God's Defining Attribute. Pt.2- Holiness

I. The Holiness of God

"There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God. "-I Samuel 2:2

"Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?"- Exodus 15: 11

When making a case for the Holiness of God we must first consider the facts.

1) The holiness of God, unlike his love, is a constant. as you will soon see, it is ever present in every thing He is and does.

2) Holiness is the one adjective that is most used to describe God throughout the Bible.

3) Man, created in the image of God, received the ability to express every emotion common with God, even when corrupted by the fall... Man has never been transcendentally holy. Only God is Holy in his very nature..

II. Holiness defined

1) Holiness: Heb: qôdesh-BDB Definition: 1) apartness, holiness, sacredness, separateness
- Brown, Driver, Briggs Hebrew definitions

2)Holiness: Grk: G40 -ἅγιος- hagios- hag'-ee-os From ἅγος, hagos (an awful thing) compare G53, [H2282]; sacred (physically pure, morally blameless or religious, ceremonially consecrated): - (most) holy (one, thing), saint.- Strong's Notes

Holiness by definition is best defined as transcendence, that which is apart, or separate from everything else.
Concerning God it refers to His separation, or his apartness from his creation. In the Greek, holy is shown to mean separate, sacred , morally pure...Blameless.... Personally I think a good definition is Transcendent Perfection in being..
Our God is Holy, His Holiness is what completely separates Him from His Creation. And as you will see man does everything he can to separate himself from God's Holiness.
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III. Holiness Of God.... FINALLY!
When dealing Honestly with the Holiness of our Sovereign Lord we must, automatically see the corruptness in our own hearts. A true glimpse of the His Holiness causes an honest man to shrink in shame and terror. A careful look into the lives of the apostles and prophets shows the results of true encounters with God, in his holiness. Ezekiel who after seeing a vision of God, fell upon his face, and had to be lifted up by the Spirit. (Eze 1:28) Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, considered himself broken and stumbling, like a pitiful drunk in the presence of Holiness. (Jer 23:9) Peter also, stood astonished in the presence of The Lord Jesus, asked him to depart, because He[Peter] was a sinful man, (Lk5:8) and who could forget Poor Isaiah, struggling to keep his sanity in Gods Holy presence, because of his filthy mouth. (Isa 6)

Perhaps this is why The Holiness of God is avoided like the plague. In our age of "Jesus is my homeboy" and "God is my Copilot," we have replaced The Holy God with a a nice Loving god of Play-doh, which we can mold to fit our sinful ways. So corrupt we have become that we have reduced God to the "Old man Upstairs." Jesus has become a major marketing gimmick where anything from worldly music, or poorly written literature, to clothing, and even common of trinkets can be sanctified, simply by adding "Jesus" to it. Instead of being transformed, we seek to conform to this world and all the garbage in it. Rank sin is now overlooked as the "seeker sensitive/social acceptance gospel" brings wicked, unrepentant men and women into positions of authority in our church.... Holiness and sin are seldom mentioned in the pulpit, as the apostates and liberals daily push the envelope of decency further toward the God of this world... Yet the Bible still commands...

..."Be ye holy; for I am holy."- I Peter 1:16

IV. God is Holy

1) God is holy in his character:

"But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel"- Psalm 22:3

"Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are."- John 17:11

David in his beautiful psalm of Messianic prophecy, proclaimed that God is Holy. God is Holy in his very character. Throughout the Bible He is called Holy. Even the Lord Jesus Christ, mere hours before he was to fulfill the prophecies in David's psalm, lifted his voice to the heavens, using a name so reverent, that it appears only once in the entire bible...Holy Father...Holy father... Not the pope, or any man... No one but God, Our Heavenly Father, should ever be addressed by that name...

2) God's name is Holy

For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.- Luke 1:49

There are two ways one might look at this, each with equal merit, For in the Bible, The word "name" not only refers to personal address, it also refers to the title of the person addressed.
Our savior was given the name Jesus as a personal name, (Matthew 1:25) but He also had names which were titles, describing who he was (Matthew 1:23, Isaiah 9:6). So as we look at this small part of Mary's song of Praise, let us realize that:

• God's name is Holy... In personal address. The devout Jew, for fear of blasphemy, will not utter the sacred name of God, The very Name which is so sacred too him is replaced by the title "Adonay" being interpreted, "The Lord". It is also said that when His name was written scribes would clean their pens before, and after the sacred name was put to parchment...Taking the name of the Lord in vein was a sin that the Jewish people went to great lengths to avoid...Even Jesus Himself, in giving the example of How to pray, started with an exclamation of Praise to God in his very nature. He proclaimed, before anything else, that His Father's name be regarded as Holy. (Matthew 6:9). God's Name is holy.

• Holy is His name in title...Mary being a devout lady, knowing the actual name of God, pronounced Holy also as his title, acknowledging His holiness in choosing her as the mother of our Savior. God's name is Holy, and God is holy..

3) God's Works are Holy

The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.- Psalm 145:17

As seen clearly in the previous posts, you can show that not all of God's works are motivated by love, But Holiness Is found in everything he does. His love is Holy, His mercy is Holy, His wrath is a Holy wrath, and He is holy in his justice.. You can not separate God from his holiness, for in doing so, He would cease to Be God... God is holy in his works...

4) God swears by his Holiness

In His promises- "Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me."- (Psalm 89:35)

And in His judgment- "The Lord God hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that he will take you away with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks."- (Amos 4:2)

When God swears by the one thing that is absolutely inherent in His very nature, it's a done deal...period.

So much more can be written about God's holiness, and so much more has, by men of far greater renown than I, however I would like to end this with one last thing.

5) The beauty of God is his holiness.

"Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the Lord in beauty of holiness.- 1Chronicles 16:29

"Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty, give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness."- Psalm 29:2

God command's us to be holy, as He is Holy. and we are told to worship him in the beauty of holiness. Please read carefully this passage in First Peter

Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.- I Peter 1:13-16

Twice we see the holiness of God Proclaimed in these verses, Look with your eyes. Read it aloud, and let it sink into your ears... We, who name Jesus Christ as our savior, are to be HOLY... not conforming ourselves after the lusts we were supposed to leave behind. No longer is it enough to spend six days filling our hearts and minds with the FILTH of Hollywood and the music industry, But now, using the excuse of "relevance," that very garbage is being dragged into the "worship" service... on the Lord's Day! Shame, and woe on the preacher who is so bereft of the Holy Spirit of God that the should gather sermon material from "Star Wars" or "I Love Lucy" or any other trash pulled from the screens of that godless industry.... Shame and Woe to the so-called worship leaders who Blast out secular garbage, or "Jesus or my boyfriend" music in the Service, like some drunken bar band! and those shallow repetitive choruses that have all the spiritual depth of a thimble full of water! You will give an account to God for your sin...Worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness, for Christ has no concord with Belial, and light had no communion with darkness! (2 Corinthians 6: 14-18) We are COMMANDED to come out from among them and Be separate! Mark my words, we will all give an account, not only those who do it, but also those who sit on their "seats of Do nothing" and allow it to happen...

And How do I end this... for in pointing the finger at everyone else I must acknowledge that I am no better. In the mirror of God's Holiness, I am just as guilty, of allowing my soul to be spoon fed by the God of this world. And If you are Honest with yourself, before God, you will feel the same way... be honest...

I said at the beginning, that when we are dealing with the holiness of our sovereign Lord, we must see the corruptness of our own heart. Sin, in our hearts and lives, is the reason
we avoid the subject and the study of God's Holiness... No one is more blind to the truth than he who refuses to see.. But for those who do, praise God, in his mercy, that He gives us this precious promise.

"If we say we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness we lie and do not the truth, But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship, one with another, And the BLOOD of Jesus Christ cleanses us from ALL sins."- I John 1:6-7.

Praise the Lord for his mercy....

Part three- The Holiness of Jesus Christ...
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God's Defining Attribute. Pt.1- Love

The defining attribute of God. The one quality of God that defines His very nature. The one characteristic of Our Lord that is inherent in everything that He is...and does.
Why do we seek to pigeon-hole God into a single quality? Is not the Lord of creation glorious and perfect in all attributes and emotions? For years this very subject has been a matter of debate, and entire theologies have been formed around this very concept..but why? Perhaps as finite human creatures , not being able to comprehend the nature of an Infinite being, we seek to grasp something concrete, something in which we can "Sum up" the entirety of God's eternal attributes with one convenient word, and in doing so have a ready answer the the question "Who (or what) is God?" Perhaps in our choice of a defining attribute we seek to emphasize what we consider the more pleasant aspect of God, as opposed to something which would require us to deal with our own personal shortcomings... namely, our sin.

How do we determine what single attribute can describe God? Before answering, we should consider the following:

1) The defining Attribute of God should be a constant. It has to be a something that does not change in the Nature of God. A characteristic that is consistent in absolutely everything He has done, or will do.

2) An Emotion? Up until now you might have noticed that I have mentioned little of emotions.
While Emotions have been used to describe nature of God, only one, that being "love" has been, and still is, used to describe God's ontological being.

The problem with this is that emotions are not a constant. In order for an emotion to define everything that God is, it Should be consistent in everything he does.. For Love to be considered the preeminent attribute of God, every thought, every word, and every action must be permeated with that emotion, every time He moves to express himself. And Therein lies the problem. Not every act committed by God is an expression of his love.
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I. The Wrath of God (See previous blog)

There is no way to reconcile the love of God with the the final judgment, which is described as pure, unmixed wrath-Revelation 14:9-10.

II. Esau.

"As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated."- Romans 9: 13

The Greek word for "hated" leaves no doubt of God's feelings toward the brother of Jacob.

1) HATED-G3404-μισέω- "miseō" -Thayer Definition: 1) to hate, pursue with hatred, detest 2) to be hated, detested Part of Speech: verb

Paul in his Epistle makes a reference to Esau that is traced back to Malachi 1:3 .

"And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness. "- Malachi 1:3

The Hebrew confirms what was translated in the Greek:

2) Hated-H8130- śânê' -saw-nay'-A primitive root; to hate (personally): - enemy, foe, (be) hate (-ful, -r), odious, X utterly.

NOTE: The Septuagint (Greek translation of the Old Testament) in Malachi 1:3 shows the same Greek word for "hated" as the New Testament Greek text cited in Romans 9:13 (Gr- Miseo)

The Biblical text makes it quite clear... You can not reconcile the "all encompassing" love of God with his hatred of Esau.

The Bible says God is love. (I John 4:8 and 16) and of all the emotions that are expressed by God, perhaps it is the greatest. But it is an emotion in which even God has a limit. The belief that God can not act apart from love, which is a popular notion among the church today is false, as is seen in the previous texts. Knowing this, you must ask yourself, Can Love Be God's Defining attribute? Would it not be more proper to consider God's Holiness as His supreme attribute? I personally believe yes, and in the next post, we will examine why...
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Penal Substitution, and The Love of God.

A few weeks ago I examined a few verses showing the depravity of man, culling truth from many New Testament promises that exclaimed the before/ after effects of redemption. A comprehensive list of 45 characteristics shown the status of the unredeemed man Before God. Anyone with eyes that can see, would realize that the picture of the unredeemed in the New Testament is bleak and hopeless before a Holy God.
It was my original intention to continue the study by examining what the Old Testament says about the sinner standing before God. What follows was to be the groundwork for the next post... however God in his providence, had lead me to chase another rabbit, and in doing so Establish a truth that has become a problem in much of what is called Christianity today.
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I. God's primary attribute- LOVE?

"Do you believe that God does anything that is not motivated by love? 'Cause love is his ontological character, it's his being." -Paul Young, author of "The Shack" from an interview with Pastor Kendal Adams.

The defining attribute of God has always been a debate among theologians throughout the ages, and in this day and age, when the "seeker sensitive/ social acceptance gospel" message is puked up by another salvo of liberal clergy and theologians, the love of God has become so all encompassing, that it overshadows and even eliminates any of his other attributes. Case in point, Mr. Young, who is a spokesman for emergent Christianity.
Young, like all others of his theological persuasion, see God as being so loving that EVERY act he preforms is motivated by this emotion, even at the expence of his other attributes. Those who hold to this have to twist major portions of scripture to promote their views. Improper exegesis is all to common among people who hold this position, as seen in his [Young's] book, which is awash with the false doctrine of "Universal Atonement."
However, Paul Young does asks a valid question. Does God Do Anything that is not motivated by Love? After all...

... "God is Love"-I John 4: 8- (intentionally wrested from it's context...)


In Answering this one question, we can see whether God's Love is His "very being", His "ontological nature," as Paul would have it. We can disprove this by simply finding one instance of God doing something that is not motivated by His love...

II. The Wine of God's Wrath

"The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb"-Revelation 14:10

I want to avoid going into the nature and duration of God's punishment, and just concentrate on the metaphor that describes God's anger. It is called The wine of the Wrath of God, poured into the cup of his indignation.
The Greek words which are translated "wrath" and "indignation," testify to the emotional status of God at the time of Judgment.

Wrath- Grk. -Thumos: passion, angry, heat, anger forthwith boiling up and soon subsiding again

Indignation-Grk.- Orgay:- movement or agitation of the soul, impulse, desire, any violent emotion, but especially anger- Thayer"s Lexicon of New Testament Greek

God's judgment is described as a cup of His violent anger, filled with His boiling wrath. This wine of God's intense anger is poured out "Without mixture" as it forced upon those who are being judged...

A little study into the history of wine Shows that throughout the Bible, it was a common beverage, used for various purposes. It was mixed with water to control the strength, and it was mixed with spices to add flavor, and also for medicinal purposes.

God's wrath and indignation are emotions in the above text, that have no mixture. There is no other emotion added to water down God's wrath... There is no other emotion to make the cup of His fierce anger more palatable.... There is no other emotion, to deaden the pain and anguish that will be experienced by the pitiful souls who are so foolish as to refuse the precious free gift of God!

Could this not be the very Cup that Jesus Christ, in His anguish, took upon himself to Drink, as he succumbed to His Fathers will, in the Garden of Gethsemane?

"Father , if thou be willing take this CUP from me, nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done"- Luke 22:42

It was this very Cup that our precious savior, in His absolute love for us, drank deeply from as His bloody, bruised, and beaten body was nailed to a filthy cross. As the sin of every man who would Come to God was laid upon Him, Our precious savior took upon himself the fullness of God's undiluted wrath. He took upon himself OUR sin and He endured the wrath that WE deserved, even refusing the medicinal wine, mixed with myrrh, given him to dull the horrible pain of his crucifixion- Mark 15: 23 . As He hung upon the cross, wounded for OUR transgressions, and Crushed for OUR iniquities, The divine prophecy was fulfilled...God saw the travail of Christs soul, and was SATISFIED. -Isaiah 53:11 How Great the love of the Lord Jesus Christ for enduring the punishment we deserve!

Who would have the unmitigated gall to deny the penal substitutionary death of Christ? Who would have the absolute audacity to deny the love that Jesus Christ expressed in giving his very life for the lost???

Ironically the very ones who claim that God's love is his defining attribute... including Paul Young...

God's love is an emotion, it is not his defining attribute... You cannot reconcile the judgment of God on the unredeemed with his love, as His judgment is only pure undiluted wrath. - Revelation 14:10

Does God do anything that is not motivated by love? The answer is yes... But Praise be to our Most High and Loving God, that HE has provided a sacrifice, in his own son, and a Free Gift to those who will accept it.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not parish, but have everlasting life... John 3:16

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THIS will be continued in the next post: God's Defining Attribute...Holiness.
-SOLI DIO GLORIA!

Worship Music Battle of the Bands III

Guess what time it is folks!!! It is time for round three of the Worship Music Battle of the Bands! where the bizarre meets the downright creepy for the purpose of "lifting high the banner of the cross"...or not...

Today we pit a classic video favorite, with what I feel is the creepiest, most disturbing thing ever to label itself Christian...except for... perhaps... the author of this blog...be that as it may... Let's get to contestant number one...

Our first video is a Youtube classic. With close to three million views, it has been parodied dozens of times. The Group and has been labeled as "The first Christian ska band," and has been a candidate for our battle of the bands for some time. Desiring to make it on a post, I have yet to find anything that could compare to the...what word am I looking for...goofiness of this piece of work...until now...Sooooooo,

Ladies and gentlemen...For your viewing pleasure... From their album "First Fruits", Sonseed, with the viral video hit, "Jesus Is A Friend of Mine!!!"

When I first saw this all I could do was shudder, but after several viewings, it kinda grew on me. The disco like clothing, the pink stage background, and the catchy chorus, that I just can't get out of my head...."Disturbing" finally gave way to "cute" and now I can actually listen to it without wanting to gouge my eardrums out with an icepick...
My favorite part is 1:50 minutes into the song.

"He is like a Mountie, He always gets His man and he will zap you any way he can...
Classic theology at it's finest! What more can I say?


There are many words that can describe our next contestant ... He ministers in song, singing duets with the voice of a small child that lives in a 2 bedroom condominium in his stomach... I AM NOT KIDDING.... And if that is not disturbing enough.... sigh..let's just listen to the video...

Introducing, Mark Fox, singing "Fearfully and Wonderfully Made..."



All I can say is YEEEESH!!! Perhaps if this was done with a ventriloquist dummy it would be more tolerable or a hand puppet, or a voice over for a cartoon. but as it stands....Creepy!!!
A little googlidge of Mr. Fox brought me to this link, http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2005/10/the_secret_of_l.html where I found that he also recorded an entire album of childrens songs, that included "Diary of an unborn child, " a truly disturbing story of the life of an unborn fetus untill it was aborted...
I struggled through a few of the seventeen tracks, and decided that water boarding would be less painful... This makes telletubbies seem lame... If you did not hear me the first time, I'll say it again...YEEEEESH!!!

So if the above video give you the taste for "Sanctified Disturbing Children's Music," click the link and have a ball... As for me I would rather listen to a "Hee Haw" marathon while scratching a bottle cap down a black board.... It is that bad. }}}}}}SHUDDER{{{{

Why should we preach the gospel?

As I sat in the solitude of my room on a quiet Sunday afternoon, my study for the day was to gather a small list of verses on the depravity of man. Bible open, notebook at hand, I proceed to Romans 3 for some obvious examples. . From Romans, I went to John, and several other books, gathering many verses that actually showed the status of an unredeemed man throughout the writings of the New Testament. As you can see the list is rather long...
Last night, I took all the verses I gathered and ordered them. as you see them below.
While I was praying on how to present this. The Lord laid it upon my heart to use it for an answer to the question I have been dealing with, as a follower of Reformed theology.

Q. "If all the elect are guaranteed salvation, why should we evangelize?"

The obvious answer is simple, Because we are commanded to. -Matthew 28:19-20
Yet this answer, true as it is, seems to me to be a "cop out answer" to a critical question...

We were not given the ability to discern who is elect and who is not. We are commanded to preach the Word to all nations. It is the Holy Spirit's job to call and save. It is God who will gather His elect... It is our responsibility to preach His Word.
Every verse listed below reveals the condition of an unsaved man before God..This is how God views those who are unredeemed.


I. From the Mouth of Jesus Christ

John 3:16 is probably the most quoted, and the most memorized verse in the Bible. Yet
surrounding this wonderful truth, Jesus, in his conversation with Nicodemus, revealed many
things concerning the status of the lost.

• 1. They can not see the kingdom of God- John 3:3
• 2. They can not enter the Kingdom of God-John 3:5
• 3. They are already condemned- John 3:18
• 4. They love darkness rather than light- John 3:19
• 5. Their deeds are evil- John 3:19
• 6. They hate the light- John 3:20
• 7. They won't come to the light- John 3:20
• 8. The Wrath of God Abides upon them- John 3:36
• 9. They can't come to Christ- John 6:44

Wow... Jesus had a lot to say about the unredeemed... but it doesn't end there. If that is not enough to show the need for proclaiming the gospel, Let us go to The works of the apostle Paul.

II. The Writings of Paul

Let's jump to the book of Romans. A book that is replete with verses that testify to the
status of the unredeemed:

• 10. They treasure up wrath upon themselves- Romans 2:5
• 11. They are not righteous- Romans 3:10
• 12. They do not understand- Romans 3:11
• 13. They do not seek after God- Romans 3:11
• 14. They have gone their own way- Romans3:12
• 15. They have become worthless- Romans 3:12
• 16. They do nothing good- Romans 3:13
• 17. They have no reverence for God- Romans 3:18
• 18. They fall short of God's Glory- Romans 3:23

Let us continue

• 19. They are ungodly Romans 5:6
• 20. They are enemies of God- Romans 5:10
• 21. They are servants of sin- Romans 6:17
• 22. They are at enmity with God- Romans 8:7
• 23. They can not please God- Romans 8:8
• 24. They are vessels of wrath , fit for destruction- Romans 9:22

Oh... there's more

• 25. They can not receive the things of the Spirit of God- 1 Corinthians 2:14
• 26. The things of the Spirit of God are foolish to them- 1 Corinthians 2:14
• 27. They cant know the things of the Spirit of God- 1 Corinthians 2:14
• 28. They walk according to the course of this world- Ephesians 2:2
• 29. They are dead in trespasses and sin- Ephesians 2:1
• 30. They walk according to the prince of the power of the air- Ephesians 2:2
• 31. They are children of disobedience- Ephesians 2:2
• 32. They are Children of Wrath - Ephesians 2:3
• 33. They are Dead in sins- Ephesians 2:5
• 34. They are without Christ- Ephesians 2:12
• 35. They aliens and strangers to the covenant-Ephesians 2:12
• 36. They have no hope- Ephesians 2:12
• 37. They are without God in the world- Ephesians 2:12
• 38. They are dead in sins- Colossians 2:13
• 39. God will take vengeance on them in flaming fire- II Thessalonians 2:8
• 40. They will be punished with everlasting destruction- II Thessalonians 2:9
• 41. They can't please God- Hebrews 11:6
• 42. The are children of the devil- I John 3:1o

This is by no means an exhaustive list. But every single thing on this list applies to your lost friends... or family members...Wife, child, brother, sister, mother or father...
You would do everything you could to help them if they were seriously ill... Why won't you help them seeing that they are spiritually dead? How much do you really love those who are lost?

People are in dire need of hearing God's Word...We must love them enough to tell them the truth. Even if, in doing so, we become their enemy. It is our commission to proclaim the Love of God to all people through the sacrifice of his Son.

Q. "If all the elect are guaranteed salvation, why should we evangelize?"

A. Because if you don't tell them, you don't love them... Period.