in a nutshell

Leviticus 11:45 says I am the Lord who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy. Holiness is a different mindset, one that makes you set apart from the rest of the crowd. In fact that in the Greek form means set apart. Another verse in 1 Timothy 1:8-9 shares the same sentiment; “so do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life.

Do you notice how it is two separate things? Salvation and a holy life, we have already been rescued from the depths, the action; the sacrifice has already been made. This action has already taken place. This action of course was Christ dying and resurrecting three days later. In a Christians life we have already accepted this, that is how we are called Christians. The belief in these two acts of Christ.

The act of salvation is past, but the idea of living a holy life is present and future. It is our job to learn how to be a living sacrifice holy and pleasing to God as it says in Romans 12:1.
This is of course not an easy task. But is definitely not unreachable. It is very possible and definitely a reachable goal. God does not ask of us something we cannot be. We have to be different, set apart from the world in our actions and deeds.

Now this holiness does not mean perfection. And this is where the church has messed up. John Wesley called it Christian perfection. Not meaning that we are perfect and cannot sin within holiness. In a way it means that we are bent away from the sinful nature that we were so proned to. This is how we got termed with the word hypocrites, because we cannot live up to perfection.