#8. The HOLINESS of God

By Arthur Pink and others.

(You will find it helpful to LISTEN to the Audio, as you READ the text below.)

"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory." Isaiah 6:3

Holiness is not merely one attribute of God, it is the very beauty of all that He is. It is the totality of His moral perfection. God's holiness is the infinite distance between His purity, and all that is defiled. God is not just sinless, He is utterly "other"--exalted above all creation in majestic sanctity. "God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all" 1 John 1:5

In Heaven's courts, the seraphim cry, not love, love, love--nor power, power, power--but Holy, holy, holy! This threefold repetition is not poetic flourish; it is the language of awe. His holiness is absolute, incomparable, and consuming. It strikes terror in the hearts of the guilty, and causes the redeemed to fall in humility and reverent wonder before Him.

When Isaiah beheld the LORD high and lifted up, he did not marvel at God's wisdom or rejoice in His love--he was undone by His holiness. "Woe to me!" he cried. For in the presence of perfect purity . . .
  every sin is seen as vile,
  every excuse is silenced,
  and every boast is laid in the dust.

The cross alone unveils the cost of approaching such a God. Divine love did not lower the standard--divine holiness demanded that the sinless Son suffer in the place of the guilty. There, righteousness and mercy met. There, the Holy One made a way for the unholy.

What glory--that sinners, once rebels, may now draw near! Clothed in the righteousness of Christ, we are called not only to behold God's holiness--but to reflect it. "Without holiness no one will see the Lord!" Hebrews 12:14

Let us then . . .
  worship with trembling,
  walk with purity, and
  hate every stain of sin.

The One who called us is holy--so let us be holy in all we do.

 

We have published another choice hymn by Don Fortner, "All Saints Give Honor".