“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy”— Leviticus 19:1, 2.
To be holy is to be separated from all that is evil or unclean. Israel had been brought into relationship with the infinitely holy One. They were responsible then to be wholly separated to Himself. In 1 Peter 2:9 present-day believers are designated, as Israel was (Exod. 19: 6), “an holy nation.” And in the previous chapter we are exhorted to be holy in practice because He who hath called us is holy (1 Peter 1:15). While standards of holiness have differed in various dispensations, according to light given by God to His people, in every age the redeemed of the Lord have been called to walk as a people sanctified (set apart) to Him to whom they belonged and who had identified Himself with them. Observe, however, that our passage does not say (as often misquoted) “Be ye holy; as I am holy,” but, “for I am holy.” We will never be as holy as God is, or as Christ was as Man here on earth, until we are made fully like Him in the day of manifestation (1 John 3:1-3).
“More holiness give me,
More strivings within;
More patience in suff’ring,
More sorrow for sin;
More faith in my Saviour,
More sense of His care;
More joy in His service,
More purpose in prayer.”
―P. P. Bliss.