Adam and Jena Demark serving at New Tribes Missionary Training Center 
Holiness. Holiness….is what I long for. Is that really what I long for? Jena and I were talking about the holiness of God recently and she asked me to put down some thoughts related to the holiness of God. I love you, honey, and am encouraged that holiness is what you long for. Thanks for your godly example! You truly are my completer!
The holiness of God demands a two-fold response from me — the first is worship and the second is dependence. Holiness, simply defined, is separation from all that is impure, defiled, and sinful. It is derived from a Hebrew word that means “to separate or withdraw.”
My first response to God\’s holiness should be worship. In Moses\’ song of worship in Exodus 15:11 he declares, “Who among the gods is like you, O LORD ? Who is like you– majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders? Isaiah echoes the same heart of worship when he states: “\’To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?\’ says the Holy One. \’Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.\’” (Isaiah 40:25,26). The psalmist encourages me to “Exalt the LORD our God and worship at his holy mountain, for the LORD our God is holy” (Psalm 99:9). The four living creatures “…never stop saying: \’Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come\’.” (Revelation 4:8)
God\’s holiness demands me to be holy. It is the reason for my separation from God. The book of Leviticus tells me to ‘Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy. (Leviticus 19:2). I quickly realize that being holy is impossible because “my iniquities have separated me from my God.” (Isaiah 59:2). Therefore, my second response to God\’s holiness should be dependence. Psalm 143 says “O LORD, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief. Do not bring your servant into judgment, for no one living is righteous before you.” I must first, depend on Him to save me. Romans 5 reveals that because I am “…justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1,2).
Because of Christ\’s work on the cross in my behalf, I can now have a relationship with a Holy God. In fact, God now has “blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” (Ephesians 1:3,4). Because of Christ, He has declared me to be holy and blameless. But do I live that way? That\’s why I must not only depend on Him to save me, but I must also depend on Him to live a holy life.
As God sees me in Christ, I am holy. But I also know that I still sin and that God\’s holiness is to be evident in my life. I am commanded in 1 Peter : “…be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy” (1 Peter 1:15,16). Paul reminds me also not to let “… sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.” (Romans 6:12-14)
My response to God\’s holiness should be one of worship and dependence. God always is honored by a response of faith. I need to allow a Holy God to teach me by His grace how to be holy by saying ” \’No\’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope–the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good” (Titus 2:12-14).
