God calls Christians to be saints, which means holy ones. The word saint is translated from the Greek word hagios, most often rendered as holy. Christians are called to be holy, simply meaning separate and set apart, or different. The common concept of a saint as someone super-righteous or who gives away all possessions does not align with biblical usage. In Catholicism, sainthood involves death and a posthumous approval process, leading to worship and annual honoring, but the Bible uses saint or holy one primarily for one who has been set apart, regardless of moral quality at the time of separation. The Corinthians were called saints even while exhibiting carnality. After God called them, He declared them holy, and they responded, but they had not yet fully conformed to His standard. God considered them saints because of their position before Him, rather than personal goodness. Saints are expected to grow beyond merely being declared holy. Saints are set apart individuals, called to be separate and different. God has separated Christians from their trespasses and sins, in which they once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience. God has separated Christians from trespasses and sins, the course of this world, and satan the devil. God requires that Christians remain apart from those things. If redeemed from satan, Christians must remain separate from him and not open the door to his influence or fall back under his sway. Christians must remain free from the defilement of sin and continue to walk according to the course of God rather than the course of this world.

Holiness indicates a cut out or a cut above. It can mean set apart or separated for Godly use. Besides God being a powerful creator, the term being holy with an undefiled purity encompasses within it the very qualities that separate God from mankind. His separateness is so overwhelmingly apparent it creates awe. Separation from old friends and family may be painful, and they may resent it and turn against one. Loyalties must be to Christ and everything including the use of time. A temple must be kept clean because God lives in it. One must truly walk the narrow way to be holy.

Separateness forms the foundational meaning of holiness. The words ko-desh and hagios indicate separateness by themselves without context. The Hebrew word ko-desh comes from a root indicating to cut, thus meaning to cut away and separate something for special use. When applied to what is considered divine or religious, this separateness conveys the sense of being devoted, dedicated, or consecrated. Under the Old Covenant separateness occurs through God's choice in setting a person or object apart for service. Examples include a person consecrated to work in an idol's temple, priests and Levites set apart for Tabernacle or Temple duties, and the nation of Israel cut away from other nations by covenant. Such separateness produces holiness by association rather than by actual moral or ethical purity. Under the New Covenant separateness includes the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This enables actual moral and ethical purity through God's laws written in the heart and mind along with obedience. The result is holiness from the inside out that exceeds the mere consecrated separateness of the Old Covenant.