Holiness of God

Part I.  Holiness, Definition of *

ho'-li-nes (qadhosh, "holy," qodhesh, "holiness"; hagios, "holy"):

..."within the Biblical sphere, with which alone we are immediately concerned, holiness attaches itself first of all, not to visible objects, but to the invisible Yahweh, and to places, seasons, things and human beings only in so far as they are associated with Him. And while the idea of ceremonial holiness runs through the Old Testament, the ethical significance which Christianity attributes to the term is never wholly absent, and gradually rises in the course of the revelation into more emphatic prominence.

1. The Holiness of God:

As applied to God the notion of holiness is used in the Old Testament in two distinct senses:

(1) Absoluteness and Majesty

First in the more general sense of separation from all that is human and earthly. It thus denotes the absoluteness, majesty, and awfulness of the Creator in His distinction from the creature. In this use of the word, "holiness" is little more than an equivalent general term for "Godhead," and the adjective "holy" is almost synonymous with "Divine" (compare Daniel 4:8,9,18 ; 5:11). Yahweh's "holy arm" ( Isaiah 52:10 ; Psalms 98:1 ) is His Divine arm, and His "holy name" ( Leviticus 20:3 , etc.) is His Divine name. When Hannah sings "There is none holy as Yahweh" ( 1 Samuel 2:2 ), the rest of the verse suggests that she is referring, not to His ethical holiness, but simply to His supreme Divinity.

(2) Ethical Holiness

But, in the next place, holiness of character in the distinct ethical sense is ascribed to God. The injunction, "Be ye holy; for I am holy" ( Leviticus 11:44 ; 19:2), plainly implies an ethical conception. Men cannot resemble God in His incommunicable attributes. They can reflect His likeness only along the lines of those moral qualities of righteousness and love in which true holiness consists. In the Psalmists and Prophets the Divine holiness becomes, above all, an ethical reality convicting men of sin ( Isaiah 6:3,1 ) and demanding of those who would stand in His presence clean hands and a pure heart ( Psalms 24:3 ).

2. Holiness of Place, Time and Object:

From the holiness of God is derived that ceremonial holiness of things which is characteristic of the Old Testament religion. Whatever is connected with the worship of the holy Yahweh is itself holy. Nothing is holy in itself, but anything becomes holy by its consecration to Him. A place where He manifests His presence is holy ground ( Exodus 3:5 ). The tabernacle or temple in which His glory is revealed is a holy building ( Exodus 28:29 ; 2 Chronicles 35:5 ); and all its sacrifices ( Exodus 29:33 ), ceremonial materials (30:25; Numbers 5:17 ) and utensils ( 1 Kings 8:4 ) are also holy. The Sabbath is holy because it is the Sabbath of the Lord ( Exodus 20:8-11 ). "Holiness, in short, expresses a relation, which consists negatively in separation from common use, and positively in dedication to the service of Yahweh" (Skinner in HDB, II, 395).

II. In the New Testament:

The Christian Conception.

The idea of holiness is expressed here chiefly by the word hagios and its derivatives, which correspond very closely to the words of the Q-D-SH group in Hebrew, and are employed to render them in the Septuagint. The distinctive feature of the New Testament idea of holiness is that the external aspect of it has almost entirely disappeared, and the ethical meaning has become supreme. The ceremonial idea still exists in contemporary Judaism, and is typically represented by the Pharisees ( Mark 7:1-13 ; Luke 18:11 ). But Jesus proclaimed a new view of religion and morality according to which men are cleansed or defiled, not by anything outward, but by the thoughts of their hearts ( Matthew 15:17-20 ), and God is to be worshipped neither in Samaria nor Jerusalem, but wherever men seek Him in spirit and in truth ( John 4:21-24 ).

1. Applied to God:

In the New Testament the term "holy" is seldom applied to God, and except in quotations from the Old Testament ( Luke 1:49 ; 1 Peter 1:15 ), only in the Johannine writings ( John 17:11 ; Revelation 4:8 ; 6:10). But it is constantly used of the Spirit of God ( Matthew 1:18 ; Acts 1:2 ; Romans 5:5 , etc.), who now, in contrast with Old Testament usage, becomes specifically the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost.