Define Holy – Is it attainable?

How do you define holy? The question: Is holiness attainable? The idea of holiness is often perceived as  impossible. In my attempt to discuss what holiness is and address the question if holiness  is truly attainable, I hope to address what I believe is in the heart of God.

Holy, What Is It?

How should we define holy? According to Dictionary.com Holy is defined as consecrated or declared sacred by religious use. Similarly, it also means having a spiritually pure quality.

When God created Adam and Eve, did He envision that they will forever be innocent and pure? Was God ever shocked when His creations fell? When Archangel Lucifer rebelled and brought one-third of the angels’ population with him, did God know what was coming?

God who is the all knowing, I believe He knows everything right from the beginning.

What Was God Looking For?

Was it therefore reasonable to expect that God’s creations failed His tests time and time again? So, why then did God not stop them? He could have destroyed everything that He ever built and start all over again.. Or did He?

What then was God looking for? If you remember in the days of Noah, what did God do? God picked Noah who was righteous and blameless among the people of his time. It was described as a time ‘the wickedness of man was great in the earth‘ and ‘every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.’ (Genesis 6:5-6)

Noah’s given task was to build an ark according to God’s measurement in preparation of a coming flood that could destroy the earth. Apparently, God was determined to destroy the earth due to a time of great wickedness and evil. Did God intent to start all over again with Noah? Revelation 21:1

God was looking for one thing and that is a holy people. All through the Bible, God is consistently looking to find a group of holy people that belong to Him.

Why A Group Of Holy People?

God says: ‘Be holy as I am holy‘. The record of King David’s life in the Bible mentioned that God found David, the son of Jesse, a ‘man after mine own heart‘. Was David a righteous and blameless man through his whole life?

Unfortunately, no, he wasn’t. We saw his fallen nature in the Bible. Why then was David recorded as a man after God’s own heart? Did David regret over his wrong doing? Did he repent? Yes, he did.

In Psalms 51, David expressed and confessed his sins before God, seeking God’s forgiveness for what he did. He was never a holy King, yet, God acknowledge his failings and made him known as a man after His own heart.

Seeking after God’s heart is really what God desires. What brings delight to Him? God sees the heart of men, the thoughts and what lies deep within.

Is It Possible To Live A Holy Life?

God sent His Son Jesus Christ to die on the Cross for our sins. The blood of Jesus cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The life of Jesus transformed and continue to transform all His disciples, in the early days as well as present.

The 33 years that Jesus spent on earth guide us to the path of holiness. The presence of the Holy Spirit in us as believers, guide and lead us to God’s holiness.

If a holy life is not possible, the promise of the Holy Spirit is futile. Have you heard of the Holy Spirit? Ezekiel 36:26-27, John 16:7-15, Ephesians 1:13-14 Holy Spirit is from and of God and He is God.

A life that submits to the leading of the Holy Spirit results in holiness. Trust and obey is the path to a holy life. Such examples are the lives of Peter, Paul, John and James. In the end, they died for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Would any ordinary man die for a cause beyond him? The 11 disciples of Jesus died as martyrs for their faith. God looks for His holy people whose hearts desire to bring delight and glory to His name. They live and die only to honor Him by bringing the Gospel of Jesus to all nations.