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Top 7 Bible Verses About Holiness

Top 7 Bible Verses About Holiness

Last updated on: June 25, 2015 at 5:09 pm by Jack Wellman

Top 7 Bible Verses About Holiness 2015-06-25T17:09:03-05:00 Jack Wellman

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Here are 7 of the top Bible verses about the holiness of God and the goal of living holy lives before God.

Isaiah 6:3 “And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”

This may be the greatest attribute of God that there is. In the Jewish language, mentioning something twice is the putting the greatest emphasis that there can be on something which is why Jesus often said, “Truly, truly” or “verily, verily” because He was about to say something of supreme importance but when something is mentioned three times, it’s off the charts important. The only attribute of God that is mentioned three times in the entire Bible is that He is Holy, Holy, Holy and the earth is full of His glory. The Hebrew word for holy is “qadowsh” and means “sacred” and “set apart” because God is truly altogether “other” than anything or anyone else. God is Three in Essence. God is also three in that He is omnipresent (present everywhere at the same time), omnipotent (all powerful), and omniscient (all knowing), therefore three is seen as the number of divine perfection or holiness. God also knows the past, the present, and the future and He abides in all three of these and He is most certainly holy to the 3rd power.

First Peter 1:15-16 “But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

We have already read that God is holy so the command for us is to also be holy. No, none of us are perfect or holy but we are perfectly forgiven and made the very righteousness of Christ (2 Cor 5:21) but here Peter talks about our conduct and that it should be holy. Our lives should reflect the holiness of God for we are His children and children are supposed to be like and supposed to imitate their parents. We will never be completely holy in this life but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t strive to live holy lives.

Hebrews 12:14 “Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.”

No unholy thing will ever enter heaven nor will no one without holiness ever see God. Revelation 21:27 says “nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” That presents a problem. How can we be holy while still being sinners? Again, if you read the Bible you’ll know because 2nd Corinthians 5:21 says that it was “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Problem solved.

Psalm 24:3-4 “Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.”

The psalmist comes right out and asks two very important questions; who is going to ascend the hill of the Lord and who will stand in His holy presence? The answer is “He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.” We can only be cleansed by asking for forgiveness as 1st John 1:9 says “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Confession not only gives us clean hands and a pure heart, God cleanses us for all unrighteousness and only then can we ascend up the hill of the Lord and stand in His holy presence.

Second Peter 1:21 “For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

We know that the Father is holy, that Jesus is holy, and the Spirit is holy because they are all God and thus, holy, but why is the Holy Spirit called “holy” and it’s not Holy Father and Holy Jesus? It may be because that is one of the chief functions of God the Holy Spirit. He makes us Holy by indwelling us and He also directed the men of God in writing Holy Scripture. He makes us holy; thereby He is called the Holy Spirit.

Ezekiel 39:7 “And my holy name I will make known in the midst of my people Israel, and I will not let my holy name be profaned anymore. And the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel.”

It is one of the most tragic things that we could ever do and I hear it all the time and every single day and that is to profane the name of the Most Holy One, our Holy God. The 4th Commandments says “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain” (Ex 20:7). That’s a very serious warning that mostly goes unheeded. God will not hold anyone guiltless who takes His holy name in vain; as swear word and the oft repeated “Oh my God” which is using His name in an empty, careless, and thoughtless (vain) way.

Leviticus 11:45 “For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”

This is likely the verse that Peter quotes in 1st Peter 1:16. Egypt represents sin and coming out of her represents coming out of sin and Christians were brought out of sin by the blood of the Lamb of God like the lamb’s blood allowed death to “pass over” the Israelites. That is why God refers to coming out of the land of Egypt to being holy, which is why God follows that statement with “You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”

Conclusion

Holiness must be of extreme importance to God because it’s mentioned 611 times in Scripture and the word holiness is found 34 times. The Book of Leviticus speaks about the holiness of God more than any book in the Bible (80 times!) and no other book even comes close to that so if you truly want to know more about the holiness of God, read the Book of Leviticus. It has no equal in the Bible on the holiness of God just as God has no equal in the entire universe for “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory” (Isaiah 6:3)!

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Blind Chance or Intelligent Design available on Amazon.

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