1 Peter 1:15-16 says, “But 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.”
Recently, I saw two religious men walking down the street in their distinct religious garb. Their distinctive “holiness” was overtly external. I have no idea the condition of their heart. But if their heart matched their works-based religion, then they are not “holy” in the biblical sense because they do not even have the Holy Spirit.
The word “holy” means set apart. This involves a to and a from. Peter quotes Leviticus and challenges New Testament believers to be holy in all manner of conduct (1 Pet. 1:15). But what does this mean for the New Testament believer?
In my early ministry years I took it to mean primarily lifestyle issues that are essentially outward, like clothing, music, and so forth. When you don’t understand the more core matter of life in the Spirit, this is an easy way to establish “holiness” without the Spirit. But you cannot be spiritual without being rightly related to the Spirit—even if you look religious outwardly. Mere outward conformity is a fleshly substitute for true spirituality.
To be holy is to be separated unto Jesus from all that hinders that love relationship. Being separated unto Jesus is faith in Him, His person, His leadership, and power. I wish I had understood this in my earlier years. When you depend on Jesus, the Spirit imparts the life of Jesus to you and through you. This is holiness—accessing the Holy One. Obviously, when we experience Jesus the outcome internally and externally will be right. But the focus is Jesus.
While external matters have an appropriate bearing in Christian living, the far greater issue is living in the Spirit, without which there is no true holiness. Holiness is when we are animated from the inside out by the Holy One. It’s the beauty of Jesus shining through. It’s the fruit of the Holy Spirit which is love expressed as joy, peace, all the way to temperance, which will appropriately affect some outward matters as one slice of the multi-varied fruit. But without the life of love shining through we can be externally distinctive and mistreat others in the process, which is unholy.
It is possible to be ritualistically distinct and yet not have much of a relationship with Jesus. What’s the greater distinction which could impact a lost world in need of Jesus? A strict version of outward lifestyle matters, or loving people instead of condescending them, a joyful spirit instead of shame and guilt, peace instead of anxiety, patience instead of irritability, and so forth? To be clear, those who are persuaded to be more strict don’t have to be condescending, troubled, anxious, and irritable. Through the Spirit they too can express love, joy, peace, and patience. That’s my point, the real issue of holiness is the life and beauty of Jesus shining through.
In the Old Testament, the manifestation of the presence of God was physical. People saw the pillar of cloud in the wilderness and the shekinah glory of God at the dedication of the Temple. But we live in the New Testament, which is the age of the Spirit. Today, the manifestation of the presence of Jesus is spiritual, not physical, but just as real as if it were physical. When we walk in the Spirit, the Spirits manifests Jesus in us and through us. To be sure, the Spirit never leads to anything that would grieve Him. But spirituality—the animating life of the Spirit—is the core matter.
John Van Gelderen
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This is spot on! It took years for me to wrap my head around this, and once I did it was liberating! Holiness from the inside out! Not the outside in. Thank you for sharing this! May God continue to bless you and your ministry.
Thanks Ray, yes, the inside is the greater issue.
I am also a converted Pharisee. 😏
There are many of us!
Excellent article by the way.
Would a logical conclusion then be, the more a person is focused on Jesus and being filled with the Spirit (true inner holiness) the result will be a greater carefulness and circumspect walk in matters of physical holiness (music, dress, language, view of Hollywood, treatment of others, right kind of church etc) and not less? So there should be a parallelism between our spiritual holiness (which is core) and our physical holiness (which is secondary but a natural outflow) correct? And both areas should have an upward trajectory? For one to claim walking in true inner holiness and walking with… Read more »
Thanks Philip for your thoughts. The fruit of the Holy Spirit of Jesus is the greatest distinction from the unsaved. Love, joy, peace, patience, and so forth, is a radical distinction. The final slice of the fruit of love is temperance or Spirit-energized self-discipline. This will inevitably affect some externals. But this is only one slice of the eight in the fruit of love. But, in proper proportion, it is important. The obvious is obvious. But beyond the obvious, where the Bible is not explicit, the Bible explicitly says, Let each one be persuaded. The persuader is the Holy Spirit.… Read more »
“To be holy is to be separated unto Jesus from all that hinders that love relationship.“ It couldn’t be said any better. Thanks brother John.
Thanks for the encouragement.
Acts 15:28-29 is important to note as it describes “necessary things” as from the Holy Spirit and biblical leadership. But what’s sad is that most of the things we spend our time debating or even separating over are not mentioned in this list. Some may very well be “necessary things” – but logically if there are “necessary things” there are also “unnecessary things.” May God help us carefully distinguish between the two and not lay a “greater burden” than He does.