Holiness is odd

I find it interesting that it seems that most people both in and out of the church have the impression of Christianity that it is somehow a rule based religion. I'm not surprised at this, however, but disapointed. This has effected not only my life and how I view God, but it has effected so many other people. The view of God's holiness seems to be a casualty in this fallout. I am wondering, however, if we thought about holiness in broader terms. Holiness brings images of right behavior and actions usually moral correctness (if that's a word) and this certainly is part of that image of God being Holy. What if we were to think that God in his holiness saved those of us who were enemies. What does it mean that a holy God would save and redeem those who are not Holy? Maybe some may think that holiness and redemption are not really compatible as if a holy God expects holiness to be seen as worthy. Maybe it is God's holiness that "drove" him to redemption. Maybe what it means for God to be holy is that he out of his nature redeems those that are lost. Maybe holiness is not a level of moral purity for us to achieve, but is (in addition to morality) it is a way of life that drives us to redeem the lost and to bring the reconciling nature of God to those who are still lost. Maybe when God tells us to be holy because he is holy it's not just telling us to live according to some kind of ethical standard, but is also a way to live out our life that impacts the world, transforms the world and brings the message of this amazing and incomprehensibly wonderful and loving God to a lost and broken world. Holiness then means more than an ethical standard, but is something that characterizes how and why we live our lives the way we do. If the holiness of God means that he redeems the lost then we if we are to be holy because God is holy, transformed into his image, must also be characterized by this redemptive nature. To be holy then as God is holy is to live according to an ethical standard, but it goes beyond not smoking, having premarital sex or whatever, but it tells us to look to see how God functions, what God does, and who God is and to then go and do likewise.