“And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!”
—Isaiah 6:3
Holiness is arguably God’s most significant attribute. The angels don’t sing, “Eternal, eternal, eternal” or “Faithful, faithful, faithful” or “Mighty, mighty, mighty.” Rather, they sing, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God, the Almighty” (Rev. 4:8; Isa. 6:3). In the Hebrew language, repetition is how the writer would emphasize and magnify a certain attribute of God. God’s holiness sums up all that He is. The psalmist wrote, “Holy and awesome is His name” (Psa. 111:9). Moses sang, “Who is like Thee among the gods, O Lord? Who is like Thee, majestic in holiness, awesome in praises, working wonders?” (Ex. 15:11). And Hannah prayed, “There is no one holy like the Lord, indeed, there is no one besides Thee, nor is there any rock like our God” (1 Sam. 2:2).
What does it mean that God is holy? The words translated “holy” in the Bible have the root meaning of “separation.” God’s being and character transcend everything in the created realm. He is not subject to the frailties and limitations of His creation. God is completely without sin, change, or defect, and He does not simply conform to a holy standard; He is the standard. God doesn’t simply do good things, perform righteous acts, or declare the truth, rather God is good, God is righteous, and God is truth. Therefore, whatever is determined to be good, righteous, and true must be measured according to God’s character, which is revealed in His Word, because God is the standard of all virtue. And whatever does not measure up to God’s character is therefore regarded as evil and wicked.
God’s righteousness is related to His holiness. Holiness is the standard and righteousness is its active fulfillment. We might say God’s holiness is His complete separation from all that is sinful, and His righteousness is the manifestation of that holiness. David understood how holy and righteous God is. He said, “The Lord is righteous in all His ways” (Psa. 145:17), and “Thy righteousness, O God, reaches to the heavens, Thou who hast done great things; O God, who is like Thee?” (Psa. 71:19). Sadly, most people in our day completely misunderstand God’s righteousness. If we truly understood God’s holiness we would respond as the prophet Isaiah when he received a glimpse of God’s holiness, “So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts” (Isa. 6:5). But sinners ignore God’s holy standard and deceive themselves into thinking that they are good people and therefore God won’t really judge them. “But God is a righteous judge who is angry with the wicked every day” (Psa. 7:11). Since God is holy, the penalty for any sin, however small the sin might seem, is death, both temporal and eternal (Rom. 6:23).
Therefore, Christian, don’t let the world corrupt your view of God. Don’t treat your sin lightly. Rather, confess it, forsake it, and, by faith, seek to please our holy God by walking in accordance with His Word, relying upon the strength of the Holy Spirit, and looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, who is also our righteousness before God. And when you fall short, confess it to the Lord, for “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
Friday Devotional: June 14, 2024
In Christ,
Pastor S. Henry