God Alone Is Essentially Holy
Isaiah 6:3
God's angels are holy.
And his saints are holy. But their holiness and ours is a derived holiness.
Holiness is not essential to angels or men. Whereas God's
holiness is essential to his Being. Were he not holy, he would not be
God. Holiness is that which sets God infinitely apart from all his creation.
One writer said, "Holiness is the transcendence of God." In this
sense God alone is holy (Rev. 15:4). He alone is "the Holy One" (Isa.
40:25; Hos. 11:9). "Holy and Reverend is his name" (Psa. 111:9). John
Gill wrote, "God only is essentially, originally, underivatively,
perfectly, and immutably holy." The puritan, Thomas Brooks, wrote,
"Holiness in angels and saints is but a quality, but in God it is his essence...God's
holiness and his nature are not two things, they are one. God's holiness is his
nature, and God's nature is his holiness."
Holiness is the lustre,
glory, and harmony of God's nature and his attributes. It is "the beauty
of the Lord" (Psa. 27:4). Wisdom and knowledge, without holiness, would be
but craft and cunning. Power, without holiness, would be but tyranny,
oppression, and cruelty.
Our God is
"glorious in holiness" (Ex.
THIS GREAT AND HOLY GOD
REQUIRES ALL MEN TO BE HOLY, EVEN AS HE IS HOLY. He cannot and will not accept
anything less than perfect, pure, flawless holiness. God cannot accept
sincerity, acts of benevolence, religious devotion, repentance, or even faith
as a substitute for perfect holiness. God demands holiness from all men (Matt.
It will take something
more than a trip to the "altar", a few tears, a prayer, or a decision
of your free-will to get you into heaven. If you would enter heaven's glory and
live forever with God, you must be as good as God, perfectly holy! THAT MEANS
THAT SALVATION BY THE WILL AND WORKS OF MAN IS AN UTTER IMPOSSIBILITY, BECAUSE
NO MAN CAN MAKE HIMSELF HOLY.
Don Fortner