When we're studying scripture and we read that God says "Be holy as I am holy," it means that God wants us to be like Jesus. This is because Jesus is the best revelation of what God is like.
When we say that "God is holy" we cannot mean that God is something other than like Jesus. We cannot mean God is cruel, vindictive, and unChristlike. That is how all other humans are, not Jesus.
We cannot mean that God can't look upon sin or won't allow sin or sinners in his presence. That is how the Pharisees were, not Jesus.
When God tells us to "Be holy,” it means that God is calling us to be like Jesus. Jesus said that when we love our enemies, overcome evil with good, and are kind to all, then we will be perfect as our Father is perfect. That is holiness.
"You cannot describe God as cruel, capricious, vindictive, and then justify it by saying, 'God is holy.' No. God's holiness looks like Jesus."
- Brian Zahnd
"The holiness of God is expressed as empathetic self-giving."
- Archbishop Lazar
"Holiness is love of God and of others carried to a sublime extravagance."
- Jean Baptiste H. Lacordaire
