Essential Truth #1: God is Holy

There are certain indispensable truths from the Scriptures that we must know and be convinced are absolutely true. These are the kinds of truths that shape the way we see everything else in our lives, our world, and eternity. From time to time, we will look at these basic truths in this newsletter. This time we begin with the essential truth #1: God is holy.

What does it mean that God is holy?

“Holy” can apply to a day (the seventh day), a place (the ground surrounding the burning bush), a nation (Israel), garments (for the priests), oil (for anointing). By experience, Israel would have known that which is holy is that which is separate from common usage. The garments the priests wore were not street clothes, the ground around the burning bush was unique in all the earth, the oil used for anointing was a special recipe that could not be used for cooking or aromatics for home use.

How then does this apply to God? First, God as holy means that he is unlike all the fake gods that humans make up for their own use. He is in a league of One. There is no god like him. Second, he is unique in regard to all of creation. All things can be put into one of two categories: there is God, and then there is everything else. And by everything, I mean everything: atoms and air, angels and angles, aardvarks and anemones, atlases and altimeters. This is why even the angels who have no sin but are created beings cover themselves and announce he is holy. Third, it means that God is without any trace of sin. He is morally perfect and separate from all that is sinful.

Where is God’s holiness taught in the Bible?

From the first verse of the Bible, “In the beginning, God created…” (Genesis 1:1) we learn that there is God and there is everything he created. God himself declares his own essential nature: “…I am holy” (Leviticus 11:44). The Spirit of God is often referred to as “The Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:18), and the Son of God is identified as “the Holy One of God” (Mark 1:24). The angels proclaim three times his holiness which emphasizes the perfection and importance of his holiness: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts” (Isaiah 6:3; cf. Revelation 4:8).

After the Lord vanquished the gods of Egypt through the plagues and exodus, Moses and the people of Israel sang, “Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness…?” (Exodus 15:11) Isaiah agrees when he asks a similar question, “To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him?...To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One” (Isaiah 40:18, 25). Although he doesn’t use the word “holy,” John sums up God’s moral perfection this way: “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).

Why is God’s holiness important?

First, God’s holiness teaches us that he deserves exclusive worship, devotion, and service. The first commandment is rooted in the fact that he is absolutely unique: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:2-3). He is to be in a league of One in our lives.

Second, we must never treat God as lower than he is. How often our culture trivializes God as an old man in the sky who is barely more than a grandfather. His unique place among all that exists makes him the highest of all. He is the Most High and must always be regarded as the Holy One in our hearts.



Third, if the holy God is your God, then you must be holy as he is holy (1 Peter 1:15-16). His moral character sets the standard for how you should conduct yourself in your life. Hatred of sin and a love of righteousness are to characterize God’s holy people.