God is Holy

Holiness is the attribute of God that is most forgotten in the Church today, however it is one that we can not afford to forget. Even a slight understanding of the holiness of God reinstates the true Gospel. Holiness is a foundational attribute of God, one that must be understood, otherwise the redemptive work on the cross means absolutely nothing. By understanding His holiness, even in a small way we are able to a glimpse of ourselves and our total depravity. Through His holiness the love of God in the redemptive work of the cross and the resurrection is most magnified, but it all starts with holiness. 

  So what does the word “holy” mean? It comes from the Hebrew word “qadosh” which means “separated”, “marked off”, “placed apart”, “withdrawn from common use.” There are two important meanings when referring to the holiness of God. 

1.) God is "transcendent" above His creation (Transcendence “to go beyond”, “rise above”, or “exceed.” God is not merely “quantitative” (the same but greater), but “qualitative”, (God is a completely different being.)  

  God not only transcends His creation but He also is transcendent when it comes to His creation’s corruption. He is pure and spotless, and the foundation of His throne is righteousness the Bible says. The transcendence of God, perhaps can better be understood with this somewhat trite illustration. If one were to ask ‘Is God more like an angel or an earth worm?’ The correct answer is neither, you can’t compare Him to anyone or anything. In doing so I would submit to you, that is blasphemy, when trying to describe God outside of what the Bible already says about Him. 

Exodus 15:11 "Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?" There is no one like our God! (Also see 1st Samuel 2:2, Jo 15:15, and Isaiah 40:25)

  2.) The second important word when it comes to understanding His holiness is “preeminent” which essentially means that it is impossible to understand the character of God apart from His holiness. Above all things God is holy. We see this very clearly demonstrated in Isaiah 6:3 and Revelation 4:8. In these verses we see something called a Hebrew parallelism (Chiasmus) When we want to put emphasis on a word or phrase we will put in bold letters or underline it, but in the Hebrew language when they wanted to emphasize something they would repeat it. You can see this though out the Old Testament. For example in Psalm 119:105 “You word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” The same thing is being said twice (lamp to my feet, light to my path).

   Again in Isaiah 6:3 we see the same thing when the seraphim are flying around the Throne of God crying "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is filled with His glory!" Do you see the parallelism? In Revelation 4:8 this is used once again to emphasis the holiness of God. Never once in a scripture do we see any other attribute emphasized the way that the Holiness of God is. We don’t, God is love, love, love, or merciful, merciful, merciful. No! We see Holy, Holy, Holy! Do you think the Bible is trying to get at something? Yes, God is Love, God is Merciful and God is Just but we must understand that God, above all is holy, in order to understand the rest of His character and nature. 

  Holiness is the foundation of all that God is and does. I have heard people ask questions wondering if there is anything that God can not do. For example “Can God sin? I’ve heard some really weird answers about this, such as, “well, God can do whatever He wants.” Or “well, if He does it’s for a good reason” or “oh, it wouldn’t be sinning for Him.” Anyone who is actually thinking such things that God can commit a sin: 1. Needs to read their Bible more, and 2. Is completely not understanding the holiness of God. The Bible is very clear that there are things that God can not do. 

  Many verses back up this point: Psalm 5:4 “For you are not a God who delights in wickedness: evil may not dwell with you.” Job 34:10 "Therefore, hear me, you men of understanding: far be it from God that he should do wickedness, and from the Almighty that he should do wrong." 

1 John 1:5 "This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all."

 

  Through these verses we can very clearly see that God can not sin. He can’t even look at sin or dwell with wickedness. James 1:13 (and I am paraphrasing) God can not tempt or be tempted. If God can not even tempt, than He most certainly can not sin. He can’t go against His own nature and His very nature is the very opposite of everything that is evil. God’s character and nature does not change. Holiness is the foundation of all that God is and does. In my next blog I will talk about more practical holiness, and what the Bible was talking about in Hebrews 12:14 “Strive for peace with everyone, and of the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.”