Holiness is Under-rated!

Psalm 99:3-5

3 Let them praise your great and awesome name.
    Your name is holy!
4 Mighty King, lover of justice,
    you have established fairness.
You have acted with justice
    and righteousness throughout Israel.
5 Exalt the Lord our God!
    Bow low before his feet, for he is holy!

The psalms often focus on God's nature our character. If lifts up God's power, God's love, God's mercy, God's patience, and God's faithfulness, In this psalm, the psalmist uplifts, God's holiness.  I think we often miss the sense of this word.  We forget what this word meant in the biblical context.  We think of phrases like "holy roller", or "holier than thou", which a negative" connotation. They are used primarily in a "pejorative" sense.

The word "holy" in the bible means "sacred" or "set part" for a special purpose.  Using this definition, we can see why God is in His very essence holy.  This is how one commentator describes in what sense is God holy, or set apart. 

"God Himself is set apart in many senses. He is set apart from creation, in that the Lord God is not a creature, and He exists outside of all creation. If all creation were to dissolve, the Lord God would remain. He is set apart from humanity, in that His nature or essence is Divine, not human. God is not a super-man or the ultimate man. God is not merely smarter than any man, stronger than any man, older than any man, or better than any man. You can’t measure God on man’s chart at all. He is Divine, and we are human.(Guzik)

I think where holiness gets a bad name, is when we try to appear holy, or try to produce our own holiness.  Usually it is offensive because most people can see right through it.  Yet, as Christians we are called to be holy.  1 Peter 1:16 says, "Be holy as I am holy". So what gives?  What does it mean for us to be "holy" or "set apart"? 

First, since only God is truly holy, the only way to true holiness is through God and in His power.  We cannot produce holiness and there is nothing naturally holy about us.  But God has given us the Holy Spirit when we come to faith in HIs Son.  The gift of Holy Spirit sets us apart as God's children with the purpose of showing God's love to the world. Holiness always leads to loving God and loving our neighbor more.  Holiness is not showy it is based in acting in concert with the Holy Spirit 

Of course this also means that we need to live in the power of the Holy Spirit  As Paul said to the Galatians 5:25,

"Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit's leading in every part of our lives."

So then we might conclude, a Christian is called to be holy.  We cannot produce holiness but if we are led by the Spirit, our lives take on a different quality and character.  So, actually 'being holy" can be quite attractive, especially when "unholiness" rules our day.  

Let's become "holy rollers".  Okay, maybe not! But let's live out the call God has put on our lives when Jesus died for us to make us holy! Holiness is underrated!