Holiness is the dedication of one’s life to God in every sphere of one’s existence. A holy place is a place where the Almighty is present or where He is worshiped. A holy life implies knowing God’s will, understanding it, and precisely fulfilling all the Creator’s requirements and expectations.
Obedience and temperance are two sisters of holiness. And the presence of wisdom and understanding is simply essential.
God speaks to us very often about His holiness, giving His attitude toward various things as an example, and He expects us to imitate Him in these matters. The Lord calls His people holy, making it clear that this title is bestowed upon a person under certain conditions—in advance, before that person has actually become holy. And the Lord expects me to hear Him, to think, to examine my life, and to obey.
When studying the Bible, one can see that holiness applies to outward appearance, nutrition, tithing, worship, religious services, and everything dedicated to God. But does this have anything to do with me and with our time? Perhaps holiness was necessary in the days of Moses and the apostles, but now we live in an age of grace and spiritual enlightenment, and our knowledge surpasses everything our ancestors understood?
For all ages, we have been given the warning to possess holiness, without which no one will be able to see God. A high goal has been set before us, and it is worth understanding and attaining.
The Bible speaks very often about holiness in nutrition. Moreover, the Lord emphasizes that it is His people who are to possess such holiness, while everyone else is free to live as they please. Yet obedience to God’s will brings abundant blessing to all nations. And every commandment contains something good. Although the law neither saves nor makes us holy, it reveals the problem lodged within my heart. Every command of God is like a mirror in which I can see my life in the light of Heaven’s revelations. Yet whenever God proposes or counsels something, He also gives the power of grace to obey.
Eating is a process vital to every human being. At birth, every child has an instinct to take in food, and the body knows how much a person needs, while the mother receives the milk necessary to give to her infant. But an infant does not choose; it accepts what it is given.
As a person grows, however, his tastes and needs change, and he begins to make conscious choices. That is when God’s requirements come into effect.
In speaking about holiness, the Bible says a great deal about abstaining from unclean food, from animals that have been strangled, from animals found dead, and from meat containing blood. Yes, in earlier times there was not the same knowledge of hygiene, and animal products could not be stored for long. Meat spoiled very quickly. It became rotten and infested with worms, but subsequent cooking concealed these characteristics, and the dish looked delicious and appetizing. Yet the problem of spoilage remained.
In Genesis 9:4 we read: ‘But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat’; Leviticus 3:17: ‘...ye eat neither fat nor blood’; Deuteronomy 14:3: ‘Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing’; Deuteronomy 14:21: ‘Ye shall not eat of any thing that dieth of itself...’; Leviticus 11:44: ‘For I am the Lord your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth’; Acts 15:29: ‘That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication....’
When I read these passages from the Bible, I find them wise. But when I enter a supermarket, I see attractive packages of sausages and meat products, and nowhere does it say that they are abominable, that they come from an animal found dead, or that these products contain blood. So with a clear conscience I buy and eat them without thinking. And what happens to my holiness? It becomes highly questionable. Holiness teaches me that I must think, and that it is especially important to think whenever something is unclear.
Let us take an ordinary beef sausage and think about what it is. We will not quibble but simply consider the facts.
I suggest that we examine a German product. It looks attractive, bears an expiration date, has no unpleasant smell, and tastes good. All that remains is to pray and eat it, for 1 Timothy 4:4–5 says: ‘For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.’ I continue thinking.
The food industry exists to make a large profit with the lowest possible costs and losses. This means that an animal must not become ill and must grow and gain weight quickly. To accomplish this, preventive and medicinal injections must be administered, and the animal must be given precisely the feed that promotes rapid bodily growth. No one is concerned about the medications contained in the feed, because they help build muscle mass.
The animal must move less so that it does not expend unnecessary energy.
The slaughterhouse is usually located at a meat-processing plant, and the animal must be transported there. Living creatures experience stress as they sense their approaching death. Their bodies release adrenaline and other hormones.
In Germany, it is forbidden to cause animals pain, so they are killed by electric current or by other methods in which the blood does not drain out but remains in the body, producing meat from an animal that has been strangled and still contains blood.
Food companies are permitted to omit certain safe components from a product’s ingredient list in order to keep their recipes secret. Fat or pork lard is added to many sausages to give them a distinctive flavor and tenderness, and this is not always stated in the list of ingredients.
For sausage to keep for a long time, preservatives must be added, many of which are dangerous to human health.
I do not know what illnesses the animal had before its death. But it was a living soul that enjoyed its existence and did not understand why it was being raised.
After thinking about this, I come to a simple conclusion. All meat products sold in ordinary German stores come from animals that have been strangled and still contain blood, and they may also contain fat and unclean additives. These attractively packaged products are saturated with harmful substances. After reflecting for a while, I decide not to eat them, while the scientific world seeks to convince me that my body needs protein and amino acids found only in meat. It takes effort to hold to my position. But such a decision is usually made not at the grocery counter, where the sight of abundance makes one’s mouth water, but during reflection, study, and prayer for the desire to obey God’s will.
I believe that in these last days it is worth thinking about what is on my plate and in my refrigerator.
Prophecy tells us that the very final trials of God’s people will be directly related to their holiness. It is therefore important to take time to learn what holiness is and whether it is present in my life, even when I am hidden from human eyes.
A display of holiness does not save from sin; rather, it resembles hypocrisy and double-mindedness. It is therefore better to show love while being holy—that is, while being a special person who builds his life upon Eternal principles.
I cannot say that I am holy, but I am studying this subject and striving to become holy.
My prayer will not turn something abominable into something beneficial, and my love will not change the composition of my food. In this matter, there must be strict ‘yes’ and ‘no’ answers. But a person must come to this conclusion for himself, understanding what is happening and why it is right. And such awareness takes time.
Bible verses for this chapter:
Romans 6:22; Hebrews 12:14; 2 Corinthians 6:16–18; Genesis 7:1–3; Leviticus 7:22–27; 11:1–47; 17:10–16; 19:26; Isaiah 66:15–17; 1 Corinthians 3:16–17; 8:1–13; Revelation 21:27; 22:11; Acts 15:19–20