October 2026: What is Holiness?

Read: 1 Peter 1:13–16

Consider

God tells us:

“Be ye holy; for I am holy.”

That’s a command most Christians have heard. But before we start talking about what holiness looks like, there’s a question we need to answer.

Who gets to define it?

Ask ten people what it means to live a holy life, and you’re probably going to get ten different answers.

One person may immediately think about clothing. Another may think about avoiding certain places or activities. Someone else may say holiness is simply having a good heart and loving people.

And then there are the definitions we’ve inherited.

What our parents taught us.
What our church taught us.
What our denomination taught us.
What Christian culture around us considers acceptable.

But Peter doesn’t say:

Be holy according to your church.

He doesn’t even say:

Be holy according to your own convictions.

He says:

“Be ye holy; for I am holy.”

God Himself is the standard.

That changes the question.

Instead of asking, “What do I think holiness means?” you need to ask:

“What does God call holy?”

And that means you have to be willing to let Scripture challenge your definitions—even the ones you’ve held for years.

Maybe something you’ve always considered part of holiness isn’t actually stated in Scripture the way you thought it was.

Maybe something you’ve never considered a holiness issue at all turns out to appear repeatedly in the Word.

Maybe you’ll discover that something you were taught was exactly what Scripture says.

You don’t know until you look.

So that’s what we’re going to do this month.

We’re not starting with a list.

We’re starting with the author and definer of holiness – God Almighty.

Because if He tells us to be holy as He is holy, then He gets to define what holiness is.

Reflect

Where did your current understanding of holiness come from?

If Scripture challenged something you have always believed about holiness, would you be willing to examine it again?

Go Deeper

Leviticus 11:44–45
Leviticus 19:1–2
Hebrews 12:14
2 Timothy 3:16–17

Read: Leviticus 20:7–8

Consider

Yesterday we established something important:

God defines holiness.

So now you need to ask what He means when He calls something holy.

Many people will use holy and good interchangeably.

A holy person must be a really good person. A holy life must be an especially moral life.

But the biblical idea goes deeper than simply being “good.”

To be holy is to be set apart—belonging to God and separated for His purposes.

Look closely at today’s Scripture:

“Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God.”

And then God immediately says:

“And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the LORD which sanctify you.”

Notice the relationship.

God sanctifies His people.

They belong to Him.

And because they belong to Him, the way they live is supposed to reflect that relationship.

Holiness isn’t just something we claim.

It changes how we live.

That’s where this becomes personal.

It’s easy to think of holiness as one category of Christian life—as though we can put worship, prayer, church, and Bible study in the “God” part of our lives and leave everything else outside it.

But if something is truly set apart to God, who does it belong to?

Think about that.

Holiness isn’t God getting a little religious corner of your life.

It’s recognizing:

I belong to Him.

And once you understand that, holiness becomes much bigger than a list of rules.

It becomes a question you can carry into every area of life:

What does belonging to God look like here?

Reflect

Are there areas of your life you’ve never really considered in connection with holiness?

How might viewing yourself as belonging to God change the questions you ask when making decisions?

Go Deeper

Exodus 19:5–6
Leviticus 19:1–2
1 Corinthians 6:19–20
1 Peter 2:9

Read: Exodus 3:1–5

Consider

Moses is tending sheep.

Nothing particularly religious about that.

He’s in the wilderness. There are rocks, dirt, sheep—and then a bush catches his attention because it’s burning without being consumed.

Moses approaches.

And God tells him:

“Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.”

Here’s my question:

What happened to the dirt?

Was that patch of ground somehow naturally holier than the dirt ten feet away?

Scripture doesn’t tell us that.

What it does tell us is that God called the place holy.

And Moses responded to that distinction.

That teaches us something important about holiness.

Moses didn’t decide what was holy.

God did.

Throughout Scripture, you’re going to find God using that word in connection with people, places, things, and even times.

Your job this month isn’t to assume you already know what all of that means.

It’s to notice.

When does Scripture use the word holy?

What does God call holy?

What distinguishes something holy from something that isn’t?

What response does God expect when He identifies something as holy?

Those questions matter because sometimes you can become so familiar with your own definitions that you stop noticing the definitions Scripture gives you.

So today, don’t worry about forming some grand conclusion.

Just notice what happened.

God said:

This is holy ground.

Moses listened – and obeyed.

And perhaps that’s a good habit for you to develop as you continue:

First, notice what God says.

Then start asking what it means.

Reflect

What does Moses’ response teach you about his attitude toward something God called holy?

As you continue this study, are you willing to notice Scripture’s distinctions before deciding what they mean for you?

Go Deeper

Joshua 5:13–15
Exodus 19:10–13
Exodus 31:13–14
Isaiah 57:15

Read: Leviticus 10:8–10

Consider

Today’s Scripture gives you four words worth slowing down for:

Holy. Common. Clean. Unclean.

God told the priests they were responsible:

“to put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean.”

So Scripture contains distinctions. Before you decide what those distinctions mean—or how they apply to you—you need to notice that they’re there. That’s an important Bible-study habit.

Sometimes people come to Scripture already carrying categories they’ve been taught. They see a familiar word and immediately attach the definition they’ve always heard.

Sound familiar?

But what if we slowed down?

What does holy mean here?

What does common mean?

Is unclean always the same thing as sinful?

Are holy and clean interchangeable?

Those aren’t questions you should answer from assumption.

They’re questions you should take back to Scripture.

And notice something else. The priests weren’t supposed to invent the distinctions. They were supposed to teach the distinctions God had made.

That’s an important difference.

Human beings are very good at making our own lines. Sometimes we erase lines God drew. Sometimes we draw lines God didn’t. Sometimes we inherit somebody else’s lines and never stop to ask where they came from. So let’s establish a rule for this study:

Don’t add. Don’t erase. Just look.

When Scripture makes a distinction, you’ll examine it. When Scripture doesn’t make one, you shouldn’t pretend it does. And when you’re not sure?

Dig deeper and keep studying.

You don’t have to force an answer before you’ve done the work.

Reflect

Are there definitions of holiness you’ve accepted without ever examining where they came from?

Why is it important to distinguish between a distinction God makes and one people make?

Go Deeper

Ezekiel 22:26
Ezekiel 44:23
Malachi 3:18
Hebrews 5:14

Read: Isaiah 6:1–8

Consider

We’ve spent four days talking about holiness. But today you need to stop looking at you for a minute.

Isaiah sees the Lord. He sees Him “high and lifted up.”The seraphim cry to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.”

And Isaiah’s immediate response is not:

Wow. Everybody else really needs to straighten up.

It’s:

“Woe is me!”

Take a beat and think about that.

The closer Isaiah came to the holiness of God, the more clearly he saw himself.

Not his neighbor.

Not the people whose theology irritated him.

Not the people who weren’t living the way he thought they should.

Himself.

That’s where a study on holiness can go wrong very quickly.

You can learn something from Scripture and immediately start applying it to everybody around you.

She needs to read this.

He shouldn’t be doing that.

Their church teaches this.

Those Christians don’t understand that.

And suddenly you’re studying everybody else’s holiness instead of your own.

That’s not what happened to Isaiah.He saw God’s holiness—and examined himself. That’s the position you need to have throughout this study on holiness.

Yes, you’re going to encounter Scriptures that may challenge things you’ve been taught. Some may confirm what you already believe. Others may raise questions you’ve never considered. And there may be places where you finish the day’s study thinking:

I need to look at this some more.

Good.

You don’t have to manufacture a conclusion just because you’ve reached the end of today’s reading. This isn’t about reaching my conclusions. It’s about learning to slow down, read the Word, ask good questions, and give Scripture room to examine you.

So as you move forward, resist the temptation to study holiness with somebody else in mind.

Get one-on-one with God and ask Him:

What are You showing me?

And keep asking.

Reflect

When Scripture exposes something uncomfortable, is your first instinct to examine yourself or think about someone else who needs to hear it?

What would it look like to approach the rest of this study with Isaiah’s posture before God?

Go Deeper

Revelation 4:8–11
Psalm 99:1–5
Hebrews 12:28–29
2 Corinthians 7:1

Read: John 14:15, 21

Consider

“If ye love me, keep my commandments.”

That’s a pretty short sentence. Seven words—seems so simple, so straightforward. And yet people have spent a lot of time trying to explain what Jesus meant by it.

Humans being, well, human, flip this sentence over and over. It’s probably one of the most hotly contested verses in the Bible. Which commandments did He mean? Which ones still apply? What exactly does keeping them look like?

Those are questions worth studying, but before you get into any of that, notice the connection Jesus Himself makes: love and obedience.

We often talk about loving God as though love is primarily something we feel. We worship. We pray. We feel close to Him. We tell Him we love Him. Those things can certainly be expressions of love, but love itself is not an emotion. It is an action. We may feel emotions because of love, but ultimately love is a decision we make every day. Every morning we get up and choose to love, regardless of what our emotions happen to be telling us.

Emotions are fickle. Love is not.

And Jesus gives love an action: “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” You might even say obedience is Jesus’ love language.

Verse 21 takes it a little further. Jesus says that the person who has His commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Him. That means your relationship with God cannot be measured only by how deeply you feel something during prayer or worship. At some point, love reaches your choices.

That raises some harder questions. What happens when God says something you don’t particularly want to hear? What happens when obedience is inconvenient? What happens when Scripture challenges something you’ve always done—or something you don’t want to give up?

Yesterday, Isaiah saw the holiness of God and then saw himself more clearly. Today, Jesus gives you another place to look. Instead of measuring your love for God by your emotions, your worship, or even how much Scripture you know, look at what happens when God speaks.

You don’t need to make a list of commandments today or settle every question about John 14:15. Start with what Jesus clearly said and let that establish the foundation before you move on to the harder questions.

Love and obedience are connected.

Reflect

1. When you think about loving God, how much of your definition includes obedience?
2. What happens when what you read in Scripture conflicts with what you want to do?

Go Deeper

• Deuteronomy 6:4–6
• John 15:9–10
• 1 John 2:3–6
• 1 John 5:2–3

Read: James 1:22–25

Consider

You can read your Bible every day and still refuse to let it change you.

James warns us to be “doers of the word, and not hearers only,” and then adds something interesting: when you hear the Word without doing what it says, you deceive yourself.

You can know Scripture. You can highlight it, memorize it, quote it, teach it, post it on social media, and wholeheartedly agree that it is true. None of those things necessarily mean you are obeying it.

James compares the Word to a mirror. You look into a mirror because you want to see what is actually there. If your hair is sticking straight up, the mirror doesn’t fix it. It just shows you the problem. You still have to decide whether you’re going to do something about it.

Scripture does something similar. It shows you things about God, but it also shows you things about yourself. Sometimes what you see is encouraging. Sometimes it confirms that you’re walking according to what God has said. Other times, you may see something you’d rather not see.

That’s especially important in a study about holiness because some of the Scriptures we’re going to read this month will probably be very familiar. You’ve probably read some of them dozens of times. Don’t let familiarity cause you to hurry past them. Slow down enough to ask what the Scripture actually says and whether your life agrees with it.

And if you don’t understand something yet, keep studying. There is nothing wrong with saying, “I don’t know what to do with this yet.” That’s very different from understanding what Scripture says and choosing to ignore it.

Bible study isn’t just about collecting information. If the Word is a mirror, eventually you have to decide what you’re going to do about what it shows you.

Reflect

1. Is there an area where you already know what Scripture says but have struggled to act on it?
2. When you study the Bible, are you primarily looking for information, or are you willing to let what you learn change the way you live?

Go Deeper

• Matthew 7:24–27
• Luke 11:27–28
• Romans 2:13
• James 2:14–18

Read: 1 Samuel 15:22–23

Samuel 15:22–23

Consider

Saul had an explanation for what he did, and at first glance, it probably sounded pretty reasonable.

God had given Saul specific instructions concerning Amalek. Saul didn’t completely ignore those instructions. He did some of what God told him to do, but he also made some changes. When Samuel confronted him, Saul explained that the animals had been spared so they could be sacrificed to God.

That sounds spiritual. It even sounds like something God should appreciate. After all, they were going to sacrifice the animals to Him.

But Samuel’s answer cuts through Saul’s explanation: “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.”

There is an important distinction here. Doing something for God is not necessarily the same thing as obeying God.

You can have good intentions. You can attach God’s name to what you’re doing. You can sincerely believe that what you’ve chosen is a beautiful act of worship. Saul apparently did. But sincerity doesn’t answer the most important question: Is this what God actually asked for?

People are very good at explaining their choices. We can explain why our situation is different, why a particular instruction shouldn’t apply here, why our alternative makes more sense, or why surely God understands what we meant.

That doesn’t mean you should grab one verse, strip it from its context, and build a rule around it. That’s why we’re taking the time to study carefully. Don’t add. Don’t erase. Just look.

But once you’ve looked, compared Scripture, considered the context, and understand what God has said, there comes a point when studying has to become obedience.

Saul wanted to give God a sacrifice. God wanted Saul to listen.

Sometimes what you want to give God and what God is actually asking from you aren’t the same thing.

Reflect

1. Have you ever substituted something religious or well-intentioned for something you knew God was asking you to do?
2. When Scripture conflicts with what you want, what is your first response—obedience or explanation?

Go Deeper

• 1 Samuel 15:1–23
• Proverbs 21:2–3
• Ecclesiastes 5:1
• John 14:23–24

Read: Deuteronomy 4:1–2

Consider

We’ve already been using a simple rule in this study: Don’t add. Don’t erase. Just look.

Deuteronomy 4 shows us why that matters. Moses told Israel, “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it.”

There are two directions here, and both of them matter.

Sometimes people become so concerned about disobedience that they build additional rules around what God said. The reasoning can even sound sensible: If this is the boundary, I’ll put another boundary farther back so nobody gets close enough to cross the first one.

The problem comes when the extra boundary begins to be treated as though God put it there. Given enough time, people may not even realize which instruction came from Scripture and which one came from somebody trying to protect it.

But you can go the other direction too. Something God said feels inconvenient, outdated, difficult, or uncomfortable, so you begin looking for reasons it doesn’t really mean what it appears to mean. Instead of adding to the Word, you begin taking away from it.

This is where inherited beliefs can get tricky. Something can be taught for so long that nobody thinks to ask where it came from. You assume it’s biblical because you’ve always heard that it is. Or perhaps everyone around you dismisses something so completely that you’ve never thought to check whether Scripture actually dismisses it.

That’s why you keep returning to the text.

What did God actually say? What is the context? Who is speaking? Who is being addressed? What do other Scriptures say about the same subject?

Some questions are not going to be answered by reading one verse. Take the time to do the work. But don’t solve difficult Scriptures by adding words God didn’t say or removing words you don’t like.

The goal isn’t to make Scripture fit what you already believe. The goal is to find out what it says.

Reflect

1. Are there beliefs or practices you’ve assumed were biblical without ever checking whether Scripture actually says them?
2. Which tendency do you recognize more easily in yourself—adding requirements God didn’t give or explaining away things you find difficult?

Go Deeper

• Deuteronomy 12:32
• Proverbs 30:5–6
• Mark 7:6–9
• Revelation 22:18–19

Read: James 4:17

Consider

“Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”

There is something important in that word knoweth because knowledge brings responsibility.

Maybe there was a time when you genuinely didn’t know what Scripture said about something. You were doing what you’d been taught. You followed the example you’d been given, and you’d never had a reason to question it.

Then one day you opened the Bible and saw something you hadn’t noticed before.

Maybe you weren’t convinced immediately. You studied it. You checked the context. You compared other Scriptures. You prayed about it. You asked questions. You went back and studied it again.

Eventually, though, there may come a point when the question is no longer, What does Scripture say? You know what it says. The question becomes, What am I going to do about it?

That is one reason we need to be careful about rushing someone else’s process. You may have studied something for ten years that another person encountered for the first time yesterday. Give people room to ask questions, wrestle with Scripture, and work through things carefully. Think about how patient God has been while teaching you.

At the same time, patience with someone else’s process shouldn’t become an excuse to avoid your own obedience.

Maybe you’re still studying something. If you genuinely don’t understand it yet, keep studying. Ask questions. Compare Scripture. Pray. Look at the context. There is no prize for reaching a conclusion before you’ve done the work.

But be honest with yourself too. “I’m still studying” can become a very comfortable place to hide when the real problem isn’t understanding what Scripture says. The problem is that you understand it and don’t particularly like the answer.

Holiness isn’t about how quickly you reach a conclusion. It’s about what you do with truth once you recognize it.

Reflect

1. Has God shown you something through Scripture that you know you need to act on?
2. Is there anything you keep calling a study question when, deep down, you already know what Scripture says?

Go Deeper

• Luke 12:47–48
• John 9:39–41
• John 15:22
• Romans 14:22–23

Read: Romans 12:1–2

Consider

Have you ever noticed how easily you can pick up the habits, attitudes, and opinions of the people around you without even realizing it?

Maybe you started using a phrase because everyone at work says it. Maybe something that once bothered you doesn’t seem like such a big deal anymore because you’ve been around it so much. Or maybe you’ve gradually changed your thinking about something without ever stopping to consider why.

That’s how influence works. It doesn’t always announce itself. Sometimes it happens so gradually that you don’t recognize the change until you look back and realize how far you’ve moved from where you started.

Paul tells believers not to be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of their minds. Notice that he doesn’t simply tell them to behave differently. He points to something deeper: the way they think.

The word conformed carries the idea of being shaped according to a pattern. Think about that for a moment. If something is being shaped, there must be something doing the shaping. So what is shaping you?

Our culture has plenty of opinions about what is acceptable, desirable, normal, and even good. Those opinions change constantly. Something considered unacceptable twenty years ago may be celebrated today, and something praised today may be rejected tomorrow. If your understanding of right and wrong changes every time society changes, what is actually guiding your life?

Paul offers a different approach. Instead of allowing the world to determine how you think, he tells you to be transformed through the renewing of your mind. And notice the purpose he gives: that you may prove what is the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God.

This is important because holiness isn’t simply about avoiding certain behaviors. It also involves examining the thinking that produces those behaviors. You can change something on the outside without ever addressing what is happening on the inside.

As you study Scripture, pay attention to the places where God’s Word challenges what you’ve accepted as normal. You may discover that some of your thinking has been shaped more by your surroundings than by Scripture. You may also discover that some things you’ve been taught to reject have little biblical support.

Either way, the question remains the same: What is shaping the way you think?

Reflect

1. What influences have the greatest effect on your attitudes, opinions, and decisions?
2. Can you identify an area where Scripture has changed the way you think about something you once considered normal?

Go Deeper

• Ephesians 4:17–24
• Colossians 3:1–10
• Philippians 4:8
• 2 Corinthians 10:3–5

Read: Ephesians 4:25–32

Consider

When people talk about holiness, conversations often turn to outward appearance, church attendance, or certain behaviors Christians should avoid. But how often does the conversation turn to the way we speak to people?

Paul certainly thought it mattered.

In Ephesians 4, he addresses lying, anger, stealing, corrupt communication, bitterness, wrath, clamor, evil speaking, and malice. Then he tells believers to be kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving toward one another.

That’s quite a list, and most of it involves how we treat other people.

Look at verse 29. Paul tells believers not to let corrupt communication come out of their mouths, but to speak what is good for edifying others so that their words minister grace to those who hear them.

Now consider how easily our conversations can move in the opposite direction.

Someone irritates you, and you make a cutting remark. You hear something about another person and pass it along without knowing whether it’s true. You get angry and say something you know will hurt. Or perhaps you don’t say anything openly unkind, but your sarcasm communicates exactly what you think.

And then there are the things we say about people when they aren’t around to hear us.

It’s easy to excuse those moments. You were frustrated. You were tired. You were only joking. You were just telling the truth. But does any of that change what Scripture says about the words coming out of your mouth?

This doesn’t mean every conversation has to be solemn or that you can never disagree, correct someone, or speak firmly. Scripture certainly doesn’t prohibit correction. But it does require us to consider how we use our words and what those words accomplish.

Paul connects this instruction to something especially important in verse 30: “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God.”

That’s worth examining. Our words and attitudes toward other people are not disconnected from our relationship with God.

If holiness means belonging to God, then our speech belongs under His authority too. That includes what we say when we’re angry, what we say when someone has wronged us, and what we say when we think nobody important is listening.

Holiness isn’t only about what people can see. Sometimes you can hear it.

Reflect

1. If someone listened to your conversations for an entire day, what would they learn about your attitudes toward other people?
2. Are there situations or relationships where you excuse words or attitudes that Scripture tells you to put away?

Go Deeper

• Proverbs 18:21
• Matthew 12:34–37
• Colossians 4:6
• Proverbs 15:1–4

Read: James 3:2–10

Consider

Yesterday we looked at what Paul said about our words. Today James takes that conversation a little further, and he doesn’t make it particularly comfortable.

He compares the tongue to a bit in a horse’s mouth and a small rudder on a large ship. Both are relatively small, yet they can influence the direction of something much larger.

Then he compares the tongue to a fire.

If you’ve ever watched a careless word turn into an argument, damage a friendship, or spread through a group of people, you probably understand why he chose that illustration.

One sentence can do an astonishing amount of damage.

James also points out something that should make every believer examine himself. With the same tongue, we bless God and curse people who were made in His likeness. Then James says, “My brethren, these things ought not so to be.”

Consider what that looks like in everyday life. You may spend time in prayer, sing praises during worship, and speak enthusiastically about your love for God. But what happens when someone cuts you off in traffic? What comes out of your mouth when a coworker makes a mistake or someone challenges your opinion?

What about the way you speak to the people closest to you?

Sometimes we’re more careful with strangers than we are with our own families. We manage to be polite and patient in public, then come home and speak harshly to the people we claim to love most.

James isn’t suggesting that controlling our tongues is easy. In fact, he spends considerable time explaining just how difficult it can be. But difficulty doesn’t make the subject unimportant.

There’s another distinction worth noticing. James isn’t simply concerned about a particular collection of forbidden words. His concern reaches much deeper. He’s addressing the inconsistency of using the same mouth to honor God and harm people.

That should challenge us to examine not only our vocabulary, but also our motives, attitudes, and habits.

You may never use profanity and still have a serious problem with your tongue. You may speak softly and politely while using your words to manipulate, belittle, or deceive someone. On the other hand, speaking a difficult truth isn’t automatically unholy because someone doesn’t like hearing it.

So don’t reduce this portion of Scripture to a list of words you should never say. Look at what James is actually teaching.

What does the way you use your tongue reveal about what is happening in your heart?

Reflect

1. Are you more careful about how you speak in some situations than others? Why?
2. When you examine your speech, are you looking only at the words you use, or are you also considering your motives and attitudes?

Go Deeper

• James 1:19–26
• Proverbs 12:18
• Matthew 15:10–20
• Psalm 141:3

Read: Philippians 2:3–5

Consider

Have you ever met someone who seemed to do everything right on the outside but was almost impossible to be around?

Maybe they knew Scripture, attended every service, followed every standard their church taught, and were quick to correct anyone who didn’t. But they were also proud, impatient, dismissive, or unkind.

Something about that picture doesn’t quite agree with what Paul tells us in Philippians.

He instructs believers to do nothing through strife or vainglory, but to esteem others better than themselves. Then he says something that brings the entire instruction into focus: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”

Paul isn’t talking about a particular style of clothing or an outward religious practice. He’s talking about the attitude you carry into your relationships with other people.

And that can be much harder to examine.

You can follow a rule while resenting everyone who doesn’t. You can do something generous because you want people to notice. You can serve in ministry while quietly believing your contribution is more important than someone else’s.

You can even be right about Scripture and wrong in the way you treat the person who disagrees with you.

Does being right excuse pride? Does knowing more than someone else give you permission to look down on them? Does obedience to one part of Scripture excuse disobedience to another?

Paul points us toward the mind of Christ, and the verses that follow describe His humility and obedience. Jesus did not treat humility as something beneath Him.

That should tell us something about the importance of our own attitudes.

But be careful not to confuse humility with allowing people to mistreat you. Esteeming others doesn’t mean pretending wrongdoing is acceptable, refusing to establish boundaries, or believing everyone else’s needs must always come before your own. Jesus demonstrated humility, but He also corrected people, confronted hypocrisy, and withdrew when necessary.

The question is whether your attitude reflects His character, particularly when dealing with people who frustrate you, disagree with you, or cannot offer you anything in return.

If your understanding of holiness never reaches your pride, selfishness, or the way you regard other people, there may be something missing from that understanding.

Reflect

1. How do you respond when someone disagrees with you, corrects you, or receives recognition you wanted?
2. Are there areas where your outward behavior appears obedient, but your attitude needs attention?

Go Deeper

• Philippians 2:5–11
• Romans 12:3–10
• James 3:13–18
• Matthew 23:11–12

Read: Colossians 3:12–14

Consider

Ask someone what holiness looks like, and there’s a good chance the conversation will eventually turn to clothing.

Depending on their background, they may immediately think of modesty, particular styles of dress, jewelry, makeup, or a collection of standards they were taught growing up.

Those subjects have their own Scriptures worth studying, and we’ll look at some of them as we continue. But before we get there, I want you to notice something Paul tells believers to put on.

In Colossians 3, Paul says, “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering.”

He continues by telling believers to bear with one another, forgive one another, and above all these things, put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.

That’s quite a wardrobe, isn’t it?

And it’s interesting that Paul uses the language of putting something on. These are not simply pleasant feelings that appear whenever circumstances are favorable. They are qualities believers are instructed to practice. It indicates a conscious, deliberate action, not following a whim or emotion.

Kindness is easy when people are kind to you. Patience is easy when nobody is testing it. Forgiveness sounds wonderful until somebody actually does something that needs forgiving.

But Paul doesn’t limit these instructions to the days when you’re in a good mood or when everyone around you is behaving properly.

He tells you to put them on.

Notice something else. Paul is addressing people he calls holy and beloved. He isn’t telling them how to earn God’s attention or convince Him to love them. He’s telling people who belong to God how that relationship should be reflected in their lives.

And that brings us back to the question we’ve been asking throughout this study: What does holiness actually look like?

If your definition begins and ends with outward appearance, what happens to the things Paul names here? Can someone meet every clothing standard they’ve ever been taught and still be unkind, unforgiving, arrogant, or impatient?

Of course they can.

Does that mean outward choices never matter? Paul doesn’t say that either. We’re not going to use one portion of Scripture to dismiss another.

Instead, notice what this portion actually teaches. Holiness reaches into your relationships, your responses, and the way you treat people who may not always be easy to love.

Before you begin examining what someone is wearing on the outside, make sure you haven’t overlooked what Scripture tells you to put on in your heart and character.

After all, if you belong to God, shouldn’t that relationship be evident in the way you treat the people around you?

Reflect

1. When you think about holiness, how often do mercy, kindness, humility, patience, forgiveness, and love come to mind?
2. Which of the qualities Paul lists is most difficult for you to practice consistently, especially when dealing with difficult people?

Go Deeper

• Ephesians 4:22–32
• Galatians 5:22–26
• 1 Corinthians 13:1–13
• 1 Peter 3:3–4

Oct 16 — Your Body Belongs to God

Read: 1 Corinthians 6:19–20

Consider

Have you ever heard someone say, “It’s my body, and I can do whatever I want with it”?

That’s a pretty common attitude, and it makes sense from a worldly perspective. After all, your body belongs to you, doesn’t it? You’re the one living in it. You’re the one making decisions about what you eat, what you wear, where you go, and what you do.

But Paul introduces a different perspective in 1 Corinthians 6. He asks believers, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?”

Then he explains why: “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

That’s quite a statement. Paul isn’t just telling believers to make healthier choices or avoid certain behaviors. He’s reminding them that their bodies belong to God.

Before you begin making a list of what that might mean, though, look at the context. Paul is addressing sexual immorality and explaining why it matters. He isn’t offering a general lecture about exercise, nutrition, or personal appearance. He’s addressing the relationship between our bodies, our conduct, and our belonging to Christ.

And that relationship is worth examining.

Sometimes people approach Christianity as though the spiritual part of life belongs to God while the physical part remains entirely their own business. As far as they’re concerned, prayer, worship, and Bible study are spiritual matters, but what they do with their bodies is something separate.

But it doesn’t really work that way.

Paul doesn’t make that separation. In fact, he argues that what believers do with their bodies matters precisely because they belong to Christ.

Does that mean every personal preference is automatically a holiness issue? Of course not. We still have to examine what Scripture actually teaches rather than inventing requirements God hasn’t given.

But it does mean that the body isn’t irrelevant to holiness.

Think back to Day 2, when we talked about what it means to be set apart. Holiness isn’t giving God a little religious corner of your life. It’s recognizing that you belong to Him.

Paul takes that principle and applies it to the physical body. If you belong to God, then even the things you do with your body deserve to be examined in light of His Word.

The question isn’t simply whether you have the freedom to make a particular choice. It’s whether that choice honors the One to whom you belong.

Reflect

1. Have you ever thought of your body as something separate from your relationship with God? How does Paul’s teaching challenge that idea?
2. What does it mean to glorify God in your body, and how can you distinguish biblical instruction from personal preference?

Go Deeper

• 1 Corinthians 6:12–20
• Romans 12:1–2
• 1 Thessalonians 4:3–8
• 2 Corinthians 7:1

Read: 1 Timothy 2:8–10

Consider

Well, here we are. We’ve arrived at one of those subjects that can make people a little uncomfortable: clothing, appearance, and what Christians should or shouldn’t wear.

BUT

We’re looking at what the Bible says, not man.

Depending on your background, you may already have a pretty strong opinion about this subject. Perhaps you grew up in a church with very specific standards of dress. Maybe you were taught that outward appearance has little or nothing to do with holiness. Or perhaps you’ve never given the subject much thought.

Whatever your background, I want you to do something before you begin reading today: set aside the list you’ve been taught, whether it’s a list of things you must do or a list of things you believe don’t matter.

We’re going to look at Scripture and see what Paul actually says.

In 1 Timothy 2, Paul addresses both men and women. He begins by instructing men to pray without wrath and doubting, then turns to the way women adorn themselves. He speaks of modest apparel, shamefacedness, and sobriety, and contrasts an emphasis on elaborate outward adornment with the good works appropriate for women professing godliness.

Notice that Paul doesn’t simply say appearance doesn’t matter. He addresses it. But notice something else: his instruction doesn’t end with clothing or adornment. He points toward what is going on inside: godliness and good works.

That should tell us something about the purpose of his instruction.

It’s possible to focus so heavily on outward appearance that you overlook the character Scripture is calling you to develop. Someone may meet every outward standard they’ve been taught while remaining proud, unkind, dishonest, or unforgiving. We discussed that yesterday and in the days before.

But the opposite approach deserves examination too. If Scripture addresses modesty and adornment, is it reasonable to dismiss the subject entirely simply because it concerns outward appearance?

Rather than choosing one extreme or the other, let’s ask some questions. What does Paul mean by modesty? What attitudes is he addressing? What does the contrast between outward adornment and good works tell us? How does the surrounding context help us understand his instructions?

How does it help us determine what modesty is? We can actually look at scripture throughout the Bible that help us define modest – both in dress and demeanor.

And perhaps most importantly, which conclusions come directly from Scripture, and which ones come from traditions or interpretations we’ve inherited?

Those distinctions matter. You shouldn’t erase something God has said simply because it makes you uncomfortable. But neither should you present your personal preferences or denominational standards as though every detail came directly from God.

Remember what we established earlier this month: Don’t add. Don’t erase. Just look.

We’re not going to settle every question about Christian appearance in one day’s study. That isn’t the goal. Today, the goal is to recognize that Scripture addresses the subject and begin examining what it actually teaches.

Reflect

1. Where did your current understanding of modesty and godly appearance come from? Have you examined those beliefs directly in Scripture?
2. How can you distinguish between biblical principles, cultural expectations, and religious traditions when studying outward holiness?

Go Deeper

• 1 Peter 3:1–6
• Proverbs 31:25–30
• Colossians 3:12–14
• 1 Samuel 16:7

Read: Genesis 7:1–3

Consider

When people discuss the biblical distinction between clean and unclean animals, the conversation usually begins in Leviticus 11. That’s understandable because Leviticus gives detailed instructions concerning which animals Israel could eat and which were considered unclean.

But today we’re going to start somewhere else. We’re going back to Noah.

In Genesis 7, God instructs Noah to take seven pairs of every clean animal and one pair of animals that are not clean, along with the birds. This happens long before Israel receives the Law at Mount Sinai.

Did you catch that?

God distinguishes between clean and unclean animals before Sinai.

That’s an important detail because it raises questions about when that distinction originated and what it meant.

Now, before you jump ahead and decide what this means for Christians today, remember our study method. We’re going to establish what the Scripture actually says before drawing conclusions about its application.

Genesis tells us that Noah understood a distinction between clean and unclean animals. It doesn’t provide the complete explanation of that distinction in this portion of Scripture, nor does it give us the detailed dietary instructions we’ll encounter later in Leviticus.

But it does establish that the distinction existed.

That’s worth remembering because people sometimes speak as though every distinction recorded in the Law first came into existence at Sinai. Yet here we have God making a distinction centuries earlier.

There is another interesting detail in Genesis 8:20. After leaving the ark, Noah builds an altar and offers burnt offerings from the clean animals and birds. That gives us some additional context for the distinction in Noah’s day.

So what should you do with this information?

Study it.

Look at the timeline. Notice what God says and what Noah does. Compare this account with later Scriptures that discuss clean and unclean animals. Ask what remains consistent and what additional instructions appear as the biblical record develops.

And resist the temptation to rush straight into an argument about what Christians should eat.

We’ll get to those questions. But first, you need to understand what Scripture actually establishes.

If God made a distinction before Sinai, that’s part of the biblical record. Whatever conclusions you eventually reach about its application, you shouldn’t overlook that fact.

Reflect

1. Were you aware that Scripture distinguishes between clean and unclean animals before the Law was given at Sinai?
2. How might recognizing the timeline of a biblical instruction affect the questions you ask when studying its meaning and application?

Go Deeper

• Genesis 8:20–21
• Genesis 9:1–4
• Leviticus 11:1–47
• Ezekiel 44:23