HOLY

"Holy" is from the Greek hagios, which carries the idea of something "separated" from other things. (a) God utterly stands apart from sinful man, and thus he is absolutely holy (Isa. 6:3; Rev. 4:8), as is Christ (Heb. 7:26), and the Holy Spirit. (b) Certain objects may be deemed "holy" by virtue of their use in the divine scheme of things, e.g., the "holy place" within the tabernacle (Ex. 26:33). (c) Christians are considered to be "holy" (1 Pet. 1:15; 2:9) because they have been set apart from the world by their obedience to the gospel (Eph. 5:26 -- "sanctified" is the verbal form, hagiazo). "Saints" (hagios) are holy only in a relative sense. See SAINTS, SANCTIFIED.

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Adapted from the book "Bible Words and Theological Terms Made Easy" by Wayne Jackson