is essential to God.

The Bible teaches us to be holy, just as God is holy, but how can we do that since we’re fallen creatures and our nature is anything but holy? According to Romans 12:1-2, part of being holy is not being conformed to this world. It’s that “set apart” definition of holy. We sometimes see it as a lifelong process called sanctification.

Regardless of how we define the word “holy,” we are probably not bold enough to proclaim that we consider ourselves holy. We know our own flaws too well to argue that holiness describes us. In one sense, being holy is the goal we strive to achieve. As my text says, God doesn’t want us to be like the rest of the world. When we follow Jesus, our lives will be changed. Look at it this way. Holiness is not the way to Jesus; Jesus is the way to holiness. We can’t become holy by our best efforts. It takes the power of the Holy Spirit in us to live holy lives.