Sunday we were discussing what it meant to live a righteous life. We had read several quotations in the book of Romans that use the word. From there we started talking about holiness, and sanctification. Eventually, we got to one of those great favorite misquotes of the Bible,
“Be ye holy as I am holy”
My guess is that you’ve heard it before. It’s the way it’s usually expressed. It is also totally wrong and misses the entire point.
After quoting it the next statement by someone in the group is, it’s impossible to be as holy as God. Well, if the actual biblical statement was as given, then, no, it would not be impossible, because the Bible tells us to do it. But the Bible doesn’t set that standard.
What does the Bible actually say?
1 Peter 1:16 (KJV) Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.The command was not to be as holy as God. The command was to be holy because of God.
From there you could get into a discussion of what it means to be holy. You could point out that the idea of being holy means more separation than moral purity. You could point out that we are called “saints” which means “holy ones”. You’ll find that there’s an Old Testament equivalent, under the law.
So don’t waste your time trying to understand misquotes. When you hear something that doesn’t quite seem right, go to the Source. You would be amazed at how often the actual quotation is not what somebody thinks it is.
What they say is on them. What you believe is on you.
homo unius libri
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Comments are welcome. Feel free to agree or disagree but keep it clean, courteous and short. I heard some shorthand on a podcast: TLDR, Too long, didn't read.