What does it mean to be holy and live a holy life?

1 Corinthians 1:2I am writing to God’s church in Corinth, to you who have been called by God to be his own holy people. He made you holy by means of Christ Jesus, just as he did for all people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.

1 Corinthians 6:11Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

All who believe in Jesus Christ and have their sins forgiven are made holy in God’s sight.

1 Corinthians 1:30God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin.

1 Corinthians 6:11Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Ephesians 1:4Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.

We become holy not by good deeds, but by what Jesus did for us, cleansing us from sin through his forgiveness. But through our relationship with Jesus and the help of the Holy Spirit within us, we can become more and more like Jesus, more and more holy.

Ephesians 5:25-27He [Christ] gave up his life for her [his church] to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish.

To be holy means that God looks at us as though we have never sinned.

John 17:17“Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth.”

We grow in holiness by constantly learning the truths of the Bible and seeking to live by them.

2 Corinthians 6:17-18“Come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord. Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you. And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”

2 Corinthians 7:1Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God.

We grow in holiness by working hard to keep sin out of our lives.

Romans 12:1-2And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Philippians 1:6I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

1 John 1:8-9If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

On our own, we cannot be holy. Sin still corrupts our human hearts. Christ’s salvation makes us free from sin’s punishment, but that is not the end of God’s work in us. He also desires to free us from sin’s control over our lives by changing our thoughts, actions, and desires through his Holy Spirit. When we ask God’s Holy Spirit to change our hearts, we have taken the first important step toward becoming more holy.

Hebrews 10:12-14Our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand. There he waits until his enemies are humbled and made a footstool under his feet. For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy.

Holiness here on earth is not perfection—it is striving for purity. God promises, however, that believers will be made perfectly holy in heaven.

1 Corinthians 6:18-20Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

1 Thessalonians 4:3, 7God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin. . . . God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives.

Sexual purity is a necessary prerequisite for holiness.