But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. (Psalms 22:3,KJV)

Who is God and what is He like? This has been the object of our study for over a year now in LifeLines as we seek to understand God according to the characteristics or attributes by which He is described in the Scriptures. How do we know or describe anyone? First, we think of information about him such as gender, age, size, physical appearance, address, occupation, intelligence, education, etc. But these do not really tell us what that person is like. For this we would discuss his temperament, character, personality, interests, loves and hates, etc. We are taking a similar approach with God. First we discussed the "statistical" information or facts concerning Him; now we will progress to what He is really like, or the so-called "moral" attributes of God.

The first of these is, as our title and text indicate, that God is holy. It is appropriate that we take up this first because holiness is the attribute of God most emphasized and most prominent in Scripture. I know this will be challenged immediately by many, for in our day the love of God is commonly emphasized to the neglect if not the exclusion of any other attribute. That "God is love" (1 John 4:8,16) is taken by most to be a definition of God, not merely the stressing of one of His attributes. But as we shall show fully when we come to a discussion of the love of God and what John’s statement does and does not mean, this cannot be. That he meant God is exclusively love, that is, love and nothing else but love, is very simply refuted by noting that in chapter one of the same epistle he writes, "God is light" (1:5). Light is often taken in the New Testament for moral righteousness or holiness (Romans 13:12; 2 Corinthians 6:14; Ephesians 5:8; 1 John 2:9,10). Nevertheless, many would insist that the New Testament revelation stresses love as God’s most prominent attribute. And it must be admitted that there is more emphasis on God’s love in the New Testament than the Old, although it would be a mistake to suppose that His love is not seen in the Old or that His holiness is absent in the New. But taking the Scriptures as a whole, and there is no reason why we should not when considering God’s attributes, it is beyond dispute that His holiness is the characteristic most emphasized.

Some would disqualify the Old Testament as a source for determining what is God’s nature or His most prominent characteristic with the trite expression, "We're not under the Law." While it is certainly true we are not, this does not touch the fact that the Old Testament is as fully God’s infallible Word as the New, and whatever the Old Testament Scriptures say about God remains unshakably true, for He has never changed even if the way He deals with man has. The fact that we find the love of God stressed more when we come to the New Testament means only that this must be added to the already existing picture of Him we receive from the Old. When John wrote "God is love," it is impossible that he meant to eradicate all previously existing views of Him and displace all His other attributes with love.

The reason modern men seek to define God in terms of love alone, it seems, is to remove any idea of judgment for sin. Indeed, this is the impression left with many who hear the love of God emphasized, that He will not judge and punish people for their sins. In their minds love and holiness do not mix. Often this is expressed in the supposed proverbial dilemma, "How can a God of love send people to hell?" Most today respond that "God doesn't send anyone to hell; people send themselves there by their refusal to accept Jesus." But the Scriptures plainly do teach that indeed God sends people to hell for their sins. Hell is not simply an unavoidable evil that men stumble into as a natural consequence of their sins, but the sentence and punishment of God upon the sinner for his sins. Men are "cast into" that furnace of fire by holy angels at the command of God as their just deserts for their evil, and this after a formal trial and examination at His judgment bar. I have said repeatedly that our constant emphasis of the love of God in the church today will ultimately lead people to question the traditional doctrine of eternal punishment, and they will become either annihilationists or Universalists (that the wicked will be either totally annihilated in hell or brought to repentance so that ultimately everyone will be reconciled to God). Others try to reconcile God sending people to hell with His love by insisting that His wrath is but an extension of His intense love; or that banishing the wicked to everlasting torment is an act of love toward the redeemed, separating them from any contact with and abuse from the wicked, as is often the case in this world; or that hell is actually kindness toward the damned in that they would be even more tormented in the blazing light of God’s immediate presence than in the darkness of hell. While there is some truth to all these things, it does not seem possible to account fully for God’s judgment in terms of love alone. A better answer to the question, "How can a God of love send men to hell?", is that He is not only a God of love but a God of holiness as well. The question should be turned around: "How could a God of perfect justice and infinite holiness not punish sinners severely, even infinitely?"

In our study of the moral attributes of God, we will divide them into either of these two and love. All of His moral attributes may be classified under one or the other of these. Under holiness we would include God’s righteousness, justice, judgment, anger, truth, faithfulness, and immutability or unchangeableness. Under love we would have His goodness, longsuffering, mercy, providence, and wisdom. In other words, God’s righteousness, judgment, etc., are but aspects of His holiness, and His goodness and mercy, etc., are but aspects of His love. Some would take a different approach and consolidate all these attributes under the single nature of either love or holiness. Certainly love is compatible with holiness in the sense that if God were not loving, He would not be altogether holy. The whole Law, which is nothing more than a code of holiness, may nevertheless be summed up in the two great commandments "love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength," and "love your neighbor as yourself"(Matthew 22:37-40). And it may be argued as well that God would not be truly loving if He were not holy.

Some, as we have said, insist that God’s anger and wrath against sin are aspects of His love, that He loves so intensely that He cannot but hate the thing that destroys the creatures He loves. But it seems evident from Scripture that God’s hatred, anger, and wrath against sin stem not from His love, but His holiness. We want to be careful not to leave the impression, however, that God’s holiness and His love are somehow at odds with each other, that we have a divided God, divided against Himself. We separate His attributes for study purposes, but we must guard against pitting one attribute against another. God’s Being is but a single substance and His character or personality is essentially united. We cannot speak of His attributes as if one were an arm, another a leg, etc. But if we human beings often find ourselves with what we call "mixed feelings" about something the one hand, this, but on the other, that finally coming to a decision about what course of action to take based on "weighing" the respective considerations, might we also conceive of God doing the same?

Before we set out to establish our contention that the holiness of God is His most emphasized, most prominent attribute in Scripture, let us note that this is not my isolated opinion but the conclusion of many eminent scholars and commentators as well:

It is no exaggeration to state that this element [holiness] overshadows all others in the character of the deity so far as the OT revelation is concerned....The lesser emphasis in the NT is readily accounted for on the assumption that the massive presentation under the old covenant is accepted as an underlying presupposition. (The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Geoffrey W. Bromiley, gen.ed.; Eerdmans: Grand Rapids,MI; 1982, "Holiness; Holy" by E.F. Harrison, Vol.2, p.725)

It is not a proper conclusion to assert that the idea of the holiness of God is but one side of his essential being; rather it is the comprehensive designation for the total content of the divine Being in his relation to the external world....Since the Reformation, holiness has been conceived with special regard to love: holiness the fundamental attribute of God, love conditioned and limited by it. (The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge; Baker Book House: Grand Rapids, MI; 1977, "Holiness of God" by R. Kittel and C.A. Beckwith, Vol.V, pp.317,318)

If any, this attribute hath an excellency above his other perfections. (The Existence and Attributes of God, Stephen Charnock; Baker Book House: Grand Rapids,MI; 1979 reprint of 1681, Vol.2, p.112)

It is necessary to the discussion of any subject to define our terms. What is meant by "holy" and "holiness"? The Hebrew noun is qodesh, occurring some 469 times in the Old Testament. Other forms of this word account for many more references, represented by the English words "sanctify," "hallow," etc.—qadosh (adj.), 116 times; qadesh (v.), 175 times. The Greek words in the New Testament (and the Septuagint) which correspond with these Hebrew words for holy are hagios, some 226 times; hagiazo (v.), some 30 times; hagiasmos (n.), 10 times; plus other forms of the word. What I would consider enemies of practical holiness, that is, the necessity of holy behavior or lifestyle in believers, insist that the root meaning of the Hebrew word for "holy" is "separate," not "morally pure." Thus, they say, we are not to think of "saints" (literally, "holy ones," from a form of the Greek word for "holy") in the New Testament as morally pure but simply as those who have been "separated unto God." Their concluding this is driven by the fact that few of their adherents, whom, they insist, are "saved," live holy lives. But there are serious problems with this conception of the meaning of the word "holy." The first is that it is by no means certain that this is the derivation of the Hebrew word. A number of established Hebrew and Greek authorities point this out:

The suggestion that the root qdsh [the Hebrew word for "holy"] is derived from an original biliteral qd ("cut") is attractive but tenuous [or flimsy] in view of the uncertainties surrounding the transmission of biliteral roots to the triliteral form. The meaning "to separate" is favored by many scholars, but the fact that qdsh rarely, if ever, occurs in a secular sense makes any positive conclusion in this regard difficult. (Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, Harris, Archer, and Waltke; Moody Press: Chicago; 1980, pp.786,787)

The efforts to trace the origin of the idea [of holiness] from the etymology have not been satisfactory. It has been connected... with..."to cut off, to separate"....But the word itself does not tell from what or for what the separation takes place, leaving more exact definition to be made.... (Schaff-Herzog, op.cit., p.316)

The second problem with defining "holy" as merely "separate" or "separated to God" and not moral purity is that there are many clear and unmistakable references to the use of the word for just that uprightness and purity. It is true that, as those who insist that the meaning is "separate" point out, many places and objects are declared "holy" in the Old Testament, such as the tabernacle, Temple, Jerusalem, Mount Zion, the Sabbath and other days, vessels, garments, sacrifices, the altar, oil, etc. The contention is that none of these could be thought of as "morally pure" but only "separated to God" for use in worship of Him. But this belies the fact that the reason these things were considered "holy" is that they were "separated" for use in the worship of a Holy God, One who is eminently morally pure. In other words, while it is true that these things could possess no moral purity of themselves, the reason they were denoted "holy" is not because the word means "separate" but because they were to be employed in the service of a God who is eminently morally pure. These things were thus symbolic of the ethical purity demanded of God in those who would serve Him and stand in right relation to Him. And it is not true that "holy" denotes only a ceremonial or ritual sacredness in the Old Testament. This is one prominent application of holiness there, but in many passages it is unmistakably clear that holiness is adherence to God’s moral laws that govern man’s behavior. Our language authorities acknowledge all this as well as the possibility that the derivation of the Hebrew word for "holy" is indeed "moral purity":

The word occurs in several dialects of Akkadian with the basic meanings "to be clean, pure, consecrated."...There is some truth in the idea...that the word "holy" refers to the [unapproachableness or transcendence of God]....But the biblical viewpoint would refer the holiness of God not only to [this], but also to his character as totally good and entirely without evil. Holy objects therefore are those with no [ritual] pollution which is symbolic of moral pollution....The separation of men from what defiles ceremonially is but typical of the holiness that is spiritual and ethical. (Theological Wordbook, op.cit., p.787)

Another derivation proposed...is from a root found in Arabic and Ethiopic,..."to be pure, clear."...Objects, times, and the like are called holy when they belong to God....Priests and priestly persons are holy doubtless because they belong to God; but in this passage [Num.16:5,7] a weightier circumstance enters than mere external relationship—there is involved personal quality. Whoever belongs to God must have the essential character which accompanies such relationship....[T]he people as a whole in Numbers 16:3...are holy just as the priests are holy (verse 6). They belong to God....and consequently are under certain obligations to exhibit ethical or religious qualities. Holiness..., therefore, implies a condition and a demand; it involves both [ritualistic] and ethical requirements (Lev. 19:2)....This is the point of view in the entire Holiness Code [Lev. 11,19,26]...which gives expressly both external ritual and ethical duties. Thus the whole double conception of holiness comes to light. On the one side Israel, as exemplifying the holiness of God, is not to touch or deal with certain impure things, and is to keep certain observances; on the other, Israel is to honor father and mother, to do righteousness, to practise charity and eschew evil....[Exodus 19:5,6 shows] the underlying conception of character as belonging essentially to the idea [of holiness]. And this is rooted in the thought of the possession by God of the people which is to be holy....Quenstedt held that [holiness] is the "supreme, faultless purity in God which demands from his creatures a corresponding purity."...Holiness is that attribute in God by which in all his relations to moral beings he maintains and realizes his ethical perfection. (Schaff-Herzog, op.cit., p.316)

The basic idea [of holiness] is not that of separation (though this is favored by some scholars...), but the positive thought of encounter which inevitably demands certain modes of response. Although Hebrew worship was particularly concerned with this encounter, the sphere of the holy was wider than the [rituals and sacrifices]. The holy is therefore a pre-ethical term. On the other hand, it is a concept which posits ethical values....Prophetic polemic [the denunciations of the prophets] was scarcely directed against objects and practices which are described as holy [but against ethical matters, right and wrong behavior]....This suggests that from the outset, self-consecration in the [sacrificial worship] and the holy were never purely ritualistic matters but were concerned with one’s way of life. (NITDNTT, op.cit., pp.224,225)

There are a number of evidences that substantiate my claim that holiness is the most exalted, the most emphasized of God’s attributes in Scripture. Let us now list and discuss them.

1) Though the Bible does say "God is love" twice (1 John 4:8,16), it says "God is holy" in some form a thirteen times:

I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves about on the ground. I am the Lord who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy. (Leviticus 11:44,45; all Scripture quotations from the NIV unless otherwise indicated)

The Lord said to Moses, "Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.’" (Leviticus 19:1,2)

"You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own." (Leviticus 20:26)

Regard [the priests] as holy, because they offer up the food of your God. Consider them holy, because I the Lord am holy—I who make you holy.’" (Leviticus 21:8)

But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. (Psalms 22:3,KJV)

Exalt ye the Lord our God, and worship at his footstool; for he is holy....Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at his holy hill; for the Lord our God is holy. (Psalms 99:5,9,KJV)

"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." (Isaiah 6:3)

"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." (Revelation 4:8)

But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." (1 Peter 1:16)

"Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed." (Revelation 15:4)

2) No less than fifty times in Scripture God is called "The Holy One" or "The Holy One of Israel (or Jacob). Is there anything else He is called as much or is any other attribute of His exalted in such a way? Why not "the Loving One of Israel" if this is His defining attribute?

3) God’s name is called "His (or Thy) holy name" no less than twenty-five times in Scripture. Why not, "Thy loving name?"

He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name. (Psalms 111:9,KJV)

"Son of man, when the people of Israel were living in their own land, they defiled it by their conduct and their actions. Their conduct was like a woman’s monthly uncleanness in my sight. So I poured out my wrath on them because they had shed blood in the land and because they had defiled it with their idols. I dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered through the countries; I judged them according to their conduct and their actions. And wherever they went among the nations they profaned my holy name, for it was said of them, ‘These are the Lord's people, and yet they had to leave his land.’ I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel profaned among the nations where they had gone. Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes.’" (Ezekiel 36:17-23)

4) The Spirit of God is called the Holy Spirit ninety-eight times in the Bible. Why not "the Loving Spirit" instead, if this be His most pre-eminent attribute? Surely this is a weighty consideration. A very few times He is called the Spirit of Truth, but all the rest, the Holy Spirit.

5) God’s holiness is the attribute most emphasized in the eight appearances of Himself to men recorded in Scripture. We listed and discussed these in our July, 1995, issue, "God Is a Spirit." It should not be overlooked how important these appearances are to an understanding of who God is and what He is like. In considering what any person was like, an important, even crucial, question would be, "Have you ever seen him or talked to him personally?" So it is with God—His personal appearances to men carry great weight in determining what He is like.

When God appeared to Abraham (Genesis 18), it was in preparation for inspection of Sodom and Gomorrah to see if its wickedness was as great as the outcry of it that had reached heaven, and if so, to utterly destroy it. When He appeared to Moses and the elders at Sinai (Exodus 19,20,33), His holiness was prominent, as evidenced by the warnings that everyone must wash himself and his clothes beforehand, that no man or beast was to touch the mountain lest he die, and the dreadfulness of the whole scene with lightnings, thunderings, earthquakes, etc. Moses was forbidden to look upon God’s face, for no one, God said, would do this and live. When God appeared to Isaiah at his call to the prophet’s ministry (Isaiah 6), the overpowering testimony to His holiness is quite evident and dominates the entire episode:

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty." Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." (Isaiah 6:1-7)

With two of their six wings, the seraphs covered their faces. Why? No doubt this is intended to show that even these sinless creatures in humility and reverence guard their sight from His holy countenance, which is in keeping with their cry, "Holy, holy, holy...." The prophet cries out that he is ruined because of the great contrast he feels between his own unworthiness and the open vision of God’s holiness, and is subsequently cleansed by a live coal from the altar. All of this says, "God is Holy." In God’s appearance to John on Patmos (Revelation 4), the seraphs are described not only as crying "Holy, holy, holy" but "resting not day and night" doing so. And here in this New Testament scene, the same elements that were witnessed at Sinai of "lightnings and thunderings and voices" proceeding out of the throne speak of the awesome holiness of God.

6) The familiar "Holy, holy, holy" or, properly called, trisagion (literally meaning "thrice holy") of the seraphs in Isaiah 6 and Revelation 4 are in themselves a witness to the pre-eminence of holiness in God. These angels seem to have no other duty but to render praise to God constantly, and what attribute is the focus of their praise? It is true that Isaiah records them as mentioning the almighty power and glory of God, and John His power and eternity, "who was and is and is to come." But according to both accounts, the angels begin their worship with, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord," repeated no doubt for emphasis (as well as serving as a veiled reference to the Trinity). Stephen Charnock writes:

None [of God’s attributes] is sounded out so loftily, with such solemnity, and so frequently by angels that stand before his throne, as [His holiness]. Where do you find any other attribute trebled in the praises of it, as this?...Do you hear, in any angelical song, any other perfection of the Divine Nature thrice repeated? Where do we read of the crying out Eternal, eternal, eternal; or, Faithful, faithful, faithful, Lord God of Hosts? (Charnock, op.cit., p.112)

7) Everything connected with the worship and service of God in the Tabernacle and Temple, including these places themselves, was denoted holy. The very reason why the Tabernacle was built was so that God could dwell amongst the Israelites on their journey, but only if sacrifices were slaughtered for the people continually so their sins would be atoned for and they would not be consumed by His presence as threatened at Sinai. God dwelt, or at least His personal presence and glory in a unique sense, in the innermost room of the shrine. And what was it called? "The most holy place," not, as some would have it, "the most loving place." And the room just outside it separated from it by a thick curtain so no one might gaze upon this glory, what was it called, "the love place"? No, "the holy place." This in itself speaks volumes for the pre-eminence of God’s holiness among His attributes, for this Tabernacle, later the Temple, was the very house or dwelling-place of God, a copy of the tabernacle in heaven. The inaccessibility of the holy place and the most holy place except on occasion by the priests, and that not without the shedding of blood both for their own sins as well as the sins of the people, speak of this one thing—the holiness of God, His absolute rejection of all that is impure and unclean. God’s desire to go with His people is evidence of His love for them, but the manner in which He insisted His presence was to be tabernacled and approached speaks of His holiness.

As we have already noted, everything connected with the worship in the Tabernacle and the Temple was called "holly Temple itself was called God’s "holy temple" (Ps.5:7; 11:4; 65:4; 79:1; 93:5; 1 Chr.29:3; plus many others). The vessels used (1 Kings 8:4; 1 Chr.22:19; plus more), the garments the priests wore (Ex.28:2,4; 29:29; 31:10; plus others), the high priests crown (Ex.29:6) and plate (Ex.28:36), the altar on which the sacrifices were offered (Ex.29:37; 40:10), the ointment (Ex.30:25) and the anointing oil (Ex.30:25,31,32), the furniture (Ex.30:29), the perfume or incense (Ex.30:35-37), the tithes (Lev.27:30-33), the water (Num.5:17); the instruments (Num.31:6), were all called "holy." Why? Because they were employed in the worship of the Holy God. The Sabbath (Ex.16:23; 20:8; 31:14), festival days or gatherings called convocations (Ex.12:16; Lev.23:2-8,21,24, etc.), the sacrifices (Ex.29:33,34; Lev.2:3,10; plus many more), the nation (Ex.19:6), the people (Deut.7:6; 14:2,21; 26:19; 28:9; plus many more), the ark (2 Chr.35:3), the bread (Lev.6:17; 21:22; 24:9), the priests (Lev.21:6-8; Num.16:5,7; plus more), the Levites (2 Chr.35:3) were all called "holy." Why? Because they were dedicated and consecrated to a Holy God. What does all this say? It is unmistakable: God’s holiness is His pre-eminent attribute.

8) Many other things connected with God including heaven, His true dwelling place (Deut.26:15; 2 Chr.30:27; Ps.20:6; 68:5; Isa.57:15; plus others), His prophets (Lk.1:70; Acts 3:21; 2 Pet.3:2; Rev.18:20; 22:6), His angels (Deut.33:2; Dan.4:13,17,23; 8:13; Mt.25:31; Rev.14:10), bishops (Tit.1:8), His Word (Ps.28:2); His Promise (Ps.105:42); His covenant (Dan.11:28,30; Lk.1:72), the Scriptures (Rom.1:2; 2 Tim.3:15), the Law and commandment (Rom.7:12). His prophets are holy prophets, His angels holy angels, His bishops and apostles are holy bishops and apostles, His Word is His holy Word, His promise, His covenant, the Scriptures, the Law are all His holy promise, His holy covenant, His holy Scriptures, His holy law. Why not His loving prophets bishops, and apostles, His loving promise, commandment, Scriptures, etc.? God’s heaven is a holy heaven because He, the Holy God dwells there, His holy angels dwell there, and only His holy people will be granted admission there. The emphasis is clearly on His holiness in all these things related to Him.

Charnock writes:

As it is the glory of the Godhead, so it is the glory of every perfection in the Godhead....His justice is a holy justice; his wisdom a holy wisdom; his arm of power a holy arm (Ps.98:1); his truth or promise a holy promise (Ps.105:42)....His name, which signifies all his attributes in conjunction, is holy (Ps.103:1); yea, he is "righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works" (Ps.145:17): it is the rule of all his acts, the source of all his punishments. If every attribute of the Deity were a distinct member, purity would be the form, the soul, the spirit to animate them. (Op.cit., p.113)

It is true that in the New Testament God is represented most often as "Father," and this in itself is absolutely definitive for any consideration of who He is and what He is like. But it is also highly significant that the only adjectives Jesus used in conjunction with "Father" were "holy" and "righteous":

"I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one....Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me." (John 17:11,25)

God’s holiness is expressed in Scripture in many ways besides the actual employment of the word "holy." He is said to be without iniquity, etc.—

Therefore hearken unto me, ye men of understanding: far be it from God, that he should do wickedness; and from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity. Yea, surely God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert judgment. (Job 34:10,12, KJV)

To shew that the Lord is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. (Psalms 92:15,KJV)

Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity. (Habbakkuk 1:13,KJV)

Often God’s holiness is displayed as an abhorring or detesting of both sin and the sinner:

You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell. The arrogant cannot stand in your presence; you hate all who do wrong. You destroy those who tell lies; bloodthirsty and deceitful men the Lord abhors. (Psalms 5:4-6)

There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers. (Proverbs 6:16-19)

For the Lord detests a perverse man but takes the upright into his confidence. (Proverbs 3:32)

Do not have two differing weights in your bag—one heavy, one light. Do not have two differing measures in your house—one large, one small. You must have accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. For the Lord your God detests anyone who does these things, anyone who deals dishonestly. (Deuteronomy 25:13-16)

They provoked me to anger by burning incense and by worshiping other gods that neither they nor you nor your fathers ever knew. Again and again I sent my servants the prophets, who said, ‘Do not do this detestable thing that I hate!’" (Jeremiah 44:3,4)

Besides the "six things" the Lord hates which includes men who lie and stir up dissension, the writer of Proverbs lists a number of other things he "abhors:" dishonest scales or differing weights (11:1; 20:10,23), men of perverse heart (11:20), lying lips (12:22), the sacrifice of the wicked (15:8), the thoughts of the wicked (15:26), all the proud of heart (16:5), and acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent (17:15).

Perhaps Isaiah sums up the subject of God’s holiness best:

But the Lord Almighty will be exalted by his justice, and the holy God will show himself holy by his righteousness. (Isaiah 5:16)

What should be our response to this great attribute? As we said early in our study of God’s attributes, it is because He is the way He is that we must be and do what we must be and do. And nowhere is this more clearly evident than with God’s holiness. It is repeated no less than seven times in the Bible, including the New Testament, that we must be holy because He is holy:

"...be holy, because I am holy....therefore be holy, because I am holy." (Leviticus 11:44,45)

...‘Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.’ (Leviticus 19:1,2)

"...be holy, because I am the Lord your God." (Leviticus 20:7)

"You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy." (Leviticus 20:26)

But just as he who called you is holy, so be ye holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." (1 Peter 1:16)

Two texts suggest that God is unique in His holiness:

"There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God." (1 Samuel 2:2)

"Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed." (Revelation 15:4)

This may mean either that 1) only God, the true God, is holy among those who are called gods, as in Exodus 15:11, 2) only God is holy in the absolute sense, anyone else being only relatively so at best, including the holy seraphs that cover their faces, or 3) that only God is holy in the sense that anyone else who is holy derives his holiness from Him as its source. Each of these have merit. In the law God said,

"Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God. Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the Lord, who makes you holy." (Leviticus 20:7-8)

Consider them holy, because I the Lord am holy—I who make you holy.’" (Leviticus 21:4-8)

In other words, in one sense the people sanctified themselves and in another, God sanctified them. The same is true of us as New Testament believers:

He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David....to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. (Luke 1:69,74,75)

But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. (Romans 6:17,18,22)

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. (Ephesians 1:4)

And to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:24)

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. (Ephesians 5:25-27)

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation. (Colossians 1:21,22)

May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones. (1Thessalonians 3:13)

Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable....For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. (1Thessalonians 4:1-4,7)

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. (Titus 2:11-14)

Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14)

Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." (1 Peter 1:13-16)

Sanctification begins when we are born again of the Spirit of God by receiving the Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:12,13; 3:5,7). "No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him" (1 John 3:9). Christ sets us free from sin by shedding His blood and bearing our sins in His death on the cross, our dying and rising with Him, and our abiding in Him and He in us (Romans 6:1-6; 1 John 3:5,6). We abide in Him and He in us by His Holy Spirit dwelling in us, who sanctifies us progressively and entirely as we walk in the Spirit and mortify the sinful passions of the flesh (1 John 3:24; Galatians 5:16,24; Romans 8:13,14; 1 Thessalonians 5:23).

That God is holy requires holy worship on our part. The light and foolish manner of many preachers and singers as they "minister" and the flippant and nonchalant attitude of congregations are clear indications that we have lost our appreciation for and consciousness of the awesome holiness of God. Scripture says, "Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness" (1 Chronicles 16:29; Psalms 29:2; 96:9).

May the deep consideration of the His great holiness lead you to a life of holiness, the only kind of life that pleases Him.

Leon Stump, Pastor of Victory Christian Center

Background from Greenfield Graphics.