“Who among the gods is like you, O Lord? Who is like you—majestic in holiness,
awesome in glory, working wonders? Exodus 15:11
To try and understand God, or an attribute of God, we must by necessity compare that which we know against that which we don’t know. And it is just here that we think of God as unholy before we can think of Him as Holy. Holy is to be set apart separated from everyday common use. Holy is absolute perfection. Holy is to be completely pure, entirely without evil. We know of nothing in our everyday lives with which to compare absolute good. There is no comparison; for it is not a measure of how holy, but a case of completely holy. He is the standard and cannot be measured by it. He is in every respect other than we are; He is totally wholesome. He is morally perfect. He has no limitations in His moral excellence. “There is none holy as the Lord.” (1 Samuel 2:2) Yet He commands us “Be holy, because I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:16)
Holiness is another moral attribute of God. We can possess a certain level of holiness but we cannot truly understand holiness. Just when God begins to reveal His holiness, we find ourselves utterly deplorable like Isaiah. We say with him “‘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’” (Isaiah 6:5). God’s holiness is something we must receive from Him and endeavor to preserve. He washes away our sin and calls us righteous. All our righteousness is like filthy rags to Him (Isaiah 64:6). Such goodness, such purity, such perfection cataclysmically rejects and brings righteous judgment upon the slightest hint of imperfection. It is through this lens of holiness that the grace of God shines so extraordinarily, incalculably, intensely brilliant. The mere thought that God could reach down out of His absolute, unconditional perfection and embrace the sinner is nearly unthinkable until grace and mercy leak in, first a drop then a trickle then like a tidal wave after the colossal dam has burst but this is an inaccurate picture also. For God is perfectly balanced within Himself, so that grace and mercy are presented at the same time as His holiness.
It is only by His grace we should see Him. It is only by His mercy we should know Him. It is only because He has given Himself to us to cover ourselves that we can begin to reveal our fallen selves back to Him without fear of His perfection ruinously destroying us. In short, He helps us to help ourselves receive from Him. Indeed all throughout Scripture when God shows Himself to His people, fear and trembling are the normal reactions of those to whom He has revealed Himself. The command not to fear is usually given to these precious souls who experienced the Presence of God. I believe part of this has to do with the incredible revelation of His Holiness combined with a nearly inconceivable understanding of our wretchedness compared to Him. Yet He reaches out and lifts them up and gives them the stamina they need to be in His presence. He gives them Himself to counter the encounter of Himself. So we see divine holiness balancing justice and mercy, and choosing which and how much of each (or both) should be applied to any given circumstance through His all-knowing perfect wisdom. One thing is certain, those who come in contact with the bona fide presence of God cannot but be altered in some way. For the Christian it is a sharing of His holiness that we could participate in the divine nature (1 Peter 1:3-4). So we can proclaim with the seraphs “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory” (Isaiah 6:3).
“Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves form everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God” (2 Corinthians 7:1). This is our calling friends, to put off the old self with its sinful desires “and to put on the new self created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22-24). “You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ…but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God” (Romans 8:9-10, 13). Remember it is the Holy Spirit who is living in you. The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in you when you are a Christian (Eph 1:19-20; Romans 8:11). So God is enabling us to live holy by His Holy Spirit living in us and helping us to put to death the sinful deeds of the body and live for righteousness.
Oh, Lord God Almighty, Holy One, we praise your name and renown! You are perfect, O Lord. Your holiness out shines the Sun. Your perfection is greater than the universe. You are the Father who lives in unapproachable light. You are the light of life. You are wonderful, magnificent, and truly awesome! Your greatness no one can fathom. Your beauty is beyond compare. We are humbled you consider us. We are amazed you would rescue us. You paid the incredible ransom. You adopted the orphan. You live among the poor and needy – you live INSIDE us. Great God, help us to avail ourselves of Your awesome power, Your Holy Spirit, living inside us, that we might choose to walk in righteous ways and endeavor to be holy as you are holy. It is nearly beyond hope, but there it is, You promise to help us become like You. Father, build in us Your likeness. Jesus, help us be dependent on the Father and Spirit as you where when You walked this earth. Sweet Holy Spirit have your way in us and help us choose Your way above our own that we may be like Him whose name we bare. In Jesus’ Almighty Name, Amen!
References
All Scriptures not specified are quoted from Life in the Spirit Study Bible (NIV). Stamps, Donald C., and John Wesley Adams. Life in the Spirit Study Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003. Print.
Finlayson, R. A. "Holiness, Holy, Saints." New Bible Dictionary. Ed. J. D. Douglas and N. Hillyer. Second ed. Wheaton: Tyndale, 1962. 486-488. Print.
Duffield, Guy P., and Nathaniel M. Cleave. Foundations of Pentecostal Theology. Los Angeles, Calif.: L.I.F.E. Bible College, 1983. 69. Print.
"Holiness." Dictionary of Biblical Imagry. Ed. Lelan Ryken, James C. Wilhoit, and Tremper Longman, III. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1998. Print.
The Thompson Chain-Reference Bible New International Version The Old Testament and The New Testament Thompson's original and complete system of Bible study A complete numerical system of chain references, analyses of books, outline studies of characters and unique charts, with pictorial maps and archaeological discoveries. Ed. Frank Charles Thompson, et al. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Bible Publishers, 1983. Print.
Tozer, A. W. The Knowledge of the Holy: the Attributes of God, Their Meaning in the Christian Life. New York: Harper & Row, 1961. 103-107. Print.
