Be Holy As I Am Holy

There was a time, not too long ago, when Christians knew from example what true holiness was. Most believers in the early part of the 1900s were very careful to examine all their actions in the light of God’s Word. They possessed a reverence and fear of God that caused them to take great care over the way they lived their lives. They realized and embraced the fact that this Righteous God was, indeed, HOLY. Within their hearts was a sincere longing for His holiness. They were willing to be “a peculiar people.”
For some, this meant absolutely no drinking or dancing. Others refused to wear make-up or jewelry or attend card parties, nightclubs or even comedy shows. To be a Christian implied a separated life. A few became self-righteously excessive in their behavior, relying upon the observances of outward rules as a means of appearing to be something they were not inwardly, but for most of these people, holiness was simply a believer’s duty to live in deep consecration to a Holy God. They separated themselves from the attractions of this world because they saw the spirit of the world for what it is and wanted no part of it.
Unfortunately, we do not hear much about holiness these days. In many Christian circles holiness is a politically incorrect term. Nevertheless, the command still sounds out from the sacred pages, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:14-16). This is a commandment, not a request nor a suggestion. “Without holiness no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14 NIV).
The following three quotes about holiness are from writers of yesteryear, when Christians still had a grasp of its importance:
“(Holiness) breathes in the prophecy, thunders in the law, murmurs in the narrative, whispers in the promises, supplicates in the prayers, sparkles in the poetry, resounds in the songs, speaks in the types, glows in the imagery, voices in the language, and burns in the spirit of the whole scheme, from the alpha to the omega—from its beginning to its end. Holiness! Holiness needed, holiness required, holiness offered, holiness attainable, holiness a present duty, a present privilege, a present enjoyment, is the progress and completeness of its wondrous theme. It is the truth glowing all over, welling all through revelation—the glorious truth which sparkles and whispers and sings and shouts in all its history, and biography, and poetry, and prophecy, and precept, and promise, and prayer—the great central truth of the system” (Bishop Foster).
“The whole design of God was to restore man to His image, and raise him from the ruins of his fall ... to make him perfect; to blot out all his sins, purify his soul, and fill him with all holiness, so that no unholy temper, evil desire, or impure affection or passion shall either lodge or have any being within him. This and this only is true religion, or Christian perfection.
“We must be made partakers of the divine nature. We must be saved from our sins—from the corruption that is in the world, and be holy within and righteous without, or never see God. For this purpose Jesus Christ lived, died, and revived, that He might purify us unto Himself” (Adam Clarke).
“The Bible is a witness for the possibility of holiness. The most careless reader cannot fail to see that it is a Book against sin of every kind and degree. God ... designed the great plan of salvation to restore fallen man to holiness. Christ gave Himself that He might accomplish this work. The Spirit renews individual believers, and afterwards gives them a sanctifying “baptism of fire,” to consume all hidden evil in their hearts, and make them holy ...
“If the attainability of holiness here ... cannot be realized, then Christ was not sincere when He prayed God to “sanctify” us, and put in the lips of all believers a prayer for holiness, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven” (Aaron Merritt Hills).
Every person who has the Spirit of Christ living within him will sense a constant prodding toward holiness. Even though there are many teachers who misrepresent grace by inferring it has freed us from God’s demand of holiness, the quiet yet strong conviction of the Holy Spirit within a person’s heart speaks otherwise. Jesus Christ did not hang on a cross and bleed to death only to have His followers indulge their flesh without concern. He hung there so they could be loosed from the grip of sin and live a life of purity and holiness. Paul states: “For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in holiness and honor, not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; for God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. Consequently, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.” (1 Thessalonians 4:3-8)
God is holy, and He commands His followers to be holy, but what exactly is holiness? ....