What is Holy?
Have Christians become lax with regard to holiness? Not much
seems to ever be said about it. How many feel as though they are living holy
lives? Ask someone about the level of holiness in his or her life and one might
be surprised at the answer received. Have Christians neglected holiness? Maybe
or maybe not, but holiness still deserves our investigation. After all, God said
in both the Old and New Testaments, "You shall be holy,
for I am holy" (Lev. 19:2; 1 Pet 1:16). The Old Testament is a good place
to begin. Let us start by answering a couple of questions. First, what is
"holy?" And then, what was the source of holiness?
What is "holy?" Let us start with the origin of the meaning. The Hebrew term for
holy likely started from a primitive concept of separation or removal of the
sacred from the profane. God took the word and used it to describe many things
and activities set apart for worship. The term for holy is found predominantly
in a religious sense and usually carries the fundamental meaning of "separated,"
or "cut off" from common use. The use of the term holy was usually restricted by
ceremonial rules or limited to certain people (Israel, priests), places
(tabernacle), things (altars), or times (Sabbath). The opposite of the term for
holy is often "unclean" or "profane" (see Lev. 10:10).
Qadash, the term for holy in the Old Testament, is used over 600 times in many
ways. Many times it is used to name some thing to be separated, the holy place
for example (Ex 28:43; 29 30) was separated from common places for worship
purposes. Other times it is used to describe a characteristic. God's name is
sometimes literally rendered "name of holiness" (Lev. 20:3; 22:2). Zion is
sometimes called the "mountain of holiness" (Ps. 2:6). Often the term is used as
a verb. To "holy" a thing, is to "consecrate" it, or set it apart from the
common. God "holified" the altar (Ex. 29:29), the Temple, (1 Ki. 8:64), people
(Ex. 19:10, 14), and places (Ex. 19:23). In a few cases holiness is
transmittable to other objects (Ex. 29:37; 30:29; Lev. 6:27) but in most cases
only uncleanness is transmittable and defiling to that which is holy (Hag.
2:12-13). The holy objects are too numerous to name here but to give one an
idea, the tabernacle (or later the Temple) and all the items involved in the
worship, the people who performed the worship, the land around the tabernacle,
and the entire nation of Israel were considered holy.
The Old Testament uses the term holy to describe something that is separated
from things common, impure, defiled, from vice and idolatry, and consequently
becomes an antonym for such things. It describes all the people, places, things,
and times in any way associated with God and His worship. Should such an item
somehow become unclean, it was to be cleansed again with a blood sacrifice.
Skinner summarizes the meaning of holiness by saying that holiness, "...in
short, expresses a relation, which consists negatively in separation from common
use, and positively in dedication to the service of Jehovah." 1
What is the source of "holiness?" God said to the Israelites, "For I am the Lord
your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am holy" (Lev.
11:44). Holiness is not an attribute of God, but His essential nature (cf. Holy
Spirit). Holiness refers to God and or that made holy by Him and therefore no
holiness exists apart from Him. "Holy" denotes God's own separation from
impurity or sin in His perfection of being. Things that were inherently clean
could become holy by being dedicated to God and his service either by God or a
ceremony established by Him. He alone has the power and authority to make holy
and cleanse the things defiled by uncleanness. Therefore all holiness comes from
God.
The term holy stems those things separated from that which is common or unclean,
and its source is God. But that is just the beginning. Peter quoted, "You shall
be holy, for I am holy." in the New Testament (1 Pet 1:16), but idea is nothing
new. God indicated in the very beginning that He expected people from every age
to be holy. One author comments on the creation account in Genesis 1:26 and
observes, "We were created in the image of God. To be in God's image meant among
other things, that we were made to mirror and reflect the character of God. We
were created to shine forth to the world the holiness of God. This was the chief
end of man, and the very reason for his existence. 2 The wise King Solomon
wrote, "Behold, I have found only this, that God made men upright, but they have
sought out many devices" (Ecc. 7:29). We were created in His image, but where
are we now? Peter's quote still stands true as a statement. We are set apart in
Christ. But as a command, can we say that we follow all that closely? Let us
examine our lives and see if we mirror the holiness of God.
1 Skinner, J. Dictionary of the Bible. Ed. James Hastings. New York: Scribners,
1899. (395).
2 Found in: Bales, Norman. He died to make men holy. College Press, 1991. (25)
By Steve Quillian
From Expository Files 7.12; December 2000
