A Book to Read

One of the books that really changed my life (after, of course, the Bible) was written by R.C. Sproul. It didn't change my life because of who wrote it, but because of what it contained. I first heard it preached and then read the book and the impact continues to this day. The book is The Holiness of God. (You can see it preached here or read it.) The holiness of God (the reality as explained by the book) changed my life.

The Bible, God's revelation of His actions and attributes, includes quite a few attributes. We know about love and grace and mercy. We agree on omniscience and omnipotence and omnipresence. He claims Sovereignty (the only) and Providence. We get all that and it's very good. The only one, however, that is repeated ... twice ... is "holy." In Isaiah 6:3 and in Revelation 4:8 God is called not just "holy" or even "holy, holy," but "holy, holy, holy." The technique is a hebraism. In the previous sentence here I italicized a word to give it emphasis, and I bolded and underlined the next one for more emphasis. Repetition is how the Hebrews did the same thing in speech. So when God is described as "holy, holy, holy," it's like italics, bold print, and underline all in one. It is "holy" with exclamation marks (plural). There are other things in Scripture that are described as "holy" but God alone is described with the thrice "holy."

Now, we really aren't clear on the meaning of the term. Generally, we think of it as "separate from sin," and that is somewhat true. But it is more literally "set apart," so that would be "set apart from sin" and then some. The Hebrew word there is most literally "other" and God is truly "other." So God is righteous like no other. God is eternal like no other. God is Sovereign like no other. And while we are image bearers of the divine, He is not like us; He is other.

If we can grasp this, it changes things dramatically. God is ultra-"other." He is not like us. He is above and beyond us. He alone is this kind of "other." He is "other" in His other attributes like love and grace and mercy. We have a sense of them, but He is so "other" that we cannot completely grasp it. This kind of holiness brought God's prophet -- His mouthpiece -- to his knees crying, "Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts" (Isa 6:5). Grabbing a piece of this kind of holiness changes everything. God does what God will do and it's alright with you because He is holy and you are not. It becomes impossible to stand in His presence with arrogance because He is holy and you are not. It changes thinking, direction, choices, perspectives, understanding ... every facet of your being. God is not merely holy. He is holy, holy, holy, and it will take an eternity to grasp that about Him.