God’s Holiness: A Headlong, Under-the-Hood Look
**Part of The Nature of God: A Quick and Dirty Guide series.**
We know nothing like divine holiness. It stands apart–unique, unapproachable, incomprehensible and unattainable.
But what does holiness in God MEAN?
Holiness means God is morally spotless in character, motives, thoughts, words and actions. He is pure of evil desires. And he is the source and standard of what is right.
This means God is totally and utterly set apart from all creation. He is transcendent.
His holiness is related to his jealousy, righteousness, omnipotence, moral purity and His hatred for evil.
Yet, God’s holiness is balanced with the biblical teaching of his immanence–especially seen in relation to humans.
Think about it like this: the one who lives in a high and holy place also lives among us, the contrite and lowly in spirit.
Biblical Support for God’s Holiness
The Hebrew and Greek root meaning of “holy” is separateness. It’s predominantly used in Scripture as separateness from sin:
I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Leviticus 11:44
I am the LORD who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy. Leviticus 11:45
God’s holiness also appears in his power and works:
Who among the gods is like you, O LORD ? Who is like you—majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders? Ex. 15:11
It’s seen in his rejection and redemption of Israel.
For your Maker is your husband—the LORD Almighty is his name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth. Isaiah 54:5
And it’s seen in the ability to discern the spirit of God in those who were not run off by Jesus’ hard teaching of the bread of life:
We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God. John 6:69
Holiness Is God’s True Motive Behind His Wrath
God’s wrath is his hatred of everything that degrades and destroys creation. No wonder A. W. Tozer said, “Every wrathful judgment in the history of the world has been a holy act of preservation.”
God values purity. He hates impurity. Thus, if he wants to save and preserve his creation, then God must destroy whatever would destroy it.
That’s his jealousy.
The bottom line is this: the holiness of God, the wrath of God and the health of creation are united. That means holiness is the necessary condition for the health of creation.
And if it’s the necessary condition, then we must be able to participate in God’s holiness. In fact, we can participate in it. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.
Participating in God’s Holiness
It’s like this: We must take refuge from God–in God. In other words, we must believe that God sees us perfect in His Son. And we must also believe that he disciplines, chastens and purges us so that we may be holy.
Paul urges us to mourn over sin and clear ourselves of guilt. The reason why? We have comfortable habits of unholiness. We look at sin as the natural thing.
But if we want to be holy as God is holy, then we must carve out everything that contaminates the body and spirit.
Our Violent Reaction to God’s Holiness
When we see the holiness of God, we are assaulted. We react violently. What causes this violent reaction? Good question.
Atheist or not, every human has a notion of God. Rudolf Otto called it the numinous,the irrational dread.
This is what’s behind primitive cargo cults or modern polytheists. A fear for the unknown, the uncertain, the mysterious, the impersonal, the strange. A nostalgia for the past, a fiddling with the return of the dead.
This fear does nothing for us except hang a cloud of apprehension over our head.
But through the self revelation in creation, Scripture and the Holy Spirit, this non-rational dread is given life, personality and moral content. It becomes God. And is holiness.
Thus, the foreboding and severe, kind and longsuffering Lord of the universe inspires a deep sense of awe and perpetual worship in His creatures.
It lands us flat on our backs. In a posture of adoration. Or, for some, it triggers a stiff-arm. A cold shoulder, a posture of rejection.
Either way, we respond to God’s holiness.
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4 Comments to God’s Holiness: A Headlong, Under-the-Hood Look
I’m sorry Demian, but I just don’t understand what holiness is supposed to be. I have asked for definitions before, but I always get handwaving as the answer. Sometimes the answer is something like, “Holiness is what God is, so stop asking stupid questions”. If that’s the case then we could just say that God is blirglynoog or zippylingy, because those words make just as much sense. It’s like holiness is a made up word and we apply it to whatever we think God might be like. Maybe, you think that I’m being stupid, but I just don’t understand what the term is supposed to mean.
I understand your definition, but I have rarely heard the term used to mean morally spotless in character, motives, thoughts, words and actions. As a matter of fact, I have been told that if God decided to do something evil that it would not be evil for God to do it, because God can not be evil. Honestly, I have heard that argument. It seems to me that holy is an undefined term that we can apply to God or the Bible.
Transcendent is just as bad a term. Back when I fancied myself as a transcendentalist, the term meant knowlege beyond what is humanly possible. If God is so mysterious and powerful that we cant begin to understand him, how are we supposed to have a personal relationship with him. Seems to be more handwaving. “God is transcendent, so stop questioning him.”
Demian FarnworthMay 5, 2009
Robert, granted, it’s not an easy term to grasp in one sitting and just because someone is handwaving doesn’t imply that their argument is wrong. They may just be lazy.
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As I pointed out, God’s holiness is tied to his other attributes and if you are interested in a serious study of it, I’d suggest reading The Idea of the Holy, Sacred and Profane or Elementary Forms of Religious Life.
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Bottom line, I get lots of handwaving on topics like evolution, morals, love…things difficult to define and often coming off with competing answers that leave me confused, but I don’t sweep them aside because I can’t make sense of them.
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Hell, when I was a freshman in college I dreamed of being a civil engineer but got tore to pieces in TRIGONOMETRY because I couldn’t wrap my head around it at all no matter how long someone sat down with me. In the end, I had to admit it wasn’t trigonometry that was at fault. I was.
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So, I get holiness. I get God’s holiness. It doesn’t lay out like trig, but it lays out enough to where I say, “Oh, that makes sense.”
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As far as someone saying, “if God decided to do something evil that it would not be evil for God to do it, because God can not be evil” is a misguided statement. Whoever says that doesn’t understand the nature and origin of good, cause they think of it as a dichotomy–good is what God says is good versus God is good because of some outside standard of good [thus, we don't need God]–but it’s a false dilemma. This point is picked up in the debate between Antony and Craig, namely there is a third choice: we know goodness from God’s character. He’s merciful. Kind. Gracious. Perhaps I’ve just muddied the water for you. 
Take care, Robert.
Jonathan RoyFebruary 3, 2010
I’ll chime in with a recommendation of the book “The Pursuit of Holiness” by Jerry Bridges.
Demian FarnworthFebruary 3, 2010
Love it and read it. Great recommendation!
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May 4, 2009