For years I have heard pastors and theologians define "holy" as a word meaning "set apart for service to God". In the New Testament - although many today shy away from this term - the same word in the noun form is "saints" and gets applied to believers.
The Apostle Paul was always writing his letters to "saints", like those in Ephesus: "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus." (1:1)
I guess we shy away from calling ourselves saints because we don't want to set too high of standards for ourselves.
But it seems to me now that speaking of a people "set apart for service to God" is simply acknowledging that God has now actively re-established what He intended from the start when He first created humans in His image.
And if we resist the label of "saints", then we might not be ready to live up to what God is calling us to in Christ - being renewed in His image.
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