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THE HOLINESS OF GOD
Holiness is an attribute of God which is so full that one
wonders where to start. However, of all the attributes of God,
this one is mentioned or referred to more than any other. "God
is oftener styled Holy than Almighty, and set forth by this part
of His dignity more than by any other. This is more fixed on as
an epithet to His name than any other. You never find it ex-
pressed 'His mighty name' or 'His wise name,' but His great name,
and most of all, His holy name. This is the greatest title of
honour; in this latter doth the majesty and venerableness of his
name appear" (Stephen Charnock, taken from _The Attributes of
God_ by A. W. Pink). To deny God of holiness is in essence to
deny God. For if God be not holy, then, He would not be pure,
and He could not create nor make laws nor judge righteously. In
essence, He would be unholy which is a contradiction to the very
nature of God.
I. What is holiness? Simply stated it means to be holy or
pure; to be without sin or any defilement from the heart. To say
the word is almost enough to define it--it has a sound of purity.
Also, the word carries the meaning of separation; to be set
apart. And truly God is set apart from all other beings in every
way.
Holiness is one of those attributes of God which is com-
municable. By this, we simply mean that God communicates or
gives it, in a limited way, to man. Let us not think that we
shall every be as holy as God.
II. Wherein does God's holiness lie? God's holiness is in
and of Himself originally; man's holiness can only be in and of
God. There is no holinesss prior nor superior to God's. He is
the source and fountain of all holiness. Even the holy angels
derive their holiness from God and not from within themselves.
For God to swear by His holiness is for Him to swear by Himself
(Heb. 6:13; Ps. 89:35; Amos 4:2; 6:8).
In Psalms 27:4, David said, "One thing have I desired of the
Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of
the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the
Lord, and to inquire in His temple." What is "the beauty of the
Lord" but the beauty of His holiness (II Chron. 20:21). Not to
see the beauty of holiness is not to see the beauty of God. In
Exodus 15:11, God is declared "glorious in holiness." Listen
again to Charnock: "Power is God's hand or arm, omniscience His
eye, mercy His bowels, eternity His duration, but holiness is His
beauty." Therefore, to see the beauty and glory of God is to see
His holiness.
While the majority of Christendom stresses and emphasizes
the love of God, the Scriptures magnify His holiness. Therefore,
we can see the importance of knowing more about God's holiness
because to do so is to see His beauty and glory.
III. How holy is God? When we think of something being
pure, without spot, having no sin nor any such thing, we think of
it as being holy. In fact, we who are the people of God look
forward to the day when we will be with God in glory and not have
any sin. But when this comes to pass, we will not be as holy as
God is (I Sam. 2:2). Though the redeemed will be without sin and
will stand before God "holy and without blame" (Eph. 1:4), yet,
their holiness is not derived within themselves. And if they
were to become inherently holy after the work of God in their
lives, there would remain the time prior to this when they were
not holy, but were living in darkness (Eph. 5:8). In God there
is "no darkness at all" (I Jn. 1:5). God is so pure that ab-
solutely considered, He cannot "look on iniquity" (Hab. 1:13).
The idea that God can look at sin and iniquity and pass it by is
false. God, who is omniscient, sees and knows all things, even
sin and iniquity. He is so pure and holy that He will bring
"every work into judgment" (Ecc. 12:14; 11:9; Pv. 24:9). It is a
greater contrast to compare God's holiness to that of man's than
to compare the sun to a cinder of coal.
Those holy angels who have never sinned and have retained
their purity from creation are holier than man. However, God's
Word says that even they are not pure in the presence of God (Job
4:17-18). Yes, even they have to cover their faces in heaven
when singing of the Lord's glorious holiness (Isa. 6:2-3). This
is not to say that the angels are impure in any way, but that
their holiness cannot be compared to God's. And remember that
God derives His holiness from Himself, but the angels, like man,
receive their holinesss from God and not from within themselves.
The only reason the angels remain sinless and unfallen is because
of God upholding them.
IV. How is God's holiness manifested? First, the holiness
of God is seen in creation. When God created the heavens and the
earth and all things therein, He said that "it was very good"
(Gen. 1:31). When one drives across this earth and sees the
towering mountains, luscious valleys, the green trees, and beau-
tiful flowers, along with the various and sundry cattle, beast,
and all creeping things, together with the stars, moons, suns and
planets, with the mighty oceans, he is made to say that God cre-
ated all things good. The creation as we know it has been under
the influence of the curse of sin for about 6,000 years. There-
fore, as we now view the creation it is vile, filthy, wicked and
ugly compared to its original state. With all this, we can still
say with the Psalmist, "The Lord is righteous in all His ways,
and holy in all His works" (Ps. 145:17).
Second, the holiness of God is seen in His works of provi-
dence. God did not create and then withdraw Himself. No, He is
continuing to keep the earth on its axis, the stars in their
sockets, the sun and moon in their paths, and supplies man and
beast with daily bread (Heb. 1:1-3; Mt. 6:26-32; job 26:7; 38:39-
41). To see trials and wickedness on every hand, and, yet, know-
ing that all these things work to the good of the people of God
and His glory (Rom. 8:28; Eph. 1:11), one is made to know that
only a holy God can do such things.
Third, the holiness of God is seen in His law. This is that
perfect standard which reveals God's character. Here we only
need to look at Rom. 7:12 and Ps. 19:8-9.
Fourth, the holiness of God is shown in its greatest
strength in His hatred for sin. It was the holiness of God that
drove Adam and Eve out of the garden; cursed Cain; destroyed the
world in the days of Noah; took David's child and let not the
sword depart from his house; and, destroyed Israel and Judah with
the Assyrians and Babylonians. But the highest display of the
holiness of God was when Jesus Christ died on the cross. Stephen
Charnock said, "Not all the vials of judgment that have or shall
be poured out upon the wicked world, nor the flaming furnace of a
sinner's conscience, nor the irreversible sentence pronounced
against the rebellious demons, nor the groans of the damned crea-
tures, give such a demonstration of God's hatred of sin, as the
wrath of God let loose upon His Son. Never did Divine holiness
appear more beautiful and lovely than at the time our Saviour's
countenance was most marred in the midst of His dying groans.
This Himself acknowledges in Psa. 22. When God had turned His
smiling face from Him, and thrust His sharp knife into His heart,
which forced that terrible cry from Him, 'My God, My God, why
hast Thou forsaken Me?' He adores this perfection--'Thou art
holy,' v. 3."
May we like the angels in heaven "rest not day and night,
saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is,
and is to come" (Rev. 4:8).
Jimmy Barber
February 26, 1991
Copyright, 1991, Veritas Publications
829 Angelina Place
Memphis, TN 38122-5417