What comes to your mind when you think of holiness?

For me, it’s the undeniable presence of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit. The essence of holiness comes from the Blessed Trinity, where a believer discovers a oneness with God, and in return, God sanctifies our hearts. No other life experience matches the spiritual purity God shows. And through salvation, each of us discovers the Lord’s incredible sovereignty.

God’s Holiness

Before God saved me, His holiness was nonexistent. I lived in spiritual darkness, blinded by Christ’s divineness. Sin ruled my heart. Agnosticism consumed my Spirit, and impure thoughts guided my actions. These sinful behaviors drove people away and left me in constant turmoil.

Here’s something we both can agree on: God’s holiness starts with grace. It’s God’s grace and faith in Christ that He saves us from eternal condemnation (Ephesians 2:8-9).

What is God’s grace?

The Greek word for grace is charis and means favor, blessing, or kindness. These three words describe God’s incredible affection toward humanity. They radiate His holiness through receiving the gift of salvation and extending compassion to our spirits.

We are fortunate for His willingness to place us in Christ and anoint us with the Holy Spirit because not everyone who hears His call accepts this eternal truth (Romans 1:18-23).

Besides God’s grace, love is the holiest of His attributes. The Lord’s love is an overwhelming awareness of divine serenity. He embraces us with a powerful inward consciousness of His presence, where the Holy Spirit unleashes an absolute sovereign peace. His love testifies to His holiness.

We can’t experience this loving discernment without proclaiming Christ as the only entry into heaven (Romans 10:9). Yes, God made Jesus His new covenant with humanity (Matthew 26:27-28). And when we believe this truth, we find loving holiness embedded in God’s will.

The Lord holds love as the top priority in His kingdom. For His two greatest commandments, heighten love (Matthew 22:37-40).

Another manifestation of God’s holiness is forgiveness. His compassion to redeem sinners is an astonishing revelation. Receiving this miraculous gift transforms us from the bondage of sin into the perfect righteousness of God. It’s in His forgiveness we discover divine truth to His remarkable affection.

If those two attributes aren’t enough evidence of God’s holiness, consider His supernatural peace. Unlike the temporary peace, humanity displays the one Christ gives is eternal (John 14:27).

The seventh Beatitude highlights the holiness of peace:

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God

Matthew 5:9

The above scripture shows how God uses some people to bring peace in troubling circumstances. Through God’s holiness, these peacemakers bring calmness in the wake of conflict.

This holy peace allows me to go through tribulations with tranquility. It calms my disturbed soul and comforts my troubling heart. And from this, I draw closer to God’s unbelievable presence.

Christ’s Reverence

One of God’s most exceptional examples of holiness comes from His Son, Jesus Christ. God manifested His holiness in the flesh (John 1:14). Those humans who lived during the time Jesus walked on earth witnessed holiness firsthand.

I think you’ll agree with me when I say being placed in Christ by God grants us access to Their holiness. Indeed, picking up our cross and following Christ puts us in divine holiness. Everything Jesus taught about godliness transmits God’s righteousness to believers and shows nonbelievers the truth about God.

Each of the four Gospels unveils Christ’s virtuousness. These four books of the Bible show us Jesus’s holiness. Every miracle, parable, sermon, and selfless deed Christ displayed testifies to His holy deity. And through their pages, we receive a blueprint of God’s holiness.

For example, Jesus’s sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5,6,7) shows us how God wishes us to live holy. Christ showed believers how to respond to holly in life circumstances in this sermon. He unearthed God’s disproval for anger, lust, divorce, pride, and self-righteousness. Next, he shows love, faith, trust, and humility as holy behaviors.

Another significant illustration of Christ’s divinity came when a woman touched His clothes (Mark 5:25-35). Here we see a woman who was sick and understood Jesus’s holiness became well by showing faith in Him.

Luke spoke of women who experienced Christ’s holiness through healings and ministered to His needs (Luke 8:1-3). He also recorded Jesus’s transfiguration witnessed by Peter, John, and James. Those three disciples saw pure holiness.

Disciple John’s Gospel is full of Jesus’s spiritual purity. He sets the theme for Christ’s grace (John 1:1-5). John elevated Christ’s holiness by announcing God’s plan for the Holy Spirit (John 14:15-18).

These are a few Gospel scriptures depicting Christ’s transcendent teachings. Many others are there for investigation.

The Holy Spirit

Since God is a spirit and Christ ascended back to heaven, the Holy Spirit becomes our principal means of connecting with God’s holiness. God used prophets and the Holy Spirit to show His holiness (Ezekiel 36:25-27). And in the New Testament, He took away prophets and delivered Christ into the world.

God appointed the Holy Spirit to administer His entire precepts (John 14:26). It’s the Holy Spirit that confirms the security of salvation. It’s where God uses our consciousness to know His presence. See how crucial this Spirit plays in determining each human being’s eternal resting place? And our society shows an urgency to repent and glorify God.

A point often overlooked is Christ works through us. The Holy Spirit is how Jesus uses us for God’s purpose. And the number one purpose of His will is to live holy.

Two outstanding examples of how the Holy Spirit establishes holiness come from Paul and Peter.

Paul told us:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things, there is no law.

Galatians 5:22-23

Each of these nine spiritual principles shows the Holy Spirit exporting holiness from our hearts. Did you notice the first one is love, ending with self-control? Again, love tops the list. Through practicing them, we show those around us God’s holiness.

Peter said:

But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.

2 Peter 1:5-7

These eight attributes validate the Holy Spirit’s guidance in achieving holiness. Peter focuses on actions needed to unleash holiness. He shows us the vital applications of faith. In return, we characterize godliness.

See how massive the Holy Spirit is to God’s holiness?   

We are fortunate God included us in His kingdom, for we wouldn’t know Christ or experience the Holy Spirit. As the result of redemption, we get to live in God’s holiness.