7 Fairly Useless Definitions of Holiness

Paul Ellis26 Comments

An old tale is told about a group of blind men who touch an elephant to learn what it is like. One man touches the leg and concludes, "Elephants are like trees." "Oh no," says the man touching the ear. "Elephants are like fans." "You're both wrong," says the man touching the tail. "Elephants are like snakes."

What is true of elephants might also be true of holiness. God is holy, but what is holiness? It's like we have a bit of idea and from this bit we have formed a composite picture. "It's like this," says the theologian. "No, it's like that," says the Bible school student. We're like blind men feeling our way around something that is far bigger than we can imagine.

I am aware of seven definitions of holiness ÔÇô you may know of others ÔÇô none of which is particularly good. To be fair, each definition has an element of truth in it and can be backed up from scripture. But as we will see, none of these definitions can be used to describe a God who is holy.

Why does this matter? It matters a great deal. We are called to "be holy as the Lord is holy." But how can we be holy if we don't even know what holiness means? In this short series, we are going to discover that holiness is far better than we've been led to believe. Just as elephants are more interesting that tree trunks and fans, true holiness will fry your mind.

But first, let's dispel a few myths. Here are seven misleading and useless definitions of holiness:

1: Holiness is sin avoidance

Yes I know all about those scriptures exhorting us to "wash and make yourselves clean" (Isa 1:16). And I know that Jesus plans to present us to Himself "holy and unblemished" (Eph 5:27). So what's the problem? The problem is we're defining a thing (holiness) in terms of something that is not the thing (sin). It's like defining light as the absence of darkness. It's technically true but it's not a good description. It doesn't actually tell us what holiness is. Neither does it describe a God who was holy long before there was any sin to avoid.

2: Holiness is being set apart from something

Didn't Paul say something about coming out and being separate from the world? He did (see 2 Cor 6:17-18). Wasn't Jesus separate from sinners and undefiled? He was (see Heb 7:26). So what's the problem with this definition? Like much holiness preaching, this definition is apt to make us allergic to sinners. Jesus was untouched by sin but He was also the friend of sinners. He far spent more time in the company of sinners than most holiness preachers. Jesus didn't pray that we would be taken out of the world but that we would be sanctified in it (Joh 17:15-18). True holiness runs from nothing.

3: Holiness is being set apart to God

This definition probably comes closest to the literal meaning of the Hebrew (qaÔòá├®doÔòá├®sh) and Greek (hagios) words for holy. It is certainly useful as an adjective it for describing holy things like temples (Ps 11:4) and mountains (Ex 19:23). But how does this definition describe a holy God? Is God dedicated to Himself? Is God set apart for Himself? How would He do that? That just sounds weird.

4: Holiness is moral perfection

This one is straight out of the old covenant (Lev 18:26-30) which means it's popular on the majority of those websites preaching holiness. It was certainly popular with Charles Finney. He said, "Holiness is moral perfection, and nothing short of moral perfection, or moral rectitude, is holiness." Since there are degrees of perfection, one might conclude that there are degrees of holiness. Some are holier than others. This is why those who preach "practical holiness" like to provide 7 keys or 12 steps you can take to become holy. (Good luck with that!)

What's the problem with this definition? You can't work your way to holiness! Didn't fourteen centuries of law-keeping covenant teach us anything? You might as well try and climb to the moon. It's just not possible.

5: Holiness is righteousness

You would be surprised at how often holiness is defined as righteousness. Certainty Jesus is known as the Holy and Righteous One (Acts 3:14), but do these two words mean the same thing? I think not. It's like saying "Paul is witty and smart." Sure, there is considerable overlap but there's also a difference. God is holy AND God is righteous. They are not identical. So what is holiness?

6: Holiness is godliness

Again, this is not a bad definition and it is Biblical: "You ought to live holy and godly lives" (2 Pet 3:11). But it is not a particularly useful definition. It's like saying God is godly which is redundant. We might as well talk about flowery flowers or bananary bananas. Write like that on your English test and you'll get an F. Come on now ÔÇô we can do better.

7: Holiness means worthy of devotion

I got this definition out of the dictionary. Yes, this one does apply to a holy God (finally!) ÔÇô He is worthy of our worship. (See Ps 99:9 if you need a scripture to prove it.) But the angels are holy too (Mk 8:38). Should we worship them as well? And what about us? We are a holy priesthood and a holy nation. If holiness means worthy of devotion then we must worthy of devotion and frankly we're not ÔÇô at least not the sort of devotion that is due to a holy God. So either there are two kinds of holiness ÔÇô one for God and one for us ÔÇô or this is not a great definition.

Holiness is like elephants

What is true of elephants may be true of holiness. Each definition above is partly true but wholly wrong. Each comes close-ish to the target without actually hitting it. So what is holiness?

What is Holiness? (It's Better Than you Think)

The last pice of the puzzle

"Holiness is avoiding sin. It's being set apart from the world and staying undefiled." …Or so we've been told. The problem with defining holiness like this is that it doesn't actually describe a God who is holy. God was holy long before there was any sin to avoid. He was unblemished long before there were blemishes.

WE looked at seven fairly useless definitions of holiness. …All of them have a measure of truth but none of them contains the whole truth. …None of them actually tells us what holiness is. And this is a problem because we are called to be holy as He is holy. How can we do that if we don't even know what it means?

So what is holiness?…Holiness means wholeness.…To say that "God is holy" we refer to the wholeness, fullness, beauty, and abundant life that overflows within the Godhead. God lacks nothing. He is unbroken, undamaged, unfallen, entirelycomplete within Himself. He is the indivisible One, wholly self-sufficient, and the picture of perfection.

Holiness is not just one aspect of God's character; it is the whole package in glorious unity. This is how Spurgeon describes it in his discourse on Psalm 99:5:

Holiness is the harmony of all the virtues. …The Lord has not one glorious attribute alone, or in excess, but all glories are in him as a whole; this is the crown of his honour and the honour of his crown. …His power is not his choicest jewel, nor his sovereignty, but his holiness. In this all comprehensive moral excellence he would have his creatures take delight, and when they do so their delight is evidence that their hearts have been renewed, and they themselves have been made partakers of his holiness.

Holiness means perfection in the sense of completion.… When Jesus the Holy One came exhorting us to "Be perfect," He was inviting us to a life of wholeness and holiness (see Mt 5:48). …The Greek word for "perfect" means "complete" or "whole." Jesus was saying, "Be whole as your Father in heaven is whole." Jesus came to make broken people whole. He was calling us to the life that was His.

A holy and whole God stands in contrast to an unholy and broken world. …Because of sin and separation we live in a world of death and scarcity. In our natural state we are consumed with our needs and lack. …

We spend our lives trying to get what we don't have and trying to repair the damage of our drifting apart. But the only cure for our brokenness is a revelation of a whole and holy God who lacks nothing and who has promised to supply all our needs out of His overflowing sufficiency.

Those in Christ ought to know better. We are to worship God in the beauty of His holiness yet much of what passes for worship is nothing more than grizzling about our ugliness.…To the degree that we are conscious of our needs over His provision, we don't get it. …We don't understand all that Christ accomplished on our behalf. …The Bible declares we were sanctified (1 Cor 6:11); we have been made holy through His sacrifice and perfected forever (Heb 10:10,14); and we are complete in Christ (Col 2:10). In Him we lack absolutely nothing. …Yet we run here and there to trying to gain what we already possess and speaking the faithless language of lack and longing.

We need to change our vocabulary. We need to start walking in our true identity of holiness. We need to thank Him for who He is and what He's done. …Here is a simple idea to help you do that. Whenever you read the words "holy" or "sanctified" in scripture, replace them with the heavenly language of wholeness and completion. This will give you a clearer insight into what Jesus has accomplished:

Jesus gives us a picture of a whole and holy life, unbroken and unstained by sin. Everything Jesus does is prefaced by holiness. …His is a holy love, a holy righteousness, a holy joy.

Holiness, or wholeness, is the very definition of abundant life. Such is the life you already have in Him.