What is holiness, and how do I pursue it?

At its root, the biblical word for holiness means set apart, or distinct. Something holy is separated from common, ordinary use and dedicated entirely to God. This is why the Old Testament describes objects, days, and places as holy, the temple furnishings, the Sabbath, the priestly garments, set apart exclusively for God's purposes. When applied to people, holiness means a life set apart from sin and the world's patterns, and dedicated wholly to God.

Peter tells believers, “just as he who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all of your behavior; because it is written, 'You shall be holy; for I am holy'” (1 Peter 1:15-16). Holiness is not one virtue among many for the Christian to cultivate; it touches every part of life, all of your behavior.

Understanding holiness requires starting with God, not ourselves. His holiness is not merely moral perfection; it is the very essence of who he is, utterly distinct from anything created, untouched by sin, blazing in purity. The prophet Isaiah, glimpsing this in a vision, could only cry out about his own uncleanness (Isaiah 6:5). Any honest look at God's holiness exposes how far short human holiness falls on its own.

This is why the writer of Hebrews urges believers to follow after peace with everyone, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14). Holiness is not optional decoration on genuine faith; it is inseparable from a real relationship with a holy God.

Before holiness is a task, it is a gift. Paul addresses the Corinthians, a famously flawed and struggling church, as those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be saints (1 Corinthians 1:2). Positionally, every believer is already declared holy through union with Christ, whose own righteousness is credited to them by faith. This is sometimes called definitive holiness, a status secured entirely by grace, not earned by behavior.

From that secure position, believers are then called to progressive holiness, actually becoming, in daily life, what they already are positionally in Christ. Both truths matter: you are holy because of what Jesus did, and you are called to become holy in how you live, not to earn that status but to reflect it.

Practically, holiness grows the same way spiritual maturity grows generally, through the word, prayer, obedience, and community, applied specifically to putting off sin and putting on Christlike character. Paul urges believers to cleanse themselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God (2 Corinthians 7:1), an active, ongoing pursuit, not passive waiting.

This pursuit includes both resisting specific sins and cultivating specific virtues, patience instead of irritability, generosity instead of greed, purity instead of lust, honesty instead of deception. Romans describes the fruit of this process plainly: having been set free from sin and become servants of God, believers have their fruit resulting in sanctification, and its end, eternal life (Romans 6:22).

Holiness is often misunderstood as either impossibly strict rule-keeping or as an unattainable ideal reserved for spiritual superstars. Neither is accurate. Holiness is not primarily about a longer list of forbidden activities; it is about a heart increasingly oriented toward God, from which right behavior naturally flows. It is also not reserved for a spiritual elite; every believer is called to it and enabled by the Spirit to pursue it.

Another misunderstanding treats holiness as grim and joyless. In reality, sin is what corrodes joy over time, while holiness, freedom from sin's destructive patterns, is where lasting joy and peace are actually found.

God sometimes uses hardship to produce holiness that comfort alone never would. Hebrews says God disciplines believers for their profit, so that they may share in his holiness (Hebrews 12:10). Trials, though painful, are often the very furnace in which impatience burns away and dependence on God deepens.

Pursue holiness earnestly, but never as a performance to earn God's love, which you already have fully in Christ. Pursue it instead as a grateful response to a holy God who set you apart first, and who is patiently, faithfully finishing the work he began in you.

Take heart that holiness is not measured by comparison with other believers, some of whom seem further along or more naturally disciplined. It is measured by your own honest trajectory toward Christ, however slow, and by a heart that keeps turning back to him after every failure rather than giving up on the pursuit altogether.