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Christians like to focus on God's love, forgiveness, and goodness, but we don’t as readily stress his holiness. Perhaps the reason for this is that we long to be loved, forgiven, and blessed by a good God. In all these ways we understand that God comes close to us and is near to us in mercy.
Focusing on God's holiness brings into sharp focus our own sinfulness.
In God’s holiness, however, we see how very different and distinct he is from us; we sense a gigantic gap in who he is and who we are as we live our daily lives dogged by sin and impurity. Focusing on God's holiness brings into sharp focus our own sinfulness, brokenness, and lack. It can be downright discouraging to contemplate our impurity of thought and action, our frequent sin, and then to think about how perfectly pure God is. Because God is holy, completely pure and without any sin and darkness, he must judge sin and evil.
Think of Adam and Eve being banished from the presence of God after sinning in the garden of Eden. For unbelievers God’s holiness is a terrifying thing, for every person knows his or her evil thoughts and deeds, and how there is no way for us to be holy based on our own merits before a holy God in all his perfections. Unbelievers are left to the righteous judgment of a holy God for their sin.
God desires for us to rejoice in his attribute of holiness.
Christians are called to enjoy God, and so must rejoice in all of his characteristics. And God desires for us to rejoice in his holiness, not to be discouraged by it. Take for instance Exodus 15:11 in the Song of Moses, which exclaims,
“Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?"
How are we to exclaim like Moses and the people of Israel did when we are conscious of our great sinfulness?
Only in Christ can we rejoice in God’s holiness. We see the sin and corruption and darkness of our own hearts and the world around us, and because God is holy we know that all the evil in this world will be wiped away one day. And yet, as those covered in Christ’s blood and righteousness, we will not be judged with the world.
One day we will be holy like our holy heavenly Father.
We do not fear a holy God because we do not stand before him on our own merits but instead in the perfect righteousness of Christ. Our sin and corruption has already been judged in Christ’s death, and our salvation is unto holiness, so that we might be like our holy heavenly Father.
God’s work in our lives is to make us more holy like himself. Hebrews 12:10 states,
For they [our fathers] disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he [God] disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.
God is preparing his beloved children in this life to dwell forever in his presence in the new heavens and new earth. We stand before him because of Christ’s righteousness, and God is shaping us by the Holy Spirit to become in our thoughts and actions more holy like himself.
This article is adapted from BCL’s January 2022 monthly newsletter “Holiness.”
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