Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians has an interesting and unique characteristic. Every chapter in that first letter ends with some reference to the return of Christ. Paul makes this reference so often to emphasize the need and the possibility for living a holy life.
We often think of holiness in terms of being set apart and dedicated to the service of the Lord. A passage found in Isaiah, however, puts a different light on that understanding: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts” (6:3). In light of this passage, it would be odd to say that God is set apart in service to himself. In fact, all of Scripture indicates that "holy" is a term that applies to God, to Jesus, to the saints of old, to ordinary persons, and even to God’s creation. That raises a question as to what there is about holiness that can be applied to these different ideas. In particular, how can we speak of God’s holiness and our own in the same sense?
Such a possibility is not as difficult as it may seem, for God invites us to be holy because he is holy (Lv 11:44, 1 Pt 1:16). Jesus himself said that we should be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect (Mt 5:48). Thus, the perfection of God is like the holiness of God.
To say that God is perfect is to say that God is always true to himself. That is, God is always and never anything but God, and all that God does is always and completely consistent with who God is. I AM who I AM, God tells Moses (Ex 3:14). God always tells the truth, always loves, always does good, always creates beauty, always hopes for the best for us, is always joyful and faithful because God is love, God is truth, God is beauty, God is unity, God is good, God is perfect. In human terms, we might say that God is a person of integrity
The same can be said about Jesus. Jesus came to do the father’s will and never deviated from that purpose. He was perfect in his resolve to carry out the Father's will. He prayed to know the Father’s will and he applied his understanding of that will in his life to the best of his ability, even to the point of dying on a cross. Jesus was always true to himself, true to the living God, and true to what God called him to be. In human terms, we would say that Jesus was a person of integrity. In other words, Jesus lived a holy life.
For this reason, Jesus is our model for what it means to be holy. Being holy means being true to ourselves as God has fashioned us to be, and true to the living God. This is how the saints of old lived their lives. They listened to and responded to the Word of God. They applied their understanding in their lives as best they could. They allowed the Word of God to transform and motivate how they lived their lives. In a myriad of ways, the saints show us that a holy life is one that expresses God’s love for others and for creation. Like Jesus, they are people of integrity.
This is just what Paul had in mind when he wrote to the Thessalonians. This same theme is found throughout his letters: “Do not conform yourselves to this age, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect” (Rom 12:2). In other words, find out what God wants and do it. Being holy is being and doing what God wants us to be and do. This is what it means to speak of the holiness of God, of Jesus, of the saints, of creation, and of our own holiness. Being true to ourselves and true to God by imitating Jesus in all things is what it means to live a holy life.
