Is Holiness a Virtue?

One of the primary things we learn about God in the Bible is that he is holy (Lev. 11:44-45; 19:2; any reference to the Holy Spirit). Moreover, we learn that as image bearers of God, we are to exhibit God’s character by being holy as well (Lev. 11:45; I Peter 1:15-16). Yet, holiness is a quality that is not necessarily limited to God or people. It can pertain to time (Gen. 2:3), spaces and places (Ex. 2:3; 19:23), and things (Ex. 29:37; 30:37; 39:30) that are specifically set aside for the Lord. In this respect, holiness is much more than a virtue. But is it also a virtue?

If you check the lists of pagan or general virtues in the past or present, you will not find this virtue listed. If you check the list of virtues found in American laws that list virtues that K-12 schools are supposed to teach students, you will also not see this virtue. You will also not find any positive psychology scales that try to measure it. Therefore, if it is a virtue, it is a unique Jewish/Christian virtue. To determine whether it is a virtue, it helps to consider a recent definition of a virtue.

The Virtue of Holiness

One group of scholars recently defined virtues as “(a) dispositional, (b) deep-seated (c) habits (d) that contribute to flourishing and (e) that produce activities with the following three features: they are (f) done well, (g) not done poorly, and (h) in accordance with the right motivation and reason.”¹

The command to be holy involves engaging in habits for the right reasons that hopefully become ingrained in God’s people. That’s why Ex. 31:13 says, “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy.’” Here we see how the process of acquiring the virtue of holiness works in the Old Testament. God chooses Israel for holiness. Then, God both sets up and identifies the dispositional and deep-seated habits that they need for holiness, and then, by developing the habits for the right motivations and reasons, they become holy. In this regard, holiness is a virtue.²

Now, one of the tricky aspects of holiness as a virtue is that its adherence combines two ethical elements that are usually best kept separate. When discussing ethics, it is usually important to distinguish between virtues and rules. Someone who obeys all the rules is not necessarily excellent at something. Consider a sport, such as pickleball. It does not take long to learn the rules and learn to obey them. Yet, it is much harder and takes much longer to acquire the second-nature habits, particularly eye-hand coordination, necessary to be an excellent pickleball player.

Yet, acquiring the virtue of holiness in the Old Testament entailed keeping rules—613 to be exact (248 positive commands and 365 negative commands). In this respect, it is the first step to a life with God. Just as following specific rules for a game, such as baseball, pickleball, Life, or Risk, sets you apart as someone who plays these games, God asked Israel to play the specific game God has designed for them to flourish. That means following God’s rules for that life. In fact, these laws are holy (e.g., “So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.” Rom. 7:12).

In this respect, it makes sense why the first virtue of God’s virtues that we to imitate that is listed in the Bible is holiness. You have to learn the rules of a game before you start playing it. Then, when you start playing it, following the rules sets you apart. To continue to be set apart, you must continue to follow the rules. From watching games, such as professional baseball and basketball, we know that even professionals try to cheat by bending or breaking the rules. That’s why we need umpires and referees. Learning holiness taught the Israelites the rules of the game of life that God established for them.

Holiness in the New Testament

Since it is not a virtue that one leaves behind as one matures, holiness continues to be emphasized in the New Testament—especially as a character of God’s Spirit and God’s redeemed people. The process of acquiring the virtue, however, is both similar and slightly different. Similarly, God chooses Christians to be holy, “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight” (Eph. 1:4). What is different is that God, through Christ, the holy sacrifice for our sins, makes us holy (Col. 1:22).

Then God gives us the instructions for how to become what he has already chosen, designed, and redeemed us to be. Similar to the Old Testament, these instructions involve avoiding particular actions. For example, Eph. 5:3 states, “But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.” Yet, they also involve more than rules of avoidance.

Here is where the New Testament advances beyond what we find in the Old Testament. Instead of largely focusing on the rules of the game, per se, the NT writers focus on the virtues that one needs to be excellent in the game of life. For example, Col. 3:12 focuses on virtues and the original virtue clothing we were meant to acquire in the garden. Paul notes, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” In the New Testament, Christ makes us holy so that we can acquire the clothing that we were meant to acquire in the garden—God’s virtues.

The Role of the Body

One of the other major shifts in the New Testament concerns how we understand the presence of the Holy. The Holy Spirit now lives with us, versus simply dwelling in certain places such as the Holy of Holies. As a result, how we steward our body that houses the Holy Spirit receives added emphasis. For instance, Romans 12:1-2, the first command found up to that point in Romans, states, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” Our body with the Holy Spirit becomes a holy sacrifice.

So also, the church is holy, not as a place—that’s the problem with praising grand European cathedrals as somehow equal to the Old Testament temple. Instead, holiness is the joining together of bodies through Christ. Or as Eph. 2:21-22 reminds us, “In him [Christ] the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.  And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” That’s why stewardship of the body is so important. As I Thes. 4:4, 7 reminds us “that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable….For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.” We must treat our bodies as God’s holy temple. College students especially need to hear this message. Yet, stewardship of the body is woefully neglected on Christian college campuses.

Holiness and College Students

The hard part about introducing holiness to college students is that it relates to their two primary weaknesses. The first weakness comes from the rule followers. These are the students who equate the spiritual life with holiness or following a particular set of rules. They forget that rules are the basics. I am not a good neighbor if I do not steal, and I am not a good husband simply because I do not commit adultery. That’s why college students need a steady dose of all the other New Testament Christian virtues beyond holiness. They must learn to clothe themselves with compassion, forgiveness, humility, gentleness, gratitude, etc. These comprise a more extensive understanding of human excellence.

The second weakness comes from the rule breakers. These are often the “broke all the rules, played all the fools” young people who enjoy seeing what they can get away with. To them, rules are made to be challenged and violated. Christians in authority often take the wrong approach with the rule breakers. They come down harder on emphasizing the rules without realizing that referees are never inspirational. And telling young people to obey the rules is not motivating.

Instead, faculty and staff need to cultivate the longing for excellence that resides within these rule breakers, which they strive to fulfill. They need a greater story than obeying the rules. As George  McDonald noted, “The best thing you can do for your fellow, next to rousing his conscience, is—not to give him things to think about, but to wake things up that are in him; or say, to make him think things for himself.”

In fact, I recently spoke with two Christian university graduates who talked about a book they had been warned against in their undergraduate education by a misdirected refereeing-oriented critique of the book. Yet, they started reading the book, and both said it spoke to their souls in powerful ways because it awakened deep longings for God and God’s virtues within them. That is what we need to do when inspiring college students toward holiness. With Christians who chafe against human-made rules, you need to awaken a longing for higher virtues and excellence already inside them, since the Holy Spirit dwells within them.

1. Juliette L. Ratchford, Timothy Pawl, Anne Jeffrey, & Sarah A. Schnitker, “What is Virtue? Using Philosophy to Refine Psychological Definition and Operationalization,” Philosophical Psychology, 37, no. 8 (2023): 2607. https://doi.org/10.1080/09515089.2023.2203157
2. The Oxford English Dictionary definition of holiness combines numerous elements. It describes it as “The quality of being holy; spiritual perfection or purity; sanctity, saintliness; sacredness.” A more applicable definition as related to Israel is two, which pertain to holy, “Kept or regarded as inviolate from ordinary use, and appropriated or set apart for religious use or observance; consecrated, dedicated, sacred” and “Of persons: specially belonging to, commissioned by, or devoted to God.”