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Thursday, October 28, 2010

Holiness of God III

Two chapters in, we are given the definition of holy. It has three different uses - all of which are true of God:
  • Purity - free from stain, perfect
  • Separate - apart, cut
  • Transcendent  - above and beyond  
 The focus is on God being separate.
When the Bible calls God holy, it means primarily that God is transcendentally separate. He is so far above and beyond us that He seems almost totally foreign to us. 
 I like the illustration of the various items that God separated apart from common use for special use to draw out the idea. One example was the Sabbath day - which we have looked at recently in Sunday school. The Sabbath was a special day set apart as holy, where no work was to be done. This is what made it different from the other 6 days of the week. It was also a day to remember our Creator (Ex 20:8-11) and Liberator (Deut 5:12-15). Sproul made sure to call to our attention the fact that nothing is holy unless God imparts holiness to it because nothing is Holy except God. 

Since most people attribute purity with the word holy, Sproul pulls this together really well:
Where does purity come in? We are so accustomed to equating holiness with purity or ethical perfection that we look for the idea when the word holy appears. When things are made holy, when they are consecrated, they are set apart unto purity. They are to be used in a pure way. They are to reflect purity as well as simple apartness. Purity is not excluded from the idea of the holy; it is contained within it. But the point we must remember is that the idea of the holy is never exhausted by the idea of purity. It includes purity but is much more than that.

When something is holy it is being separated from other somethings and from its common use so that it can be used in a special and pure way. This working definition of holy fits well for the temple implements and even the Sabbath day but I am struggling with tying that back to understanding the Holiness of God. Perhaps I need to keep in mind that nothing is Holy in and of itself except God.

When the Bible calls God holy, it means primarily that God is transcendentally separate. He is so far above and beyond us that He seems almost totally foreign to us.

Check in here for other thoughts.

2 comments:

Mrs. David Hankins said...

Mike,

Thanks for stopping by my blog and for sharing your thoughts and encouragement!

I agree that the holiness of God is a tricky topic around which to wrap our minds. I don't think it is something that our finite minds can grasp in its entirety. However, I think it pleases God that week seek to know Him more, by His grace.

Looking forward to reading more of your thoughts through this study!

Warmly!

Elizabeth

Lisa notes... said...

I also liked that list of all the common things that God made holy. It really pressed home the point to me that something is holy only if God the only Holy One makes it such, including US.

“Perhaps I need to keep in mind that nothing is Holy in and of itself except God.”
Amen. I think that is a key point of this whole chapter (probably the whole book? We’ll see.)