God is HOLY! & man is not
Maybe a Saint or Pope? Perhaps an angel? How about a Priest or holy man dedicating their life to God? And what about holy men and women of other faiths? WHO CAN BE HOLY?
What do you mean by ‘that’ word?
Doctrine is defined as, “that which is taught.”
No question about someone’s preaching or teaching is more important than, “What do you mean by that?”
So as I begin this series addressing various doctrines, please allow me to address what I mean by three terms in this first doctrine: God, Is and Holy. (What do I mean when I preface my teaching on the Bible by saying, ‘God is holy?’)
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth..
בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃
God, as used in the beginning of the books of Moses is literally,
אֱלֹהִים
‘ĕlōhîm.
* NOTE - definitions linked to secure authoritative sources
‘ĕlōhîm is plural *
(WE might want to remember that about GOD.)
- gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God
- also (plural intensive – singular meaning) i.e. the true God
We cannot exhaust all of the words used for ‘God’ here as we speak of doctrine, but we must look at one additional (and somewhat ambiguous) synonym, ‘Lord.’
LORD יְהֹוָה
וַיִּיצֶר֩ יְהוָ֨ה אֱלֹהִ֜ים אֶת־הָֽאָדָ֗ם עָפָר֙ מִן־הָ֣אֲדָמָ֔ה וַיִּפַּ֥ח בְּאַפָּ֖יו נִשְׁמַ֣ת חַיִּ֑ים וַֽיְהִ֥י הָֽאָדָ֖ם לְנֶ֥פֶשׁ חַיָּֽה׃
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Genesis 2:7 WLC, KJV
Yᵊhōvâ! G-d’s NAME, so holy that man should not even say it!
LORD (all CAPS – above all man and creature, the heavens and the earth).
- Jehovah = “the existing One”
- i.e. יַהְוֶה proper name, of deity Yahweh, the proper name of the God of Israel —
- The pronunciation Jehovah was unknown until A.D. 1520
What Commandment is foremost?
Gospel of Mark 12:
28 One of the Torah-teachers came up and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He [the Messiah Jesus] had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?”
‘Sh’ma Yisra’el, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai echad [Hear, O Isra’el, the Lord our God, the Lord is one], and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’
Mark 12:28-29 from NASB & CJB
Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘.. The Lord is our God, the Lord is one..’
Holy, Holy, Holy
I remember from early days of my childhood growing up ‘in church’ hearing a cappella worship and the ethereal lyrics of ‘Holy, Holy, Holy.’ The ‘otherness‘ feeling of these moments of worship transported my soul to a higher undefinable place. It was worship I would not come to understand until until I received the Holy Spirit many years later in this mortal life.
Although we cannot even approach the heights and depths of the doctrine of Trinity in this brief look at holiness, I offer you, beloved fellow believer, this one insight:
You may have heard of the Trinity before, but it will not impact your faith until you receive the Holy Spirit.
Roger@talkofJesus.com
Holiness defined
Like the word ‘God,’ the word and concept of HOLY also has many meanings which fall short of full description by mortal man.
When the Apostles recognized Jesus as God they confessed,
“And we have already believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.”
John 6:69 NASB20
The Greek word for ‘Holy‘ used by the Apostle Peter is: ἅγιος
- hágios, hag’-ee-os; from ἅγος hágos (an awful thing) (compare G53, G2282); sacred (physically, pure, morally blameless or religious, ceremonially, consecrated):—(most) holy (one, thing), saint.
Awe becomes a most humbling reaction to the Holy presence of Almighty God!
We witness mortals experiencing this holiness in Moses and many others. Take the reaction of the prophet Isaiah for instance:
Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
Isaiah 6:5 KJV
And what had Isaiah seen that evoked such awe? Enter the scene which preceded where Isaiah has a vision of a place other than earth:
וְקָרָא זֶה אֶל־זֶה וְאָמַר קָדוֹשׁ קָדוֹשׁ קָדוֹשׁ יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת מְלֹא כָל־הָאָרֶץ כְּבוֹדֽוֹ׃
And one cried unto another, and said,
Yeshaiya (Isaiah) 6:3
Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts:
the whole earth is full of his glory.
The Hebrew word for holy is: קָדוֹשׁ
- of God, as separate, apart, and so sacred, holy:
- a. exalted on theophanic throne Isaiah 6:3 (3 times in verse), Psalm 22:4 heavenly throne Isaiah 57:15; etc.
Man is NOT God
לֹא אִישׁ אֵל וִֽיכַזֵּב וּבֶן־אָדָם וְיִתְנֶחָם הַהוּא אָמַר וְלֹא יַעֲשֶׂה וְדִבֶּר וְלֹא יְקִימֶֽנָּה׃
“God is not a man, that He would lie,
Nor a son of man, that He would change His mind;
Has He said, and will He not do it?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good.
And most impactful to mortal man:
GOD IS.
The Lord God was and is and will be!
God IS eternal and man is NOT. Men and women born of dust will return to dust — our flesh and bones by the spirit abandoned.
Shall the spirit of the created not behold in AWE the HOLINESS of the eternal LORD God?
God is Other!
He IS not one of us. And by our separation of sin we cannot be one of ‘ĕlōhîm, EXCEPT by grace.
Holiness is other than moral perfection
To paraphrase the 20th c. theologian Rudolf Otto in ‘The Idea of the Holy,’
HOLY IS NOT “the consummation of moral goodness.”
Then Otto observes, “But this common usage of the term [holy] is inaccurate. Otto suggest the word numinous.
[source for further study: https://www.britannica.com/topic/sacred#ref538785 Streng, F. J.. "Sacred." Encyclopedia Britannica, February 12, 2019. https://www.britannica.com/topic/sacred.]
(a mysterious, majestic presence inspiring dread and fascination)
This HOLINESS of the Almighty LORD God has little to do with moral goodness. God is a Holy eternal being other than any moral or immoral mortal being.
With gratitude to God and R.C. Sproul, I recommend any of the teaching series or books mentioned & linked. Roger
God IS a tremendous mystery!
Still borrowing from philosophy and the theology of R.C. Sproul, the reaction of the created (mankind) to the Creator (God) is Mysterium Tremendum.
It is tremendous, but in a way that shakes you to your very core.
R.C. Sproul – from The Holiness of God on Mysterium Tremendum
This Latin expression from early church fathers describes God’s holiness as the “tremendous, tremor-inducing and awe-inspiring, mystery,” a reverence for the Lord rarely present in 21st century worship by the church.
God is Other Plus
Can man pursue Other?
God IS other, but God is also more than Other. The LORD is above all His Creation plus in it as well. The Personal God of the Bible made Himself known to those He chose; that is, Moses, Elijah and the Prophets, David and others.
Although we hallow God (and we must), our awe and fear of the LORD draws us to His love that conceived each of us in His image as body, mind and spirit.
Again, returning to a description by Otto, who secular philosophers accuse of pursuing the irrational, it is better to say “supra-rational.”
God is NOT other than rational just because man cannot understand a God so ‘other’ than mankind.
Theologians seek to study “that rational aspect of that supreme Reality we call ‘God.”‘ Although the Holy trembles the hearts of men, the pursuit of God’s holiness draws us to the other supra-rational being who out of His own love pursues us.
God defends HIS HOLINESS!
Scripture records that God has met up with some brash men and responded. (So have we.) Some sought answers from the Lord while others offended God by bold disrespect or by profane ignorance of the Almighty.
Secular ambivalence to God denies that which is holy, while cultural inclusion of that which is not holy diminishes the Divine Authority of He Who IS other and above all creation.
GOD defends His holiness and His Holy Name.
Roger@talkofJESUS.com
The Lord’s defense of His holiness is sometimes subtle and gentle, yet at times severe and final in execution of His judgment.
Scriptural Defense of God’s Holiness
- “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” – Exodus 3:5
- “You shall be holy people to Me, therefore.. – Exodus 22:31a
..the ground that was under them split open..
So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly.
Numbers 16:31b,33 – Korah’s rebellion
- Fire also came out from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense. – Numbers 16:35
- .. Uzza put out his hand to hold the ark, because the oxen nearly overturned it. But the anger of the LORD burned against Uzza, so He struck him because he had put out his hand toward the ark; and he died there before God. – 1 Chronicles 13:9b-10
Behold, the day of the LORD is coming,
Cruel, with fury and burning anger,
To make the land a desolation;
And He will exterminate its sinners from it.
a Gospel glance at Holiness
- .. and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came from heaven: “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well pleased.” – Luke 3:22
In the synagogue [at Capernaum] there was a man possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, “Leave us alone! What business do You have with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”
But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst of the people, it came out of him without doing him any harm. And amazement came upon them all.. – Luke 4
A Rebuke of the Church
As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
First Letter of Peter to the church 1:14-16 ESV
“Who is like You among the gods, LORD?
Exodus 15:11
Who is like You, majestic in holiness,
Awesome in praises, working wonders
Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let’s cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God
so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.
2 verses addressing holiness: 2 Corinthians 7:1 + 1 Thessalonians 3:13
a Revelation by Jesus Christ of Holiness to the church
“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:
He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says this:
I know your deeds..
A plea of grace
Are you, dear saint of God, looking to the holiness offered to sinners — undeserved holiness by grace from the Perfect Other Son and Sacrifice –Jesus Christ — Who was and IS and will be — judge of all living flesh and judge of each dead saint or sinner?
He knows your deeds — your works for the Lord, as well as every impure act in thought, word and deed.
Hear the cries of the souls of the saints beneath the Altar of Heaven:
“How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who live on the earth?”
Revelation 6:10
Are these not souls like ours crying out to the Lord God for Justice?
How long, O Lord, can it yet be in these last days of this 21st century?
Do you, my fellow saint, recall what follows in John’s apocalypse from Jesus Christ — what response to God’s holy refining of heaven and earth?
And I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became as black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood and the stars of the sky fell to the earth..
The sky was split apart .. and every mountain and island was removed from its place..
excerpt from the Revelation of Jesus Christ to John 6:12-14
The LORD God: Father, Son and Spirit: are ONE and ALL are Perfectly HOLY
Out from the throne came flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder…
..and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind.
..day and night they do not cease to say,
“HOLY, HOLY, HOLY
Revelation 4:8b NASB20
IS THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY,
who was and who is and who is to come.”
Let those with ears hear what the Spirit says — GOD IS HOLY!
Amen.
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