Saint, Holy

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I often meet and talk with people from different religious backgrounds.
I found astonishingly large number of situations where various misconceptions about holiness and "being saint" were proclaimed. These misconceptions take many different forms, but they are almost always linked to a type of “humility” that is detached from reality and superficial, as well as to a view that one has no value as a person. People simply cannot be free from the "Roman Catholic" misconception that holiness is a human characteristic or quality of the human moral.
Let me clarify that last sentence right away. According to Catholic teaching, holiness is not merely a human quality or moral trait, but primarily an essential attribute of God in which human beings share. Human moral perfection can only be called “holiness” in a secondary and derivative sense.
Human holiness is indeed, in a moral sense, a quality of a person, but only as the fruit of God’s grace: “moral perfection, integrity of thought and action.”
This view is the official one. This can be found in virtually every religious tradition, missionary approach, or theological school.
However, this is a real disaster. In practice, this is far distant from the biblical concept of holiness, because it is subject to human conditions and depends on one’s character.
The biblical concept of holiness is based on God’s restorative initiative. This call and active process of the sanctification accompany us throughout our lives as we walk with Christ.
When we turn to the apostles' wisdom they teach us a coherent perspective. In 1 Peter 1:15-16, the Apostle Peter issues his definitive call to the holy life, writing:
“But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy’”.
Drawing directly from Old Testament commands, Peter reframes holiness not as legalistic bondage, but as a deliberate lifestyle reflecting Gd's character. This perspective gives us freedom, purpose, and separation from the world's destructive patterns.
Now, let us turn to the Bible, we have to go back to the apostolic teaching in the New Testament, (because the New Testament definition of holiness is slightly different than that of the Old Testament.)
In the next page you can find the biblical definitions:
The Bible on Holiness
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