The Bible tells us we are called to be holy "even as God is holy." Yet, how are we made holy in the sight of God?
Consider Peter's words: "As he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy" (1 Peter 1:15–16, my italics).
Now read this from Paul: "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love" (Ephesians 1:4). "God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness" (1 Thessalonians 4:7).
Paul makes it clear in this last verse: God hasn't called us just to salvation, or to heaven, or to receive his pardon. Rather, these are all the benefits of our one true call. And that call is to be holy as the Father is holy.
Every believer in the church of Jesus Christ is called to be holy as Christ is holy. Simply put, this means to be pure and blameless in God's sight.
"But that's impossible," you say. "Am I really supposed to be as holy as Jesus was? He was spotless, blameless, perfect. How could anyone live up to that standard? Besides, doesn't the Bible say, 'There is none holy as the Lord'?"
That was the very purpose of the law — to show how impossible it is for us to measure up to God's standard of holiness. No amount of human willpower, strength or ability could ever make anyone holy.
So, if there is none holy but the Lord, how do we truly become a holy people?
Christ's holiness has to become our holiness.
God recognizes only one person as holy: Jesus Christ, our Savior, stands alone in perfect holiness. And because Jesus alone is holy and perfect, God won't recognize any other person. Therefore, if we are ever to be received by the heavenly Father, we must be in Christ. As we stand before him, it is solely by the grace of Christ and no merit of our own.
"That he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby" (Ephesians 2:16). "Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain [two] one new man, so making peace" (2:15).
Because of Christ's work on the cross, man could no longer attempt to be holy by keeping God's law. He couldn't become holy by good works, righteous deeds or any human effort. Instead, the Father would accept only one man as holy: the new, resurrected man.
And when this new man presented to his Father all who believe in him, the Father responds: "I receive them all as holy, because they are in my holy Son." "He hath made us accepted in the beloved" (1:6).
Now, this one holy, blameless man has a body. And we comprise that body. "Ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular" (1 Corinthians 12:27). We are made bone of Christ's bone and flesh of his flesh. And we are adopted into his family: "We, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another" (Romans 12:5).
Here is the important part: Because we are in Christ, we are made holy. "If the root be holy, so are the branches" (Romans 11:16). "I am the vine, ye are the branches" (John 15:5).
So, you see, holiness is not something we can attain or work up. Rather, it is something we believe by faith and trust in Jesus' work. God accepts us as holy only as we have faith in Christ and abide in him by the Holy Spirit. I repeat: The path to holiness is not through human ability, but through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, who has accomplished all for us.
What a wonderful answer to the anxious cries of multitudes who thirst to be holy. We are holy as we rest in Christ's holiness! Our holiness is his holiness — flowing to us, the branches, from the root.
Yet this doctrine of holiness hasn't always been the practice of the church. Often holiness has been thought of only in terms of outward behavior. To better understand this subject of holiness, I want to take you back to the Old Testament and the account of Moses at the burning bush.
Moses beheld a bush burning brightly, as if on fire, yet it was unconsumed.
Moses was all alone on Mount Horeb, herding his father–in–law's sheep, when this strange sight grabbed his attention. As he stepped forward to get a closer look, God called to him out of the bush.
"Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush" (Exodus 3:3–4).
God was present in the bush. That is why it was burning, yet not consumed. It was a visual representation of God's holiness. (Indeed, wherever the Lord is present, that place is holy.)
Then the Lord told Moses, "Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground" (3:5). Most of us skip over this verse without understanding its tremendous depth of meaning. And it has everything to do with how to be holy.
You see, Moses was about to be called into God's eternal purpose for his life. That purpose was to deliver Israel out of bondage. But first God had to show Moses the ground upon which he, the Lord, is to be approached. It has to be holy ground. In short, Moses was being called to a face–to–face communion with a holy God, and he had to be properly prepared for it.
Moses was afraid as God spoke to him: "Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God" (3:6). Why did he fear? It was because he got a revelation of the awesome holy ground on which God must be approached!
The New Testament contains a corresponding verse: "No flesh should glory in his presence" (1 Corinthians 1:29).
This verse from Paul isn't just a New Testament truth. It was true in Moses' day. Moses could never deliver God's people in his own strength. He had to know for himself, once and for all, that God's work isn't accomplished through human ability but by total trust and dependence on the Lord.
We all know God would deliver Israel supernaturally. And here at the burning bush, Moses was being prepared to trust God to bring about that glorious work. He would learn something about God's nature that would later help him trust the Lord to bring it all to pass. What was that aspect of God's nature? His holiness.
The same is true for every Christian today. We may try to accomplish in the flesh what we think God wants. But the Lord says to us as he did to Moses, "There is only one ground upon which you can approach me, and that is holy ground. You can't put any confidence in your flesh, because no flesh will stand in my presence. My purposes are never accomplished by what you can summon up in yourself."
So, why did God tell Moses to take off his shoes in this passage? Why the focus on Moses' feet?
The Lord was using an everyday, ordinary object to teach a spiritual truth, just as Jesus would do using coins, pearls, camels and mustard seeds. God was saying, "Moses, you have to wear protective garb to keep your feet from injury. But no amount of fleshly protection can sustain you where I am sending you. You'll need a miracle of deliverance.
"I am sending you into Egypt, that iron furnace, to face a hardened dictator. You'll be in a situation from which only I can deliver you. So, set aside all reliance on your flesh, even your meekness and humility. Otherwise, you won't be able to do what I'm calling you to do. All your abilities will be worthless unless I sanctify them. Put your total trust in my name and power."
Moses was going to face all kinds of trials. He was about to lead 3 million people into the desert, where there were no grocery stores, no clothing stores, not even a well of water. He would have to depend on God to supernaturally provide everything.
Let's remember, Moses had already tried to act as a deliverer in the power of his flesh. Forty years prior to this, he had taken sword in hand and killed a cruel Egyptian slave driver. Now God was warning him, "Moses, your zeal has to be sanctified, or it will destroy you. Are you willing to lay down your sword and trust in my word of guidance? Will you put off any hope of being a deliverer in your own power? Will you trust me instead to lead you into accomplishing my will?"
The holiness that God requires of us is above and beyond all human power to achieve.
No one can achieve holiness in God's sight by his own strength or willpower. We can't even serve the Lord properly without taking the approach outlined to Moses. We must come to God saying, "Lord, I have nothing to give you. You have to do it all."
It's possible for someone to be free of all lusts, of every evil desire, and still not be holy. You can be a wonderful person, a loving mate, upright and honest, and still not be holy. All of our human goodness is as filthy rags in God's sight.
Still, many of us think, "If I can just get victory over this one last thing in my life, I'll be holy." So we take up the sword of willpower and good intentions and set out to kill the enemy in our hearts.
Beloved, it will never happen. It is all a vain attempt to be victorious. We can never be holy while standing on the ground of self–righteousness.
The truth is, you and I face the same burning bush Moses did. And God says to us as he did to Moses, "You can't stand before me on that kind of fleshly ground. There is only one ground on which I can be approached. It is faith in my Son and his work on the cross."
We all have seen that God can save even the worst of humankind. We can behold the worst thief, murderer, drug addict or alcoholic–people who have no good works at all — and confidently say of them, "By repentance and faith, they have been made righteous in Jesus."
That is the true, saving power of God. Yet many Christians live as if their efforts and strivings are sufficient for holiness. On Judgment Day, these will stand before God in their flesh, saying, "Look at everything I've done for you, Lord. I've striven to stay clean and holy. I've prophesied, fed the poor, healed the sick, cast out demons. And I've done it all to please you."
But God will answer, "I never knew you — because you were never on the proper ground. You never took your shoes off, setting aside your confidence in the flesh. You didn't do any of these things through the power of my Spirit. You did it all in your own strength. And that does despite to my Son's work on the cross. I accept only one righteousness — that of the one man I consider. It makes these fleshly works of yours a stench in my nostrils."
There is only one question we all must answer before that day comes: "When I stand before the Lord, will he see his Son in me? Will I be holy in Christ?"
"Of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 1:30–31).
Paul is saying, in essence, "God won't allow any human being to glory in his own works. We can glorify him only through his Son, who each day is becoming our wisdom and righteousness and holiness."
There is only one ground on which we are made holy: total and complete trust in Christ.
When I speak of total trust in Christ, I mean not only in his saving power but also in his keeping power. We have to trust his Spirit to keep us and conform us to Jesus' likeness.
Think about your own testimony. At one time you were alienated, cut off from God by wicked works. What good work did you do to make things right with him? None! No one has ever been able to save himself.
Likewise, nobody has ever been able to make or keep himself holy. We are brought into Christ's holiness daily by faith alone, as we trust in what God's Word says: "If you are in Christ, you are holy as he is holy."
"You, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: if ye continue in the faith" (Colossians 1:21–23).
Note the phrase, "If you continue in faith." Jesus is saying, "Continue trusting in me, living by faith. I will present you as clean, faultless, unblameable, holy before the Father."
Beloved, this is all the sanctifying work of the Holy Ghost. As the Spirit empowers you to mortify the deeds of the flesh, he will lead you by his conviction and his comfort.
There is but one holiness: Christ's. Therefore, no one believer is "holier than thou." There are no degrees of holiness, only degrees of maturity in Christ. You can be a new Christian and still be absolutely holy in Jesus. So it's foolish to measure yourself against someone you picture as being "holy." We are all measured by one standard, the holiness of Christ. And if we are in him, his holiness is ours in equal measure.
You can never again look at another Christian leader and say, "Oh, I wish I were as holy as he is!" You may not have that person's discipline or his prayer life. You may struggle more often and make more mistakes than he does. But he is no more accepted by the Father than you are. You are to compare yourself to no one, because no one is more loved in the eyes of the Father than you!
Dear saint, take off your shoes. Put off all reliance on your flesh. Here is the ground upon which you're to live: "I claim my holiness, which is in Christ Jesus. I am a part of his body. And my Father sees me as holy because I abide in him." Amen!