Holiness can be attributed to only one God.  None of the other gods are holy.  This is a huge subject that deserves a book or two, but let’s take a look and see some of the basics.

In Leviticus 19:2 God says, “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.”

Peter repeated this call in 1 Peter 1:14-15  (Be) obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, ¹⁶ because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

The God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament.  In Isaiah 6:3, Isaiah is taken to the Throne Room of heaven and witnessed the angels as one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.”

 And in Revelation 4:8 John records, “And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME.”

 We can clearly declare, “Yeshua HaMashiach is Holy.”  He is our God, the One we worship and the One we love.  He also calls us to be holy. But what is does “be holy” mean?  What does it look like?

Holiness is a term heard in many of the messages of the day.  There was a ‘holiness’ movement in the past where those involved were to live entirely without willful sin. However, outward appearance and behavior played a larger role than inward heart change.  There were rules about dress, hairstyles, makeup, no dancing, no smoking, no drinking, no profanity, no movie watching or card playing, and on and on and on.

In my New King James “New Spirit Filled Life Bible,” Steven Fry writes a couple of paragraphs about the word holy.  Here are some quotes:

“Holiness is separation from everything profane and defiling; at the same time, it is the dedication to everything holy and pure.” (the word profane actually means something common, not distinctly set apart as different or sacred)

“This is more than His simply demanding righteous standards or dutiful behavior.  It is the clear call to make the ultimate choice of abandoning ourselves to that one purpose: to let God be God through us…”

Let’s look at the word HOLY in Hebrew.  It is Strong’s #6918 and it looks like this: And it is defined as sacred, holy, Holy One, a saint, set apart.  If you go on to the primitive root #6942, it defines holy as being ceremonially or morally clean, to consecrate, dedicate, purify, or sanctify.

How about the letters?  Let’s see, reading from right to left:

Qof 100 = Election of God’s chosen ones, set apart as holy. Means: Holiness, Consecrated, Divide, sun on the horizon, Back of the Head, Make a Complete Circle, End of a Cycle, Final, Behind, Dome

Dallet  4 =  Earth or creation.  Means: Door, Gate, Impoverished man, to come from indicates a pathway, a place of decision, or an entrance to life or death.

Vav  6 =  Man.  Means: Nail or Hook, to Secure, Pin together, Connect – Yeshua

Shin  300 = Victory of good over evil, Holy Spirit.  Means: Teeth, Fire, the Fire of God to consume all His enemies, Devour, Destroy, Something Sharp.

To be HOLY is to be chosen and set apart by God as holy (Qof).  It is a doorway or entrance to life or death(Dallet).  (In reality both death and life.  To be HOLY  brings Death to worldly mindsets and self-centered ways and new Life in God and His ways.) To be HOLY connects one with Yeshua. (Vav) In Him, there is victory over evil and destruction of all of His enemies (Shin) – enemies to His holy Kingdom living.

God set Israel apart – Deuteronomy 14:2 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.

And in the New Testament Peter speaks to believers 1Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light;

Those seeking to live a holy life in our world today are different.  I think of Tim Tebow, a public figure, who over and over has taken a stand  for righteousness.  There’s been a cost involved.  He has faced ridicule, job loss, and other forms of persecution, but he remained true to his beliefs.

Do we make choices based on God’s word or according to the ‘political correctness’ of the day?  When people see us, hear us, do they associate us with Yeshua or some other person?

In Acts 4:13, Paul wrote: Now when they (the spiritual rulers in Jerusalem) saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.

Do we look like we’ve been with Yeshua?  Do we sound like Him?  Do we act like Him?  Are we different than the world?  As a human being Hebrews 4:15 says Yeshua was in all points tempted, yet, was without sin.  He lived a holy life, as a man fully surrendered to God’s will.

Take a look at the first 18 verses in Leviticus 19.  Don’t these guidelines mirror similar statements made by Yeshua in the New Testament?  In Leviticus He tells them that they shall be holy and then breaks down what holy behavior looks like.

Yeshua is 100% holy.  Here are a few examples: He never lies and always speaks the truth.  He is love through and through and all He does is based on love.  He is faithful to what He’s promised.  He isn’t one to forget His promises, in fact, Jeremiah 1:12 states that He is watching over His word to perform it.

We are blessed. Our God is holy.  He is the only holy God.  No other god can make these claims and no other god is living.

His promises are recorded in the Bible.  And for many of us, He speaks to directly or through prophetic people with other promises.  He prepared good things in advance for us to walk in and enjoy (Ephesians 2:10) and He is going to see us through to completion.

When our lives get bombarded by circumstances and stress and doubt threatens to take over, look up and focus on our holy God.  He is the only self-existent eternal holy God.

A line is being drawn today.  Where do you stand?

Remember who you are and Whose you are.

Let’s keep our focus on our completely faithful, holy God and surrender to His holiness from the inside out.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, ⁴ just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, ⁵ having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, ⁶ to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.  Ephesians 1:3-6

Have a holy week.  Shalom. ♥