Be holy, because I am holy.

[Brentwood Women]

... so be holy in all you do, for it is written, "Be holy, because I
am holy". (I Peter 1:15-16)

The phrase quoted above was originally spoken by God to Moses as He
gave instructions on ceremonial cleanliness for Israel (Leviticus
11:44-45). The study notes in my bible state "Israel was to be totally
consecrated to God. Her holiness was to be expressed in every aspect
of her life, to the extent that all of life had a certain ceremonial
quality."


The old law made it perfectly clear what constituted holiness, down to
the tiniest physical detail. While no longer bound by the specific
requirements spelled out in Leviticus we are still called to "be
holy." What scriptural meanings can you find for the word "holy" that
are pertinent to us today?


As you try to answer this question please search the scriptures and
provide references to what you find. Working together we can gain a
better understanding of how to adhere to God’s direct instruction to
“Be holy, because I am holy.”

[Katie]

This is a great question. When I think of the term "holy" I am sure I
am not alone in thinking of it is OT terms- God's holiness is one of
the main attributes of the OT and his desire for his people to be holy
is seen throughout the old law. When I think of it in our terms, I
tend to generalize- thinking of it as "to be like God" "to be without
sin". I know that we are MADE holy through Jesus' sacrifice, but how
do we ACT holy, as I Peter says, "Be Holy". I did a quick word study
with my Bible concordance- not much at all and I am sure some of you
will be much more extensive- but this is what I found in the NT about
holy living

Romans 12:1 tells us to offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy
and pleasing to God. This to me indicates a continual process. It is
a concious decision we make over and over again. It involves
sacrifice

Ephesians 5:3 talks about specific sins to avois- sexual immorality,
greed, impurity. We cannot have these in our lives if we are to be
holy

2 Timothy 1:8-9 says God has called us to a holy life. Again, it is
continual. Verse 8 also mentions suffering again. It is interesting
how these 2 things seem to go hand in hand

Titus 1:8 refers to qualifications for elders and lists holiness among
the list

2 Peter 3:11 Peter is talking about the Day of the Lord- the last
days- and he calls his readers to "holy and godly living" since
everything will be destroyed. This is what God will judge when all
else is gone

Again, not a lot but it was very beneficial for me. Maybe this will
get the ball rolling.

Katie

[Christiana]

I am new to this discussion but I want to say 'thank you' for doing
this. I am Melinda Worley's daughter and she recently raved to me
about this online study. I was so excited because I've been craving
something like this. I live in Illinois and I hope it's okay for me
to join in.

I know this discussion is on 'because I am holy' but I just went over
the word study for 'sanctification' and so it is fresh in my mind.

On the 'sanctify' word study, I was touched by how complete
sanctification is. In the scriptures in 1 Corinthians and 1 & 2
Thessalonians, we are told that through Christ we are cleansed,
purified and made blameless in BODY and MIND. I guess you could say
we are WHOLLY Holy. To me, this is a rejection of other philosophies
that were prevalent at the time of the first century church. These
claimed that we were separate in body and mind. But according to
these scriptures, our bodies and minds are connected and when one is
cleansed so is the other. On the flip side when either our bodies or
minds are engaged in impure things, it taints the other.

So to me, being holy is about setting your heart, mind and body
completely on Christ.

It was interesting to search through the references at the back of my
Bible for the word 'holy.' In the OT, the word 'holy' mostly refers
to God who is 'most holy.'
In the NT however, 'holy' begins to refer to not only God and Christ
but to God's people as well.
The entire OT and then the NT (with Christ) give us a narrative of
what God's holiness looks like and what holiness costs.
Now, in 1 Peter 1:16 we are instructed to be holy in this
way...'because I am holy.'

I am all over the place on this but several similar verses in the OT
struck me:
1 Chronicles 16:29, 2 Chron 20:21, Ps 29:2 and Ps 96:9
They all talk about the 'splendor of God's holiness.'
I've always thought of the command to be holy as something austere and
pious. But I see here that holiness is rich and glorious and
splendid. Holiness is beautiful. This brings me back to 1 Peter
where wives are told in Chapter 3 that their husbands will be won over
not by their outward beauty and adornments but by their purity...'for
this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God
used to make themselves beautiful."

This is very meaningful to me as I have struggled for years to
understand the meaning and place of real/true beauty.

Thanks,
Christiana

[Mindi Tipps]

For me, one of the most pertinent verses that apply to our holy living
today is one that Katie mentioned; Romans 12:1-2. I came across this
verse several years ago and it really changed my perspective on what
true worship and holiness should look like in my life. According to
Romans, living holy and worshiping God isn't just about going to
church, praying, singing, taking communion, etc. Although they are
essential to our faith, true worship is the daily act of presenting
our bodies as a living sacrifice. To me that means what I do when no
one is looking, what I say and think, the meditations of my heart,
what I fill my time with, etc. I need a lot of work in this area, but
those verses in Romans always humble me.

And Christiana, I'm so glad you are studying with us! I've enjoyed
reading your thoughts.

[Megan]

What a blessing it was to me to open up this discussion page and see
such insightful and wonderful thoughts! I don't have anything else to
add at this time. I just wanted to say thank you for helping me to
focus my thoughts for the week on Him, and giving me so much to think
about as I go about my day.

...and none of you are alone. Christiana I am so eager to get to 1
Peter 3 because I struggle with a self esteem that seems to be tied up
in my outward appearence, and in turn never fulfilled. ...and Mindi
something that occurred to me is that being a Christian is not easy,
and living our lives as we are called in Romans 12:1-2 is so hard and
something that I think I will always be striving to be better at. I
find comfort in Katie's obsevations that being holy is a continuous
process and clearly God knew that when he called us to be like Him.
How wonderful to serve a God who knows we are going to fail, but loves
us in spite of "humaness!"