God is Holy.
In Revelation 4:8 we read: “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty.” Likewise in Isaiah 6:3: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts.” Psalm 99 also declares: “The LORD reigns; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake! The LORD is great in Zion; He is exalted over all the peoples. Let them praise Your great and awesome name! Holy is He!” It is the universal testimony of scripture that holiness for God is a total state of being (see also: Lev 11:44; Ps 99; Ps 71:22; Ps 78:41; Ps 89:18). God is holy.
There is something unique, amazing, and… fearful about the holiness of God. There is no other aspect of God’s being or character that receives a threefold superlative. As I believe R.C.Sproul pointed out, God is nowhere described as being: “Love, love, love!”. Nor is He spoken of as being: “Wrathful, wrathful, wrathful!” But He is described as being: “Holy, holy, holy.” There is something supremely important about God’s holiness. And yet, just what is it exactly? What does it mean to say that God is holy? And what are the implications that God’s holiness has for our lives?
The root meaning of the Hebrew term for “holiness” is “to cut, separate” (Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics Vol.II, p.217). What it’s basically talking about, therefore, is God’s separation. Joel Beeke and Paul Smalley express this well when they say: “That which is holy or sacred stands apart, or else has been set apart or separated from all that is common, ordinary, profane, or unclean” (Beeke & Smalley, Reformed Systematic Theology Vol 1, p.567). Leviticus 10:10 captures this distinction when the Lord speaks of separating between that which is holy and that which is profane. We see the separation concept in Genesis 2:3 as well, where the seventh day is made holy, that is to say, it is recognised and distinguished (separated) from the other days of creation.
So God’s holiness means that – in some sense – He is separate or apart from something else. Two obvious questions follow: What is He separated from? And what is the nature of this separation? I’m going to answer the second question first, and as we do that the answer to the first will also become very clear and obvious.
What then is the nature of God’s holiness, his “separation”?
The basic and most fundamental sense of God’s holy separation is that He is, by nature of being the supreme uncreated Creator, separated from all else in existence. It is the difference between created and uncreated being. The scriptures often express this central aspect of God’s holiness by describing Him as being incomparable. In Hannah’s prayer, for example, this is expressed very clearly: “There is none holy like the LORD: for there is none besides You; there is no rock like our God” (1 Sam 2:2). We see here a clear expression of the fact that nothing can be compared to God - He is separate from all else in this sense, and His separation in this sense is then described by Hannah as His holiness. Similar to Hannah’s prayer is the song of Moses in Exodus 15:11: “Who is like You, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like You, majestic in holiness” (see also 1 Chron 17:20; Ps 86:8; Ps 89:6). For those of a more theological and philosophical bent, we could describe this aspect of God’s holiness as His “ontological supremacy” (Beeke & Smalley, RST Vol 1, p.568). Along similar lines, R.C. Sproul notes that “When the Bible calls God holy, it means primarily that God is transcendentally separate” (Sproul, Holiness of God, p.38). God’s holiness is His transcendence above all created things.
So then, here is a catechetical summary of what we have learned, and if you want a short, concise way to memorise and grasp God’s holiness, memorising this question and answer will prove helpful:
Q. What is the holiness of God?
A. God’s holiness is His total state of being, wherein He is revealed to be infinitely, incomparably, and transcendentally separated from all else in existence.
There are an infinite number of practical applications that flow out from the holiness of God. Indeed, the totality of Christian experience flows out of this doctrine. Leviticus 11:45 distills this truth very clearly for us: “Be holy, for I am holy.” The Apostle Peter repeats the same thing in 1 Peter 1:16. Every aspect of the Christian life might therefore be well described as the pursuit of holiness. What that means in itself will have to wait for another time, but let’s meditate for now on the very primary and most basic life application that flows out of the doctrine of God’s holiness.
The most basic and obvious thing that holiness shows us is this: if we are to have any hope of knowing God, He must reveal Himself to us. If you want to learn more about some particular country in the world, you can study it. You can read books on it or research it on the internet. You could visit or even potentially live there. It’s within your grasp. Our opportunity for learning about the distant stars are much more limited. What we learn must be based upon distant observation or applying what we know about physics. When it comes to God, there is simply no sense in which we can reach out to Him to know Him, He must come to us. This He has done plainly as His glory is revealed in creation (Ps 19:1), but more supremely He has revealed himself in Christ, who even the demons confess to be “the Holy One of God” (Luke 4:34).
For unbelievers, then, they must come to know Christ if they are to know God. This is exactly why Jesus said: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn 14:6). The story is the same for Christians, only we must continue to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Pt 3:18). The Holy God has revealed Himself in Christ, and we must therefore make it our lifelong ambition to grow in the knowledge of Christ. Is the pursuit of knowing Christ something that marks your daily life?
Soli Deo Gloria!