The Attributes of God Steve Lawson
Trinity Bible Church, Men's study, 2/17/22
LESSON 5. The HOLINESS of God
Exodus 15:11, "Who among the gods is like You, O Lord? Who is like You—majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?"
REVIEW OF VIDEO
I. God's Surpassing Holiness
A. God's holiness is uniquely emphasized in Scripture.
1. The Bible repeatedly describes people, places, and things associated with God as "holy."
2. The heavenly beings that surround God's throne continuously cry out, "Holy, holy, holy!"
3. By describing God in this way, the angels are declaring that God is holy to a superlative degree, to be elevated and honored above all else.
B. Though Scripture often speaks of God's love, truth, and sovereignty, these other attributes are not presented with the same emphasis as God's holiness.
II. God's Exalted Status
A. To say that God is holy is to attest that He is separated above His creation.
1. The Hebrew word translated into English as "holy" primarily indicates separation or the act of setting apart.
2. God is therefore distinctly and infinitely superior to His creation and His creatures.
B. To say that God is holy is to ascribe to Him kingly majesty (Exodus 15:11; Psalm 22:3).
1. God's glory is too stunning for human beings to behold or comprehend.
2. His royal splendor vastly exceeds that of the most exalted human monarchs.
C. God's holiness is poignantly described in Isaiah 6.
1. The train of God's royal robe is so extensive that it fills the temple.
2. Even the dazzling seraphim—blazing in their intensity for God's glory, must cover themselves in the presence of God's splendor.
3. Overwhelmed by this glimpse of God's holiness, Isaiah became profoundly aware of his own unclean and unworthy nature.
D. The church is at its strongest when it recognizes and honors the holiness of God.
III. God's moral Perfection
A. God is completely without sin or moral blemish.
B. All of God's decisions and judgments are perfect.
C. As an infinitely holy being, God is not neutral toward good or evil.
1. God delights in all that is true, worthy & upright.
2. Because God's very nature is one of purity, He cannot tolerate sin.
3. It is only through the righteousness of Jesus Christ that guilty sinners can be reconciled to God.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. The only divine attributes to be repeated three times in Scripture are holiness and love.
a. True b. false
2. The Hebrew word translated into English as "holy" primarily expresses:
a. majesty
b. purity
c. moral excellence
d. separation
3. When we talk about God's holiness, we are referring primarily to his moral purity.
a. True b. false
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. How should a proper understanding of God's holiness affect your love for Jesus Christ and your appreciation of His work of redemption?
2. How should a better understanding of God's holiness affect your personal and corporate worship of Him?
3. Scripture is often referred to as "Holy Scripture." How should a richer understanding of God's holiness affect how we read Scripture?
4. In his first epistle, Peter quotes Leviticus 11:44, which reads, "Be holy, for I am holy." How should God's holiness ought to influence our daily life?
ADDITION SCRIPTURES ON GOD'S HOLINESS
1 Samuel 2:2, "There is no one holy like the Lord, indeed, there is no one besides You, nor is there any rock like our God."
Psalm 30:4, "Sing unto the Lord, O saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness"
Psalm 47:8, "God reigns over the nations, God sits on His holy throne."
Psalm 99:5, "Exalt the Lord our God and worship at His footstool; holy is He."
Psalm 111:9, "Holy and awesome is His name."
Psalm 145:17, "The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His works!"
Isaiah 40:25, "To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him?' says the Holy One."
Isaiah 57:15, "For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy"
Revelation 4:8, "And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, 'Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come!'"
Revelation 15:4, "Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy!"
QUOTATIONS
John MacArthur: "Of all the attributes of God, holiness is the one that most uniquely describes Him and in reality is a summation of all His other attributes. The word holiness refers to His separateness, His otherness, the fact that He is unlike any other being. It indicates His complete and infinite perfection. Holiness is the attribute of God that binds all the others together."
Arthur Pink: "God alone is independently, infinitely, immutably holy. In Scripture He is frequently called "The Holy one". He is so because the sum of all moral excellency is found in Him. He is absolute Purity, unsullied even by the shadow of sin. "God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all" 1 John 1:5
Thomas Boston: "There is nothing wherein the divine holiness and hatred of sin is so manifest as in the sufferings of his own dear Son. This was a greater demonstration of His holiness, than if all men and angels had suffered for it eternally in hell-fire!"
Arthur Pink: "God's holiness is best manifested at the cross. Wondrously and yet most solemnly does the atonement display God's infinite holiness and abhorrence of sin. How hateful sin must be to God, for Him to punish it to its utmost deserts when it was imputed to His Son!"
Charnock: "Not all the vials of judgment that have or shall be poured out upon the wicked world, nor the irreversible sentence pronounced against the rebellious demons, nor the groans of the damned creatures—give such a demonstration of God's hatred of sin, as the wrath of God let loose upon His Son!
"Never did divine holiness appear more beautiful and lovely than at the time our Savior's countenance was most marred in the midst of His dying groans—when God had turned His smiling face away from Him, and thrust His sharp knife into His heart, which forced that terrible cry from Him: My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"
Joel Beeke: "The general decline of godly fear among professing Christians today is directly related to an ignorance of God's holiness."
Matthew Henry: "No attribute of God is more dreadful to sinners than his holiness."
Arthur Pink: "An ineffably holy God, who has the utmost abhorrence of all sin, was never invented by any of Adam's fallen descendants! The fact is, that nothing makes more manifest the terrible depravity of man's heart and his enmity against the living God, than to have set before him One who is infinitely and immutably holy. His own idea of sin is practically limited to what the world calls "crime." Anything short of that, man palliates as "defects," "mistakes," "infirmities," etc. And even where sin is owned at all, excuses and extenuations are made for it.
The God which the vast majority of professing Christians "love" is looked upon very much like an indulgent old man, who himself has no relish for folly, but leniently winks at the "indiscretions" of youth. But the Word says, "You hate all workers of iniquity!" Psalm 5:5. And again, "God is angry with the wicked every day!" Psalm 7:11. But men refuse to believe in this God, and gnash their teeth when His hatred of sin is faithfully pressed upon their attention. Sinful man was no more likely to devise a holy God, than to create the Lake of Fire in which he will be tormented forever and ever!"