Is holiness something we do or is it something God does to us?

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  1. Iamsam profile image61
    Iamsamposted 12 years ago

    Is holiness something we do or is it something God does to us?

    Is holiness something we do or is it something God does to us? Does God make us holy, or do we work at becoming holy

  2. Borsia profile image38
    Borsiaposted 12 years ago

    Everything you do. You do.
    To go any deeper you would have to define holiness and what a god is

    But the actions you take, good or bad, are your actions. The actions you sanctify by joining in or repudiate by refusing to take part in are your own actions, even if you aren’t the direct actor.
    We are all wholly and solely responsible for all we do or take part in.
    Whether something is holly is purely a matter of personal perspective.

  3. nightwork4 profile image60
    nightwork4posted 12 years ago

    you just answered half the problem with religion. thinking that some god is the thing responsible for being good is not even sensible. since in the christian bible it says we have free will, wouldn't our behavior be completely up to us? using a god or satan to justify how we act is absurd.

  4. Judy G Gillis profile image69
    Judy G Gillisposted 12 years ago

    The answer is yes. And the answer is also no. 

    Holiness is a natural byproduct of intimacy with God. Spending regular, consistent, practicing-His-presence time with Him, worshiping Him, letting Him love us and loving Him gratefully in return: these things produce the desire in us to not want to do anything which displeases Him. But the "want to" isn't enough. When we rely on His strength on a minute-by-minute basis, THAT is how to be holy. "HOW" involves three things: Honesty, Openness, and Willingness ... with Him and with ourselves.

    We don't have the strength to "be good" consistently on our own. The standard of holiness is "as God is holy." Nobody can be that. Not by a long shot! The Bible tells us that nobody is righteous, that even what we consider to be "being good" is nothing but stinking bandages. We might be able to fool ourselves into thinking we can do it on our own, but eventually we come to the place where we say with the apostle Paul, "Oh wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from this body of death!" (Romans chapter 7) The point of it is that we can't do it ourselves. We need help. Otherwise, Jesus died for no reason and Grace is no longer Grace (read my hub, "Those Gullible Galatians.")

    God won't do this unbidden. We can't do it without Him. Thus, yes and no.

    We cooperate with what God is doing in us when we live every moment in the awareness of His presence, in worship, gratitude, and expectancy. God is the one who does the work, and we work WITH Him (not against Him) in the sense that we get to go along for the ride. And it's such an exciting ride!

  5. profile image0
    haryorposted 12 years ago

    I think, we cannot attain holiness with our sinful nature, however with the help of God and walking in the path of righteousness, God makes us holy. Holiness belongs to God because He himself is holy and He wants us to holy, It is only Him who can make us holy. I hope is clear enough and it helps.

  6. Captain Jimmy profile image61
    Captain Jimmyposted 12 years ago

    The Bible has all the answers!
      James 2:20   But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

      James 2:21   Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?

      James 2:22   Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?

      James 2:23   And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

      James 2:24   Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

      James 2:25   Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?

      James 2:26   For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

  7. denise.w.anderson profile image86
    denise.w.andersonposted 12 years ago

    I believe that holiness comes into our lives as we center our faith in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, repent of our sins, and then allow the Holy Spirit to become a part of our being. Once we do this, we can be in tune with what God would have us do in our lives, and live according to his will. There will always be a reason for additional faith, as we are faced with circumstances that are unfamiliar. There will always be a reason for repentance, as surely we will make mistakes. The Holy Spirit will continue to guide as long as we continue on the path God would have us take.

  8. Chris Neal profile image77
    Chris Nealposted 12 years ago

    Yes.

    What, you want more? All right, although we can be "good" people, nice, polite, helpful, compassionate, and empathetic on our own (to some degree) we can never be truly holy on our own. Holiness is from God, it denotes the "otherness" or "set apartness" of God, His difference from human beings. God imparts a part of Him into us when He claims us for His own, but that doesn't let us off the hook. If you read the Bible all the way through, you can stumble and even fall and God will not stop loving you. But if you intentionally go off and do your own thing, thinking that God will still be there for you, then you've missed the point, and you will be very surprised at the end.

    If that's not too cryptic.

  9. worldonedigital profile image41
    worldonedigitalposted 12 years ago

    Holiness is something we are born with, because we come from Holiness.  If we originate from our Creator who is Holy, how can we be anything else.  However, our Holiness remains dormant until we realize the reality of our existence.  That is, realizing that we are an offspring of He who has Created All Things.  Then can we walk in Holiness, because that is what we are.

  10. kenyanXstian profile image70
    kenyanXstianposted 12 years ago

    The Bible says be ye holy for I am holy. That is prove enough to tell you that you are the determinant of the level of holiness in you life. God cannot make you holy unless you chose to be

  11. M.A.Noble profile image68
    M.A.Nobleposted 12 years ago

    An excellent sensible question at last!
    I would suggest the answer is both, us and God. Our relationship with God is as a covenant, whereby we give ourselves to love and serve God, and God's part of the covenant is to provide us with a saviour - His son Yeshua, (Jesus) and through him and the gift of the Holy Spirit, as well as the other gifts such as wisdom and discernment, we are taught, directed, refined towards understanding the difference between good and evil.
    It is through our experiences (through God's correction and refinement, through those experiences) that we acquire and learn to be holy. We also need to reject intentional sin and evil, desire holiness instead, -that is our part. God looks at the heart and its our desire towards Godliness (understanding God and the concept of purity as apposed to wickedness and evil) is the beginning of holiness!
    Holiness is mix of many things, including spiritual maturity, obedience and willingness to 'stand alone' against evil and sin! Holiness is also a God given gift placed upon those chosen for a specific task i.e. Holy men of the Bible.
    Therefore, God is able to produce Holiness in a person i.e. Saul became Paul through God's transformation- he became a Holy Man, who 'stood alone' for God!!!
    Humans will never in their human form be able to acquire true holiness, as God is way beyond human righteousness, which is seen as 'dirty rags'. But we can achieve a level of righteousness that is acceptable to God, through Christ our savior which covers our sins so that we appear holy. However, when Yeshua returns again to collect us who belong to him, we will be transformed into holy sons and daughters of our Father God! Then and only then will we truly be holy! This applies also to Jews who have rejected Christ as their Messiah, they will also be made 'holy', God will remove the scales from their eyes and unblock their ears, and remove all sin from them for ever! Even the pots and pans in The Holy City will be made Holy!
    Holy refers to pure, clean, unblemished, sanctified, without sin and consecrated - as was Adam and Eve before their temptation.

  12. teyeger82 profile image65
    teyeger82posted 12 years ago

    To be holy, you have to be without sin. We can strive to be holy and that can make us a better person. However, since we all sin, none of us will ever be truly holy.

  13. ReneeDC1979 profile image61
    ReneeDC1979posted 12 years ago

    I would say holiness is not something you do.  It describes what or who God is.  I think we can strive and work towards being holy.  But, I also think we can live right according to God's Holy Word and one day we may understand just an ounce of why God Is Holy - peace - joy - almighty - timeless.

 
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