The concept is found in almost all religions, especially those with a degree of formal organization, so that there is scope for special people, places etc to be devoted to worship.
In Christianity, especially in American branches of Protestantism of the more Pentecostal variety, holiness has acquired the secondary meaning of the reshaping of a person through spiritual rebirth. This process is described in the Bible, in Paul's Epistle to the Romans, chapter 6, verses 19-22. The term owes its origin to John Wesley's concept of "scriptural holiness" or "Christian perfection".
This latter concept of holiness is the basis for the Holiness movement, a branch of Christianity with close ties to Methodism and the Pentecostal movement.