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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