Chapter 23
Chapter
XXIII
The
Holiness of God
“Who
is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in
holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? (Ex.
15:11).
“Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity:
wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue
when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?” (Hab.
1:13).
We
are living in a day of mental and moral and spiritual indolence, and therefore a
time of superficial thinking in things relating to God and eternal matters. The
Divine attributes have
been discarded, even in theological schools, to the junk heap of dry and
uninteresting and unprofitable subjects. The feeling largely prevails that the
proper study of mankind is man. In the popular mind the God who does wonders is
eclipsed by man whose breath is in his nostrils. This is a restless, nervous,
and jittery age, and the very atmosphere seems surcharged with enemies to the
quiet, meditative, and studious spirit.
The
Fundamental or Basic Attribute
The holiness of God is
the purity and rectitude of His nature. He is necessarily and essentially holy.
His very being is the sole source and standard of right; therefore, whatever He
wills is ethically right. There is no standard for God; He Himself is the
standard of holiness. God is under no law of holiness; He Himself is the law of
holiness.
The attribute of holiness gives glory and harmony to all the rest of His
attributes. Without holiness, wisdom and knowledge would be but craft and
cunning. Without holiness, power would be but tyranny, oppression, and cruelty.
“Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the
Lord,” (Heb. 12:14).
There is an emphasis
given to this attribute above all the other attributes. There are certain
attributes we prefer, because of personal benefit derived from them. We esteem
God’s love, mercy, and grace before His justice, wrath, and anger. But, in the
Bible, the holiness of God has preeminence over all others.
(1) No other attribute is spoken of with such solemnity and frequency by the
angels: “And
one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the
whole earth is full of his glory,” (Isa. 6:3); “And
the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes
within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God
Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come,” (Rev.
4:8).
(2) God singles out this perfection to swear by. “Once
have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David,”
(Ps. 89:35). “Wherein
God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability
of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath,” (Heb.
6:17). Here is a grand argument for the security of the believer: God says, in
effect, “I will lay My holiness in pawn for your security. If I fail to keep you
safe, then I will cease to be holy.”
God’s holiness is the beauty and glory of His being. He is “glorious in
holiness.” “Who
is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in
holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?” (Ex.
15:11). We also read about the “beauty of holiness.”
“Give unto the LORD
the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the
LORD in the beauty of holiness,” (1 Chron. 16:29).
“And when he
had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that
should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to
say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever,” (2
Chron. 20:21).
“Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty
of holiness,” (Ps. 29:2). When we take a picture of
a man we take the most beautiful part, his face, which is the member of the
greatest excellency, and that which distinguishes his personality. So when God
is pictured in the Bible, He is drawn in this attribute as being the most
beautiful perfection. Power is His hand;
“The Father loveth the
Son, and hath given all things into his hand,” (John
3:35), omniscience His eye;
“The LORD is in his
holy temple, the LORD’S throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try,
the children of men,” (Ps. 11:4), mercy His bowels,
“If there be
therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship
of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,” (Phil.
2:1), eternity His duration;
“For thus saith the
high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the
high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to
revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones,”
(Isa. 57:15),
and holiness is His beauty;
“O worship the LORD in
the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth,” (Ps.
96:9). Moral distance from Divine holiness is sin. His holiness is in view when
it is said that
“all have sinned and
come short of the glory of God,” (Rom. 3:23). In
sinning man was deprived of the glory or holiness of God.
The Holy
Trinity
Holiness belongs equally to the three persons of the Godhead, they partake of
the same common and undivided nature. The Spirit is usually called the Holy
Spirit. Our Lord Jesus Christ addresses the Father under the endearing title of
“holy Father”: “And
now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee.
Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that
they may be one, as we are,” (John 17:11). The Lord
Jesus is called “the holy One of Israel” more than thirty times in Isaiah alone.
“Cry out
and shout, thou inhabitant of
The
Manifestation of Divine Holiness
1.
The Holiness of God appears in creation. There was not a flaw in creation when
it came from His hand. Everything was beautiful and glorious. “And
God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the
evening and the morning were the sixth day,” (Gen.
1:31). And again, “The
LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works,”
(Ps. 145:17). So far as is known there are only two kinds of moral beings:
angels and man, and these were created morally holy. But sin has marked and
defaced God’s handiwork, so that nothing is like it was when created except,
perchance, the holy angels. Man is ruined and fallen, by nature a child of
wrath. And the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain, waiting to be
delivered from the curse of sin. “For
we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until
now,” (Rom. 8:22).
2.
God is seen in His holiness as a Lawgiver. A holy God gave a law that was just
and holy and good. Any other standard for His creatures would be inconsistent
with His holiness. We are not commanded to be as wise or powerful as He is, but
we are commanded to be as holy as He is holy: “But
as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation.
Because it is
written, Be ye holy; for I am holy,” (1 Pet. 1:15,16).
3.
There is a display of Divine holiness in redemption. His holy nature will not
allow Him to look upon sin with the least degree
of allowance. Salvation is not at the expense of
His holiness. The Redeemer must bear the wrath due the sinner, for
wrath is the exercise of His holiness. God’s hatred
of sin was as much
manifested in redemption as it will be in judgment. The only difference is that
in redemption the guilt of the sinner is transferred to the Savior. The wrath
that fell upon the Savior on
4.
God’s holiness appears in human conversion. “And
that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true
holiness,” (Eph. 4:24).
5.
Holiness will be displayed in the glorification of the believer. When our
salvation is consummated we will be restored to the holiness of God. We will not
have His power, nor His wisdom, but we will have His holiness. The Psalmist
said, “As for
me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake,
with thy likeness,” (Ps. 17:15). This likeness will
be both moral and physical, and the moral likeness to God will be holiness. The
believer, while here on earth, struggling against sin, rejoices in hope of the
glory of God. “By
whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice
in hope of the glory of God,” (Rom. 5:2). Sin is an
awful burden to the believer; salvation is the restoration to his original
holiness in creation.
6.
The holiness of God will appear in all its purity in the day of judgment.
Because God is holy, His wrath will he hot. His holy face will be too much for
sinners to look upon. “And
said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him
that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb,”
(Rev. 6:16).
Exhortations to Holiness
The Scriptures abound in exhortations to holiness. “Because
it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy,” (1 Pet.
1:16). We are exhorted to lift up holy hands in prayer: “I
will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath
and doubting,” (1 Tim. 2:8). “Follow
peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord,”
(Heb. 12:14). “Be
ye therefore followers of God, as dear children,”
(Eph. 5:1). All these exhortations to holiness are addressed to believers, and
show that we are not personally “holy.”
“As for me, I will
behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy
likeness,” (Ps. 17:15). We are holy in Christ now;
we will be personally holy when we are glorified, for our glorification will be
our personal holiness.
It is a principle of
universal recognition that all imitation of others is from an intense love and
admiration of their persons. And we become like those with whom we associate.
The heathen are so wantonly wicked because their gods are represented as vulgar
and vicious. It is said that Plato wanted to have all the poets banished,
because, in their poems, they dressed the gods in such wicked and vicious garb,
thus encouraging the people to commit crime.
Take
Time to be Holy
Believers, in the pursuit of holiness, must take time to meditate upon the
holiness of God.
“Blessed is the man
that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of
sinners,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the
LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night,” (Ps.
1:1-2). It takes time to be holy. Sin cannot be banished by a single gesture or
an occasional look at the good and beautiful. Meditation upon the holiness of
God will develop a spirit of meekness and humility,
“But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible,
even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of
great price,” (1 Pet. 3:4). Comparing ourselves
with ourselves may lead to pride and boastfulness, but when we are occupied with
thoughts of the holiness of our Savior we will be filled with reverence and
godly fear. “What torch can be proud of its own light when compared with the
light of the sun?”
The
“Holy God, we praise Thy name!
Lord of all, we bow before Thee;
All on earth Thy scepter claim,
All in heaven above adore Thee;
Infinite Thy vast domain,
Everlasting is Thy reign.
“Hark! the loud celestial hymn,
Angel choirs above are raising:
Cherubim and Seraphim
In unceasing chorus praising,
Fill the heavens with sweet accord
Holy! Holy! Holy! Lord!
“Holy Father, Holy Son,
Holy Spirit, three we name Thee,
While in essence, only one,
Undivided God, we claim Thee;
And, adoring, bend the knee,
While we own the mystery.”
