God has called all believers to a holy life. There is no exception to this call. It is not a call directed only to pastors, missionaries, and a few Sunday School teachers who have devoted themselves to this task. All believers everywhere, whether rich or poor, educated or uneducated, influential or
totally unknown, they are called to be saints. The believing plumber and the believing banker, the ignored housewife and the powerful head of state have all been equally called to be saints.
This call to the holy life is based on the fact that God Himself is holy. Because God is holy, he demands that we too be holy. Many Christians have what we might call a "cultural holiness." They adapt to the character and behavior scheme of the believers around them. Sometimes we find more or less holy Christian brothers who surround them is more or less holy, these people are more or less holy too. But God has not called us to be like those around us. He has called us to be as he is. Holiness consists in nothing less than conformity to the character of God.
As used in the Scriptures, the word sanctity describes both the majesty of God and the purity and moral perfection of his nature. Holiness is one of the divine attributes; that is, holiness is an essential part of God's nature. His holiness is as necessary as his existence, or as necessary, for example, as his wisdom or his omniscience. Just as he can not avoid knowing what is right, he can not avoid doing what is right. We ourselves do not always know what is right, what is right and good.
The holiness of God, therefore, means that he is perfectly free from all evil. We say that a garment is clean when it is free of stains, or that the gold is pure when it has been refined and all the scum has been removed. In this way we can think of the holiness of God as the total absence of evil in him. John said: "God is light, and there is no darkness in him" (1 John 1: 5). Light and darkness, when used in this way in the Scriptures, have moral significance. John is telling us that God is completely free of all moral evil, and that he himself is the essence of moral purity.
The holiness of God also includes his perfect conformity to his own divine character. That is to say, all his thoughts and all his action are consistent with his holy character. By contrast, consider our own life. With time, as we mature in the Christian life, we develop a certain degree of Christian character.
We improve in aspects such as learning to speak the truth, as well as in purity and humility. But we do not always act consistently with our character. We tell a lie or we get carried away by a series of impure thoughts. Then we feel afflicted with ourselves for such actions or thoughts,
because they are incompatible with our character. This is something that never happens to God. God invariably works according to his holy character. And it is precisely at this level of holiness that God has called us when he says: "Be holy, for I am holy."
The absolute sanctity of God must serve great consolation and security. If God is perfectly holy, then we can trust that his actions for us must always be perfect and just.