God asks me to be holy—set apart for him!

Quest paradigm two: God’s passion is for our spiritual transformation! Another stifling misconception that derails God’s transforming work in us contends that holiness is too much to ask of me. Only God is holy.

A few days ago, I heard the testimony of a man who recently surrendered his life to Christ. He had prayed “the salvation prayer” as a child, but confessed that somewhere along the line he had adopted this misconception. He figured if he couldn’t be holy anyway, he might as well live as he pleased. As a result he had lived a horribly sinful life of self-indulgence and self-centeredness. He’s now greatly ashamed of the forty years he squandered.

I think some of our confusion with holiness is that we try to define it by what we do or don’t do. “I don’t smoke and I don’t chew and I don’t go with girls who do.” Certainly a holy life will produce holy behaviors. But trying to understand holiness strictly in terms of behavior misses the mark. Instead, we can better understand holiness in terms of living our lives in God’s presence—totally open and exposed before him. And by living in his presence we experience his character and begin to become like him in character.

Holiness comes by living in proximity with Jesus Christ, not by keeping a bunch of rules or trying harder. Jesus explained it like this—he said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5 NLT) The fruit of a life of remaining or living in Jesus is holiness.

The liberating truth affirms, God asks me to be holy—set apart for him, therefore I can be holy. Ephesians 5:8-10 explains, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord.”

©2009 Rob Fischer