God Is in the Holiness Business

But Not the Way You Think

Let’s not dance around it. God is holy. The Bible rings with that truth from cover to cover. “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.” That’s not a religious slogan. It’s the heartbeat of all creation. Holiness isn’t just what God does. It’s who He is. But if you’ve spent any time around religion, “holiness” might feel less like good news and more like a crushing expectation. It can seem like another thing you’ll never be able to measure up to.

But what if we’ve gotten the whole idea upside down?

What Does “Holy” Actually Mean?

Open the Bible, and you’ll find “holy” all over the place. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word means set apart, unique, in a category by itself. God isn’t just a bigger, better version of us. He’s utterly other. The New Testament word carries the same idea. Set apart, pure, belonging to God in a way that nothing else does.

Holiness isn’t God being distant or cold. It means He isn’t stained by the sin and mess we live in. He is pure light, and there’s no shadow in Him.

God’s Not Demanding You Be Holy. He’s Calling You Close

A lot of us have heard, “Be ye holy, for I am holy,” and felt defeated before we even tried. But look at the story. God never tells you to fix yourself up before you come to Him. He isn’t standing back, arms folded, waiting for you to clean up your act. He calls you close, and then He does the cleaning.

Holiness isn’t about what you avoid. It’s about who you’re with. Under the old way, it was about keeping your distance. Now, it’s about being drawn in. Holiness isn’t a fence. It’s an open door.

God’s holiness isn’t a threat. It’s a gift. You don’t become holy by white-knuckling your way through life or trying harder. You become holy by trusting Him. He gives you His life, not just a set of rules. The Bible says you are “complete in Him.” What God asks for, He provides.

The Heart of the Matter

If you lose the sense that God is “other,” you lose the ability to worship. Holiness isn’t a checklist of do’s and don’ts. It’s an invitation into wonder and awe. Holiness is beautiful because it’s pure love, and God wants you to know it for yourself.

Holiness isn’t about spiritual performance or pretending to be perfect. It’s about relationship. God doesn’t save you because you’re holy. He makes you holy because He’s saved you. That’s not about trying to be good but about living close to the One who is good.

How Does God Make Us Holy?

Here’s the plain truth: you can’t make yourself holy. That’s why Jesus came. “He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” God doesn’t just declare you holy and then leave you the way you are. He moves in by His Spirit. That’s salvation.

The Bible calls us saints, not because we always act like it, but because we belong to Him. Holiness begins the moment you trust Christ. He gives you a new heart and puts His Spirit in you. From there, He starts changing you from the inside out.

You’ll still stumble. So do I. But now you have Someone living inside who is holy, and He is determined to show His life through you. God finishes what He starts. As you walk with Him, you’ll begin to want what He wants. The old ways start to lose their grip. New desires take root.

Living Holy in a Broken World

Holiness isn’t about hiding from the world or acting like you’ve got it all figured out. It’s about God setting you apart for Himself right in the middle of the mess. He gives you His holiness as a gift and helps you live it out step by step. Sometimes, you’ll see progress. Sometimes, you’ll fall. Either way, He won’t let you go.

So if you hear the call to holiness and it makes you feel tired or weighed down, hear this. God’s not asking you to do the impossible. He’s inviting you to come close and let Him do the impossible in you.

Come to Him. Let Him make you holy. That’s the only kind of holiness that lasts.

And that’s exactly the business He’s in.