1 Peter 1: 15, 16 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
God is one with His Word, His Word is true. The Word produces the image of Christ. Let it sink in, the Word produces the image of Christ, the Word that is spirit and life. Therefore, the state of being holy is not derived from the act of performing or handling holy things, or being certified by an elite board or presbytery, it is not being bathed in oil, or being shut away in a remote place for some length of days without food; but rather it is a matter of the indwelling presence of the Holy God.
The pseudo-christian culture that we have subscribed to and promote portrays holiness in a counter biblical way. The culture implies that holiness is performance based; whereas the scriptures clearly define holiness as a work done by the indwelling Spirit of Christ.
Since this biblical truth is hidden from the natural mind, the tendency is to diminish the sanctifying work of The Spirit to nothing more than an external change or at best a behavioral change.
It is also necessary to know that this work was not an afterthought but a plan which was agreed upon by the Godhead from eternity past, and established as “the will” to be done within the realm of time. When Christ came as the chosen one, in the fullness of time to complete “the will” in Hebrews 10:9, 10 He came to SANCTIFY a people through the offering of His body… He said, “BEHOLD, I HAVE COME TO DO YOUR WILL.” He takes away the first in order to establish the second. By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
