Holiness in the ChurchAccording to the Old Testament, things or places were holy and were set apart for a sacred purpose; the opposite of holy is therefore common or profane. Likewise, a holy person meant someone who performed a sacred function. The Israelites were a holy people because they had a special relationship with Jehovah. under the guidance of the prophets, it appeared that what distinguished Jehovah from the pagan gods was his personal character. The word HOLY therefore came to denote moral character. Israel must have holy character because the God of Israel was holy. The Law of Holiness shows how attempts have been made, by means of ceremonial observance, to secure this holiness of character. The attempt failed because later Jews observed the letter and neglected the spirit; they attached more importance to ceremonial than to morale; and the result was a fall into formalism. But in the writings of the Prophets it is clearly established that the value of worship in the eyes of God depends on the personal character of the worshipper. Whether we like it or not, there is no denying that we are called to be holy. This is not just an Old Testament concept that is swept aside in the New Testament - the Old Testament tells us: take the path of holiness and be holy, for I am holy(1), this is repeated and even amplified in Peter's letter. In Hebrews we read: Strive to live in peace with all men and to be holy, without holiness no one will see the Lord. (2). Holiness is so important that without it you will not see the Lord, either here in this life or in the life to come. The problem is, on the whole, we don't like it. The idea of ​​holiness seems intimidating or frightening to us. We view it as a duty rather than a privilege. Too often, if we are honest with ourselves, our instinctive emotional reaction is that we want to sin, but we are willing to do God a favor and deny ourselves that pleasure. Yet the Bible speaks as if it expects us to be holy as a matter of course. In fact, he says we are holy - he says this is our identity, and he seems to take for granted that this is also how we will behave: he says we are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God.