GOD ALONE IS ESSENTIALLY HOLY
“And
one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the
whole earth is full of his glory.” -- 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 luster,
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. 15:11).
Holiness is the glory of his Being and the beauty of all his attributes. All
that God is is holy. And all that God does is holy (Psa. 145:17). Everything in
creation, providence, redemption, grace, and judgment will, in the end, show forth
the holiness of God.
THIS GREAT AND HOLY LORD 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. 5:20;Heb. 12:14; 1 Pet. 1:16; Lev. 11:44-45). God
says to all, "Walk before me, and be
thou perfect" (Gen.17: 1).The slightest deviation from perfect
holiness ignites the fire of his wrath against every transgressor.
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. The only way sinners can be made holy before
God is by an act of God’s own grace, by the imputation of Christ’s
righteousness in free justification and the imparting of his righteousness in
regeneration.
Grace Baptist Church of Danville - Grace For
Today Radio Message #792
2734 Old Stanford Road -
Danville, Kentucky 40422-9438
Donald S.
Fortner, Pastor -Telephone 606-236-8235 - Email grace@mis.net