History Books in 90 Days: 1 Chronicles 9-11
The Holiness of God
Isaiah 6:3 Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory (NIV)
As we approach the subject of the holiness of God, let us be mindful of the importance of this
divine attribute. R. C. Sproul makes this insightful observation from today’s verse: “The Bible
says that God is holy, holy, holy. Not that He is merely holy, or even holy, holy. He is holy, holy,
holy. The Bible never says that God is love, love, love, or mercy, mercy, mercy, or wrath, wrath,
wrath, or justice, justice, justice. It does say that He is holy, holy, holy, the whole earth is full of
His glory.” God is holy and He has made holiness the moral condition necessary to the health
of His universe. Evil is a moral sickness that must end in death. God is holy with an absolute
holiness that knows no degrees and this He can’t impart to humanity. But there is a relative and
contingent holiness which He shares with angels and seraphim in heaven and with the redeemed
on earth. This holiness God can and does impart to His children. He shares it with them through
the blood of the Lamb. No one can honestly say “I am holy”, yet God is holy and relationship
with Him demands our holiness. Do you see this dilemma? What are we to do? We must like
Moses cover ourselves with faith and humility for the broken and contrite He will not despise (Ps
51:17). We must hide our unholiness in the wounds of Christ as Moses hid himself in the cleft
of the rock. We must take refuge from God in God. Above all we must believe that God sees us
perfect in His Son while He disciplines and chastens and purges us that we may be partakers
of His holiness. By faith, obedience and constant mediation on the holiness of God, by loving
righteousness and hating iniquity, by growing in our relationship with the Spirit, we can prepare
ourselves for the eternal companionship of God.
PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. What is the solution to the problem of God’s holiness and our unholiness? What sort of a
heart posture does this require?
2. How has God disciplined you in order to guide you to holiness?
3. Are you working on conquering sin on your own or are you taking refuge in God, asking Him
to empower you to live a holy life?
