In 1827, the widow and various friends of the recently deceased Anglican minister, Reginald Heber, published 57 of his hymns as a tribute to his memory. Among those hymns was one of the most valuable that the evangelical world knows: the trisagion Holy, Holy, Holy.
This hymn has been sung by thousands of believers around the world, and I am almost sure that you have also sung it at some point in your Christian life.
Unfortunately, the way many Christians who have sung this hymn live and think points to a poor understanding of what God’s holiness is. In other words, our current generation seems not to understand the holiness it sings of.
We need to seek to further understand this glorious attribute of God in order to return to an orthodoxy (correct thinking), orthopraxis (correct practice), and doxology (praise) that honors the Holy One of Israel.
HOLY
What is the holiness of the Lord? The following acrostic is intended as a brief summary of what biblically means and implies that God is Holy.
Holiness is an attribute…
yessuperlative in expression and measure Holiness means that God is…
adeparted from all moral impurity Holiness is an attribute…
nonecessary of the Being of God Holiness means…
youontological transcendence Holiness is an attribute…
eitherDied by the sinful world
Let’s take a look at the acrostic.
Superlative in expression and measure
Isaiah chapter 6 reveals something that rarely occurs in Scripture: it shows us a word, holy, being elevated to a maximum degree of importance. Isaiah writes: “And voices, saying: Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory” (v. 3). Now, as theologian RC Sproul has pointed out, in biblical language “to mention something three times in a row is to elevate it to the superlative degree of it and give it an emphasis of super importance.” What does all this mean?
First of all, it does not mean that holiness is the most important attribute of God (they all have the same importance), but that divine holiness is the one that best shows the distinction between the Creator and the creature. Secondly, this superlative in expression shows that divine holiness is so majestic and infinite that human language cannot contain it. It is an ineffable holiness.
The holiness of God is not just anything. The holiness of God is the attribute par excellence that reveals the great distance between the Sovereign and the subject.
We can then see that the holiness of God is not just anything. The holiness of God is the attribute par excellence that reveals the great distance between the Sovereign and the subject.
Separated from all impurity
the hebrew root qad It is the one behind the word holiness and means “to cut”, “separate”, or “separate”. It is for this etymological basis that we understand that divine holiness implies being separate or separated from something. In this case, God is absolutely and eternally removed from all sin and moral impurity.
This glorious divine perfection is so pure that its brilliance led the seraphim, in Isaiah 6, to cover their faces with their wings. Put another way, the light of God’s holiness is so intense and inaccessible (1 Tim. 6:16) that it cannot be seen, even by sinless beings like angels. But that is not all that these seraphim were doing in the vision that God showed Isaiah. They “also had to cover their feet, acknowledging that they were creatures in the exalted presence of God.”
Now, what does genuinely understanding that God is Holy produce in sinful beings? The response is a terrifying effect, since it leads us to admit without question our sinfulness, and thus also leads us to repentance. This is what Isaiah experienced when he understood—at least in part—the purity of God (Is. 6:5, 7).
Necessary of the Being of God
Puritan Thomas Brooks once wrote that “the holiness of God and his nature are not two things but one. God’s holiness is his nature, and God’s nature is his holiness.” This is not to say, as was said before, that holiness is the prominent attribute of the Lord. That would deny the unity or the divine Being. Rather, it means that without this attribute God would not be the true God. Being Holy, like any other of his attributes, is something ontologically necessary in God.
ontological transcendence
As the theologian Louis Berkhof comments, the main meaning of holiness it is the transcendence of God. This means that God is, in an absolute and ontological sense (related to his Being), other than his creation. This expresses that there is an infinite distance that separates us (qad) of God. Hence the phrase “high and lifted up” which appears in various passages in connection with divine holiness (Is. 6:1; 57:15).
God deserves all the worship and fear of his creatures. This is the main idea behind divine holiness.
Transcendence, in other words, declares that we can never be at the same level and category as God. He is above all his creatures, being and existing in a unique category of eternal, immutable, supreme, and infinite majesty. He deserves all the adoration and fear of his creatures. This is the main idea behind divine holiness.
According to Berkhof, “this holiness awakens in man a sense that he is absolutely nothing.” In other words, before a transcendental God we realize our smallness, finiteness, and that we are unworthy creatures. As we can see, divine holiness “includes purity, but it is much more than that. It is purity and transcendence. It is therefore a transcendent purity.
Hated by the sinful world
Although this point does not describe something specific about the holiness of God, it does show us that the idea of a holy God is something that the sinful world detests. I do not think it is an exaggeration to say that there is no other divine attribute that the world hates more than the transcendent purity of God.
The reason is simple: unbelieving humanity does not want to live by a standard of moral purity (Rom. 1:18-32). He does not want texts like: “be holy, for I am holy” (1 Pet. 1:16). Does this mean that unbelievers are without hope? No, on the contrary. Let us remember that we, before we were believers, were also at enmity against God! (Eph. 2:1-3).
What we must do, in addition to living a life that more reflects the holiness of God and praying for non-believers, is to preach to them that there was Someone who took upon himself the holy wrath of God, and satisfied divine justice in its entirety, ” so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life” (Jn. 3:16).
With this summary, I encourage you to seek to grow in a correct understanding of the holiness of God: an understanding that leads you to live more and more for the glory of our Lord.
R. C. Sproul, The Holiness of God (Unilit Publishing House, 2004), p. 17.
It is worth mentioning that some authors and theologians have considered the holiness of God as his main attribute, from which all others flow.
The Holiness of God, p. 16.
R. C. Sproul, The Holiness of God: Study Guide (Ligonier Ministries, 2014), p.11.
Louis Berkhoff, systematic theology (Grand Rapids: Challenge Books, 2009), p. 85-86.
The Holiness of God, p. 26.
Image: .