The Holiness of God

1. God's Holiness: A Transcendent "Otherness"

To be holy is to be “other,” to be different in a special way.

Separation and transcendence. God's holiness is not merely moral purity, but primarily a state of being "set apart," utterly distinct from creation. This "otherness" signifies His transcendence, His existence above and beyond the limitations of the universe. It's not just that He's good; He's infinitely above all that is good.

• The word "holy" comes from an ancient word meaning "to cut" or "to separate."
• God's holiness is not just separateness, but also transcendence, exceeding all limits.
• This "otherness" makes God seem foreign, almost incomprehensible to us.

Holiness as a synonym for deity. When applied to God, "holy" isn't just one attribute among many; it encompasses all that He is. His love is holy love, His justice is holy justice, and His mercy is holy mercy. It's a reminder that every aspect of God's character is infused with His transcendent purity.

• The Bible never says God is love, love, love, but it does say He is holy, holy, holy.
• Holiness is not just an attribute, but a synonym for His deity.
• It calls attention to all that God is, not just one aspect of His character.

Earthly things made holy. While God alone is inherently holy, He can consecrate earthly things, setting them apart for His service. These things, like holy ground or holy bread, are not holy in themselves but become so through God's touch. They are to be used in a pure way, reflecting both their separateness and their connection to God.

• Only God can sanctify something else.
• Holy things are set apart from common use and consecrated to the Lord.
• They are to reflect purity as well as simple apartness.

2. The "Mysterium Tremendum": Awe and Fear of the Holy

The feeling of it may at times come sweeping like a gentle tide, pervading the mind with a tranquil mood of deepest worship.

The "awful mystery." Rudolf Otto described the holy as the mysterium tremendum, an "awful mystery" that evokes both attraction and repulsion. It's a feeling that is both terrifying and captivating, a sense of being in the presence of something utterly beyond human comprehension.

• The holy is both attractive and repulsive.
• It fills us with a kind of dread.
• It is a mystery that defies explanation.

Overwhelming creatureliness. Encounters with the holy often lead to an overwhelming sense of our own creatureliness. We become acutely aware of our limitations, our finitude, and our dependence on the Creator. This awareness can be both humbling and terrifying.

• When we meet the Absolute, we know we are not absolute.
• When we meet the Infinite, we become acutely conscious that we are finite.
• To meet God is a powerful study in contrasts.

Xenophobia and the holy. Our fear of the holy is akin to xenophobia, a fear of the strange and foreign. God, in His otherness, is the ultimate stranger, and our natural response is often one of fear and discomfort. This fear is not the healthy fear that the Bible encourages, but a servile fear born of dread.

• Xenophobia is a fear of strangers or anything that is strange or foreign.
• God is the ultimate object of our xenophobia.
• We fear God because He is holy.

3. Holiness Exposes Our Sinfulness

Men are never duly touched and impressed with a conviction of their insignificance until they have contrasted themselves with the majesty of God.

Undone by God's presence. When we encounter the holiness of God, our self-esteem is shattered. We are exposed, made naked beneath the gaze of the absolute standard of holiness. Like Isaiah, we cry out, "Woe is me!" recognizing our own corruption.

• Isaiah cried, "Woe to me! I am ruined!"
• He recognized that he was a man of unclean lips.
• He understood that the whole nation was infected with dirty mouths.

The problem of the mouth. The focus on the mouth highlights the power of our words to defile us. What comes out of our mouths reveals the corruption of our hearts. Our tongues are restless evils, full of deadly poison.

• It's not what goes into people's mouths that defiles them; it's what comes out of their mouths.
• The tongue is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
• The whole nation was infected with dirty mouths.

The trauma of the holy. The presence of the holy is not always comforting; it can be deeply traumatic. Like Peter, we may find ourselves asking God to depart, overwhelmed by our own sinfulness in the face of His purity.

• Peter said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!"
• Sinful people are not comfortable in the presence of the holy.
• The transcendent standard of all righteousness blazed before his eyes.

4. God's Justice: A Reflection of His Holy Character

Justice is regarded as the highest of all virtues, more admirable than morning star and evening star.

Justice and righteousness. God's justice is always aligned with His righteousness. It's not arbitrary or whimsical but a reflection of His holy character. He always acts according to who He is, and His actions are always consistent with His nature.

• God's justice is always according to righteousness.
• His justice is never unfair, never whimsical, never tyrannical.
• It is impossible for God to be unjust, because His justice is holy.

Punitive justice. God's justice includes the punishment of the guilty. The stories of Nadab and Abihu and Uzzah, though shocking, are examples of God's righteous judgment against those who violate His holiness. These are not acts of cruelty but of divine justice.

• Nadab and Abihu offered unauthorized fire and were consumed by fire.
• Uzzah touched the ark and was struck dead.
• These were righteous acts of judgment.

The standard of justice. God's justice is not based on human standards but on His own holy character. He is the Supreme Judge, and His judgments are always perfect, never swayed by partiality or ignorance. He never condemns the innocent, and He never clears the guilty.

• The judge of all the earth will do right.
• God's judgments are always according to righteousness.
• He never acts out of ignorance. He does not make mistakes.

5. The Cross: Where Justice and Mercy Meet

The most violent expression of God’s wrath and justice is seen in the Cross.

The ultimate act of justice. The cross is not only an act of mercy but also the most profound expression of God's justice. It is where God's wrath against sin was fully poured out on Christ, the only innocent man ever to be punished by God.

• The cross was the most horrible and the most beautiful example of God’s wrath.
• It was the most just and the most gracious act in history.
• God made Christ accursed for the sin He bore.

The substitutionary atonement. Christ took our place, bearing the full weight of our sin and the full measure of God's wrath. This act of substitution is the foundation of our salvation, allowing us to be reconciled to a holy God.

• Christ took what justice demanded from us.
• He became the most grotesque and vile thing on this planet.
• He took our sins, our debts, and our demerits.

Grace and justice intertwined. The cross demonstrates that God's justice and mercy are not in conflict but are perfectly intertwined. He is both just and the justifier, upholding His righteousness while offering forgiveness to those who believe.

• At the same time justice and grace, wrath and mercy.
• It is too astonishing to fathom.
• God was both just and the justifier.

6. The Insanity of Luther: A Radical Encounter with God

Let God be God.

Luther's tempestuous nature. Martin Luther was a man of intense passion, prone to outbursts of anger and intemperate language. His behavior was at times bizarre, marked by phobias and a deep sense of personal unworthiness.

• He was fond of calling his critics "dogs."
• He was given to bombast.
• His behavior was at times downright bizarre.

Luther's guilt and the law. Luther's legal mind, coupled with his deep understanding of God's law, led him to a profound sense of his own sinfulness. He was tormented by the question of how an unjust person could survive in the presence of a just God.

• He was a legal genius.
• He had a superior understanding of law.
• He saw things that many people miss.

The "tower experience." Luther's "tower experience" was a turning point, a moment of profound spiritual insight where he grasped the meaning of justification by faith. He understood that God's justice is not merely punitive but also redemptive, offering grace and mercy through Christ.

• He grasped that the justice of God is that righteousness by which through grace and sheer mercy God justifies us through faith.
• He felt himself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise.
• The whole of Scripture took on a new meaning.

7. Wrestling with God: A Path to Peace

O LORD, you deceived me, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed.

Jacob's struggle. Jacob's life was marked by deception and conflict, but his wrestling match with God at the Jabbok River was a turning point. He was defeated, yet he received a new name and a blessing, signifying his transformation.

• Jacob was a rascal.
• He was a man of integrity.
• He was shattered into as many pieces as any fallen egg.

Job's challenge. Job, a righteous man, challenged God in the midst of his suffering. Though he received no direct answers to his questions, he was ultimately humbled by God's power and majesty, leading him to repentance and peace.

• Job was a man of integrity.
• He was considered by his contemporaries as the most righteous man in the nation.
• He was destroyed—morally and spiritually annihilated.

Habakkuk's complaint. Habakkuk questioned God's justice, struggling to understand why the wicked seemed to prosper. But in the end, he found peace in God's sovereignty, declaring that even in the midst of suffering, he would rejoice in the Lord.

• Habakkuk was flaming angry.
• He was feeling helpless, impotent before the absolute power of God.
• He was supremely aware of his own creatureliness.

Saul's conversion. Saul of Tarsus, a persecutor of Christians, was dramatically transformed on the road to Damascus. He was overpowered by the glory of Christ, leading to his conversion and his new identity as the apostle Paul.

• He was a zealot for the Pharisees.
• He was determined to wipe Christians from the face of the earth.
• He was blinded by its rays.

8. Be Holy: A Call to Transformation, Not Just Conformity

Be holy, because I am holy.

The call to holiness. God's call to "be holy" is not just a command but an invitation to participate in His divine nature. It's a call to be different, to be set apart from the patterns of this world, and to reflect His character in our lives.

• The word holy is applied to all sorts of things besides God.
• In every case the word holy is used to express something other than a moral or ethical quality.
• The things that are holy are things that are set apart, separated from the rest.

Nonconformity and transformation. True holiness is not about superficial rules or external displays of piety but about a deep transformation of the heart and mind. It's about being conformed to the image of Christ, not to the patterns of this world.

• Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world.
• Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
• Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is.

The renewal of the mind. Transformation comes through the renewal of our minds, a process of education and spiritual growth that leads us to a deeper understanding of God, ourselves, and the world. It's about gaining the "mind of Christ" and valuing the things He values.

• The key method Paul underscores as the means to the transformed life is by the “renewal of the mind.”
• This means nothing more and nothing less than education.
• Serious education. In-depth education. Disciplined education in the things of God.

9. The Fruit of the Spirit: Evidence of a Holy Life

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

The contrast with the flesh. The fruit of the Spirit stands in stark contrast to the acts of the sinful nature. While the flesh produces vices like hatred, jealousy, and selfishness, the Spirit produces virtues like love, joy, and peace.

• The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.
• Those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
• The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

The marks of a holy life. The fruit of the Spirit is not just a list of virtues but a description of the character of a person who is growing in holiness. These virtues are not achieved through human effort alone but are the result of the Holy Spirit's work in our lives.

• These are the marks of a person who is growing in holiness.
• These are the virtues we are called to cultivate.
• To yield the fruit of the Spirit, we must practice the fruit of the Spirit.

Degrees of sin. While all sin is a violation of God's holiness, the Bible recognizes that some sins are more serious than others. We must not fall into the trap of minimizing sin or of focusing on external matters while neglecting the weightier matters of the heart.

• The New Testament recognizes degrees of sins.
• Some sins are worse than others.
• We need a Savior for our “little” sins as well as for the “major” ones.

10. Seeing Beyond Shadows: The Glory of God in Creation

Truth is always about something, but reality is that about which truth is.

Mediate revelation. God reveals Himself through the medium of nature, making His invisible qualities visible through His creation. This revelation is clear and universal, leaving all people without excuse.

• God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen.
• They are understood from what has been made.
• All people see this manifestation of God’s majesty.

Idolatry and dishonesty. The problem is not that we fail to know God but that we refuse to acknowledge Him. We exchange the truth of God for a lie, worshiping the creature rather than the Creator. This is the root of all idolatry.

• They exchanged the truth of God for a lie.
• They worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator.
• All idolatry is rooted in this fundamental dishonesty.

The spectacles of faith. To truly see God's glory, we need the "spectacles of faith," a spiritual vision that allows us to look beyond the surface of things to the One who created them. This vision is not limited to the spiritually elite but is available to all who are in Christ.

• We are to fear God not with a servile fear like that of a prisoner before his tormentor but as children who do not wish to displease their beloved Father.
• We come to Him in confidence; we come to Him in boldness; we have access.
• We have a holy peace.

Last updated: January 18, 2025