The Holiness of Jesus
What if your view of Jesus is a little too soft?
We tend to picture him as calm, gentle, meek, maybe carrying a lamb or smiling at children. Those images are true, but they're not the whole picture. Somewhere along the way, we've domesticated the Lion of Judah into a house cat. But Jesus is so much more than our comfortable images allow.
Here's what I want you to understand: The holiness of Jesus means he is your final judge and the only one who can save you from that judgment.
Understanding True Holiness
Throughout Scripture, God is described as holy. The Hebrew word kadosh means sacred, set apart, morally pure, all the time. To be holy means completely pure, utterly set apart, free from defilement, and morally flawless.
In Isaiah 6, the prophet sees seraphim, the highest class of angels, standing above God's throne, calling out to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory." They couldn't say it just once. They repeated it three times to capture the enormity of God's holiness.
That's the Jesus we need to see, not a tame version, but the truly holy one.
He Lived Perfect Holiness
Jesus didn't just claim holiness as a title. He lived it every single day in a world full of temptation and compromise. He never sinned, not once. No selfish thoughts, no hidden motives, no moral shortcuts.
Even his enemies couldn't find fault in him. At his trial, Judas admitted, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood." Pilate's wife warned, "Have nothing to do with this righteous man." The thief on the cross declared, "This man has done nothing wrong." A Roman centurion concluded, "Certainly this man was innocent."
But Jesus didn't just avoid sin, he actively pursued righteousness in every moment. And more than loving what was good, he hated what was evil. He called out religious hypocrisy. He overturned tables in the temple. He spoke truth even when it offended people, because he loved them enough to want their transformation.
One of the greatest failures of the modern church is tolerating evil with silence and compromise. Jesus never did that.
The Cross Reveals Holy Love
If you want to see holiness in action, look at the cross. That's where we see both his love and his holiness most clearly.
Jesus, the holy one, pure and perfect, became sin for us. Not symbolically, but literally. He carried all our rebellion, all our shame, all our filth. The only man who never deserved to die died for people who only deserve to die.
That's not just love. That's holy love.
His holiness led him to the cross. He couldn't ignore sin or sweep it under the rug. He took it seriously enough to die for it. This is where holiness and love collide, his love drove him to the cross, and his holiness demanded what happened there.
If you water down Jesus's holiness, you'll never fully understand the cross. That sacrifice only has power because the one offering it was without sin. Your salvation is secure not because you're good, but because he is holy.
He Returns as Judge
But Jesus's holiness doesn't end at the cross. One day soon, the Holy One won't just be the Lamb of God, he will be the judge. There will come a moment when the time of grace ends and the time of judgment begins.
Jesus made this clear: there will be a day when he draws a line between those who belong to him and those who don't. He's loving and merciful, but he's also holy. And that means he will not ignore sin forever.
He died to separate us from sin. But if we refuse that separation, if we cling to our sin and reject the Savior, he will honor that decision. He won't force his holiness on anyone, but he will judge those who deny it.
Your Response Matters
How will you respond to this holy Jesus? Not the safe, comfortable version we've grown accustomed to, but the real one, the Lion of Judah, the Lamb who was slain, the judge who will return.
If you've never surrendered to Jesus, let today be the day. Not because you need to clean yourself up first, but because only he can make you clean. The Holy One became sin so you could become holy.
And if you're a believer who's been coasting, remember this: Jesus wasn't casual on the cross. Don't be casual in your discipleship.
The holiness of Jesus is both terrifying and beautiful, and it demands a response.
We tend to picture him as calm, gentle, meek, maybe carrying a lamb or smiling at children. Those images are true, but they're not the whole picture. Somewhere along the way, we've domesticated the Lion of Judah into a house cat. But Jesus is so much more than our comfortable images allow.
Here's what I want you to understand: The holiness of Jesus means he is your final judge and the only one who can save you from that judgment.
Understanding True Holiness
Throughout Scripture, God is described as holy. The Hebrew word kadosh means sacred, set apart, morally pure, all the time. To be holy means completely pure, utterly set apart, free from defilement, and morally flawless.
In Isaiah 6, the prophet sees seraphim, the highest class of angels, standing above God's throne, calling out to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory." They couldn't say it just once. They repeated it three times to capture the enormity of God's holiness.
That's the Jesus we need to see, not a tame version, but the truly holy one.
He Lived Perfect Holiness
Jesus didn't just claim holiness as a title. He lived it every single day in a world full of temptation and compromise. He never sinned, not once. No selfish thoughts, no hidden motives, no moral shortcuts.
Even his enemies couldn't find fault in him. At his trial, Judas admitted, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood." Pilate's wife warned, "Have nothing to do with this righteous man." The thief on the cross declared, "This man has done nothing wrong." A Roman centurion concluded, "Certainly this man was innocent."
But Jesus didn't just avoid sin, he actively pursued righteousness in every moment. And more than loving what was good, he hated what was evil. He called out religious hypocrisy. He overturned tables in the temple. He spoke truth even when it offended people, because he loved them enough to want their transformation.
One of the greatest failures of the modern church is tolerating evil with silence and compromise. Jesus never did that.
The Cross Reveals Holy Love
If you want to see holiness in action, look at the cross. That's where we see both his love and his holiness most clearly.
Jesus, the holy one, pure and perfect, became sin for us. Not symbolically, but literally. He carried all our rebellion, all our shame, all our filth. The only man who never deserved to die died for people who only deserve to die.
That's not just love. That's holy love.
His holiness led him to the cross. He couldn't ignore sin or sweep it under the rug. He took it seriously enough to die for it. This is where holiness and love collide, his love drove him to the cross, and his holiness demanded what happened there.
If you water down Jesus's holiness, you'll never fully understand the cross. That sacrifice only has power because the one offering it was without sin. Your salvation is secure not because you're good, but because he is holy.
He Returns as Judge
But Jesus's holiness doesn't end at the cross. One day soon, the Holy One won't just be the Lamb of God, he will be the judge. There will come a moment when the time of grace ends and the time of judgment begins.
Jesus made this clear: there will be a day when he draws a line between those who belong to him and those who don't. He's loving and merciful, but he's also holy. And that means he will not ignore sin forever.
He died to separate us from sin. But if we refuse that separation, if we cling to our sin and reject the Savior, he will honor that decision. He won't force his holiness on anyone, but he will judge those who deny it.
Your Response Matters
How will you respond to this holy Jesus? Not the safe, comfortable version we've grown accustomed to, but the real one, the Lion of Judah, the Lamb who was slain, the judge who will return.
If you've never surrendered to Jesus, let today be the day. Not because you need to clean yourself up first, but because only he can make you clean. The Holy One became sin so you could become holy.
And if you're a believer who's been coasting, remember this: Jesus wasn't casual on the cross. Don't be casual in your discipleship.
The holiness of Jesus is both terrifying and beautiful, and it demands a response.
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