What is the difference between holiness and righteousness? Which one leads to which? This devotion looks at the relationship between the two terms.
Nuggets
- We have to change our character so that we live our lives according to how He calls us.
- It isn’t just knowing the difference between good and evil.
- We have to let God change our whole beings.
- We cannot think that we can be good enough on our own.
- If we aren’t holy, we won’t see God when this world ends.
To read a devotion in the What Is Righteousness? series, click on the button below.
What Is the Relationship Between Righteousness and Holiness?
We’ve talked about righteousness and holiness before. However, it was in the context of other topics. Let’s look at the relationship the two concepts have.
Let's Put It into Context
When we think about holy, we think about that is what God is. Jones said, “The essence of God — that is to say, that which makes God to be God — is His infinite holiness and infinite love.”
What does that mean for us? In When Should We Meditate?, we talked how God has set His people apart. Holy means to be set apart, perfect, and pure. Those who are holy and set apart are called saints.
In Are We Milk Babies or Steak Adults?, we said righteousness means being right with God, being holy as He is holy. Righteousness is what comes out of being holy, having faith, and loving as Jesus does. Being holy produces the righteousness.
But then we said, in What Is Righteousness?, that the definition of righteousness is “the actions and positive results of a sound relationship within a local community or between God and a person or His people” (Holman Bible Dictionary). Instead of just “uprightness,” the original definition was based on fulfilling the covenant and building relationships with God and others.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
We really haven’t had an in-depth look at holiness. So, let’s look at it and then solidify its relationship with righteousness.
What Is Holiness?
“But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy” (I Pet. 1: 15-16 NIV)
We are called to be holy. Yeah, I hear you. “But what does that mean?”
Holy is “a characteristic unique to God’s nature which becomes the goal for human moral character.” It has four components: being set apart, being perfect and pure, inducing awe, and “filled with superhuman and potential fatal power.”
We are to resemble God’s nature. “Tells me nothing. How do we know Who He is?”
God’s laws and commandments tell us His character. “So, all we have to do is the do’s and don’ts?”
No. Duncan wrote, “But the intimation that the likeness to God which constitutes true holiness denotes conformity in heart and life to His revealed wilt.”
What that means is we have to change our character so that we live our lives according to how He calls us. Remember, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect” (Rom. 12: 2 NLT).
We are to turn away from our sinful nature and be transformed into a spiritual nature, so we can be like God. We need to resemble His moral character.
But Isn’t It Just Doing the Do’s and Not Doing the Don’ts?
Keeping God’s laws and commandments is a big part of being holy. But it isn’t all.
“For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness” (I Thess. 4: 7 KJV). We just talked about cleanness.
Let’s look a bit at the definition of cleanness. “For the Hebrews, holiness demanded that they should reflect in their living and thinking the exalted moral and spiritual qualities of God as revealed in His laws. Cleanness was thus fundamental to the establishing and preservation of holiness in the Israelite community” (Holman Bible Dictionary).
It isn’t just knowing the difference between good and evil. It isn’t just keeping as far away from evil as we can.
We have to discipline our minds to remain pure. Our relationships with others has to be what God wants us to be. We need to watch what we say.
Let’s put it this way. Remember, repentance isn’t just feeling sorry for doing those things. It is making the commitment to changing ourselves so that we no longer do the wrong things.
Holiness is the same way. It isn’t just about what we do with the laws and commandments. It is also turning to a God and imitating Him. It is working to make our character like Him.
So, What Has to Change?
We have to let God change our whole beings. That means change our hearts and our natures.
Jones made a really good point. He wrote, “The power of evil, however, though not expelled, is dethroned in the believer’s heart, and the principle of dutiful obedience takes its place.”
We can’t just give lip service, saying we will follow God’s laws and commandments — and then don’t. We have to follow them with our whole hearts.
The end goal is important. We are trying to imitate God. Yes, this is how we worship Him.
I love what Jones said a little later. “Obedience, however, contains another element, namely, that the mind throws itself actively and energetically into the duties prescribed.”
That is what we are talking about here, right? We become holy by being obedient.
Why Is Change Important?
We can’t think that we can just be ourselves and God will give us a pass. Our sinful nature is the opposite of what He wants.
Yes, we were made in God’s image (Gen. 1: 26). But then it changed. Man disobeyed Him. That changed us.
In order to get back to where we were, we have to do the opposite of what Adam and Eve did. We have to obey.
We cannot think that we can be good enough on our own. We can’t rewrite God’s laws and commandments to bring them into what we want to them to be.
Jones noted that holiness is the standard.
We have to do things God’s way.
- admit our sins
- believe on Jesus as Redeemer
- confess God as Sovereign Lord
- demonstrate that commitment by following our job description
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
Why Is Holiness So Important?
Why is holiness important? You want a list? Beddome gave us one.
- We can’t serve God unless we are holy.
- We can’t please Him unless we are holy.
- We can’t be His children unless we are holy.
And we really, really want to be His children. If we aren’t holy, we won’t see God when this world ends. Beddome said, “Holiness is necessary as a preparative for heaven. It is both our evidence and meetness, not in form or shadow, but in substance and reality.”
When We Should Be Holy
It is important that we are consistently holy. We need to be holy 24/7/365.
- Wherever we are at.
- Whoever we are with.
- In all situations
Making the Connections
Holiness is a characteristic of God’s nature. We are to imitate that nature. Righteousness is the result of our imitating that nature.
Beddome wrote that “righteousness is that which in itself is right, or according to the will of God. To do righteousness is to do that which He commands, whether it relates to moral or positive precepts.”
It is right for us to transform ourselves to be holy. We do it out of gratitude for salvation.
Making the Connections to Self-Discipline
Candlish stated that we cannot be ignorant of evil. He also or enforced abstinence. He also wrote, “Nor even can it be such painful discipline of self-restraint, self-denial, self-mortification.”
If we discipline ourselves into thinking pursuing holiness and righteousness is hard and we will have to give up many things that we love, we are setting ourselves up for failure.
Instead, we need to focus on the positives that we gain by disciplining ourselves to be more like God. We need to focus on the fruits of righteousness.
How Do We Apply This?
“For merely listening to the law doesn’t make us right with God. It is obeying the law that makes us right in his sight” (Rom. 2: 13 NLT)
Are we like the people Finney described? We know we need to be more holy, but we don’t know how to get there.
How do we transform ourselves to increase in holiness, and thus righteousness?
- Dive into scripture to determine God’s character
- Pray, pray, pray for guidance in living our lives for Him
- Be obedient in what God calls us to do.
- Resist the opinion that we need to be perfect.
- Grow more dependent on Him.
The goal is to become more Christ-like so that we are prepared for His return. We do that by building our relationships with God.
Loving Father. You are holy, and You are righteous. Lord, we want to be holy and righteous because we want to imitate You. Transform us so that we can be like You. Amen.
What do you think?
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I find the information in this write-up very simple straightforward and easy to understand. I trust that it will certainly improve everyone’s spituality towards the fullness of God’s righteousness and Holiness..
Thank you for your kind words of encouragement.