Bible Students

A Biblical Survey

Introduction

The holiness of God is foundational for a Christian worldview. God’s immanence and transcendence are intricately linked to His holiness. In fact, almost everywhere one looks in the biblical text, one can see the biblical authors alluding to God’s holiness. This attribute is shown to be related to God’s power, presence, justice, mercy, love, and wrath. Additionally, God calls His people to reflect this holiness. An essential part of God’s holiness is its ability to be imparted to other things. God’s holiness affects the ground (Exodus 3:5) as well as His people. It is only by God’s imparted holiness that His people can claim to be His. Before walking through this argument, it is important to define biblical holiness as seen in the Hebrew Old Testament and Greek New Testament. 

Word Study

Hebrew Word Study

There are three words in Old Testament Hebrew which primarily denote holiness. The adjective “qadesh” is a connotatively religious word for “holy.” Israel is holy due to their relation with God, regardless of their behavior. They have sort of statutory holiness, imputed by God. The priests, Holy Place, and Most Holy Place were especially “qadosh,” being raised above Israel as a whole to represent God. They were set apart for special service, particularly for representing God and Israel to each other. This word is used in Isaiah 1:4, 1 Samuel 2:2, and Zechariah 14:5 to describe God as holy. The verb “qadesh” and noun “qodosh” hold similar connotations. These words represent things set apart.

Greek Word Study

There are eight words in New Testament Greek which primarily denote holiness. One of the New Testament adjectives for holy is “hagios.” This represents being separates, especially among the gods. It is used of both God and men, denoting being separated for God. This word generally reflects the modern connotations associated with the word holy. “Hagios” is used in Luke 1:49, Acts 3:14, and Matthew 1:18 to denote holiness to the Father, Son, and Spirit, respectively. It is also used in 1 Corinthians 3:17, 1 Peter 1:15, and Ephesians 2:21 to describe the holiness of the church.

Holiness of God

Holiness in the Old Testament

God’s holiness is clear throughout all of Scripture. His set-apart nature is essential to biblical understanding of who God is and what He does. Even a brief biblical survey will bring a multitude of different contextual understandings of God’s holiness, especially as He relates to His children. Though there are many clear understandings of God’s holiness which rely on a contextual understanding of God’s holiness, discussion will be limited to verses which explicitly point to the holiness of God. 

The story of Israel’s original call out of Egypt would have been essential to properly understanding the thirteen tribes’ cultural and theological interconnection. The first interaction of God with Moses will set the tone for the whole exodus. Documented in Exodus 3, God appears to Moses in a bush and says, among other instructions, “‘…Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground,’” (Ex. 3:5). God’s holy immanence is manifested here. This sets the stage for the future holiness motifs in Leviticus, as well as the Spirit’s New Covenant presence, by demonstrating the closeness of the holiness of God. God’s presence is so close that the ground itself is made holy, and this holiness must be met by a response from human agents. God’s holiness is immanent. 

After the Exodus, Israel sings praises to God. They have recognized His power through the plagues and dividing of the waters, and now they rejoice in His holiness. It is interesting to note here that after seeing God’s power the Israelites sing of His holiness. The Israelites sang, “‘Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders?’” (Exodus 15:11). Holiness is paralleled here with God’s uniqueness among other gods, and His wondrous power. God’s holiness makes Him unique in being and ability.

Holiness in the New Testament

God’s power is shown in the New Testament as well. In Luke 4, Jesus has an encounter with a demon. When the demon sees Jesus, he exclaims, “…I know who You are–the Holy One of God!” (Luke 4:34). Jesus is identified by a spirit as God’s Holy One. Jesus then silences the spirit, for the spirit knows the true identity of the Son of God: The Holy One. Christ’s holiness, His set-apart nature, is known even by spirits. Though He is known as the One who is set apart, He is clearly immanent. He is present. God’s holiness does not place Him so outside of reality that no one can reach Him. His transcendence (his set-apart nature) does not set Him outside of reality as a deistic god. And, though He is immanently related to His creation, He is also clearly set apart from it. 

Christ’s transcendence is shown in Revelation 3, where He is described as “‘…He who is holy, He who is true…’” (Rev. 3:7) immediately before proclaiming His power to judge, exalt, and have power over the future. Christ’s holiness is paralleled with His truth. His holiness is directly related to His ability to pronounce judgment, exaltation, and sovereignty. Christ’s kingship is intrinsically dependent on His holiness. Though Christ is immanent, He is also outside of the world, the Judge, Exaltor, and Sovereign Lord, regardless of outside forces. As the author of Revelation demonstrates, he believes Christ’s holiness is directly related to these other abilities and attributes. 

Holiness in Leviticus

Leviticus is a book primarily focused on the holiness of God and His people. God’s holiness, His set-apart nature, is an essential attribute of His being. Because He is set-apart, He is to be taken serious, and His Word, the Sanaic Law, is to be regarded as serious as well. Leviticus chapters 1-7 describe the sacrifices and offerings given by Israel to God. The biblical author clearly believes sacrifices (specifically, sin and burnt) are required due to the holiness of God. His holy set-apart nature includes His love, justice, and wrath, as is seen below. When God’s people are not holy, God’s rigid holiness must be satisfied. Priests, in chapter 8-9, must reflect God’s holiness and must be set apart through consecration. This process involves cleansing, sacrifices, and other cultic practices in order to give a picture of their new set-apart Aaronic position, reflecting the set-apart nature of God. 

God’s holiness is rigid. He must not be misrepresented. Leviticus 10 documents the death of Nadab and Abihu by God, two priests who did not follow the instructions of the Lord regarding incense. These laws were to reflect the set-apart nature of God in Israel’s practices. The failure to do this would result in harsh punishment. God’s presence is serious and is not to be taken lightly. Leviticus 11-22 continues this demonstration of God’s serious nature by giving a multitude of laws to reflect the nature of God. One punishment for many of the laws was the death penalty, the ultimate message of God’s seriousness. His set-apart nature is not to be taken lightly. 

Leviticus 16 breaks this section’s motif of laws and retributions in order to give protocall for an annual sacrifice. The individual sacrifices are not enough for the transgression of God’s holiness. A sacrifice must be made once a year by the High Priest in order to more closely satisfy the holiness of God. 

Lastly the final chapters of Leviticus, chapters 23-27, give the religious calendar and a reminder of God’s holiness through His promises. Essentially, God’s holiness is so immanent and threatening against unholy action that the entire Israelite nation is to weekly, yearly, and cyclically over many years (every 7 an every 50) observe religious duties. Their entire lives were to reflect walking in line with God’s holiness. If they disobey this and stray, God’s holiness would destroy them. Disobedience will not stand in the holiness of God. 

Holiness of God’s People

Holiness in the Old Testament

The manifested holiness of God so permeates creation that His presence makes things holy, not by their own account, but by His. God’s people are a clear example of this. The verse discussed in this section have subtlety to it which may be hard to see on a casual reading of the Bible. This subtlety, though, demonstrates how strongly God’s permeating holiness is supported by the text. Even in sections not explicitly talking about Israel as a whole, the holiness of God is imparted to them. 

Zechariah speaks of the imparting of God’s holiness to creation during the Day of the Lord, a time when God reigns presently on earth. It states, “In that day ‘Holiness to the Lord’ shall be engraved on the bells of the horses. The pots in the Lord’s house shall be like the bowl before the altar. Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holiness to the Lord of hosts…” (Zechariah 14:20-21). When God will reign presently on the earth, His kingdom (here called Jerusalem) would be so permeated by His holiness that even the physical objects would be sanctified. This is more than the regular sanctification in Leviticus, where objects could be made holy. Rather, this is a wholesale sanctification of all of Jerusalem. God’s presence causes every pot to be made holy. 

Holiness in the New Testament

The New Testament makes clear what the Old Testament alluded to. The Spirit of God, His presence, makes things holy. Where in the Old Testament this included things such as the Tabernacle, Temple, and Israel as a whole, the New Testament proclaims all Christians as holy due to the work of Christ and the Spirit. 

In fact, the term often used for the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, emphasizes this point. God’s most essential attribute, which permeates all other attributes, is holiness. The Holy Spirit is set apart from all of creation. He is transcendent, and yet, as the New Testament uniformly proclaims, the Spirit is immanent in every believer (Acts 2:38-39). The Holy Spirit is holy, and causes the believer to be holy through His immanent indwelling. This is expanded upon in Colossians. 

Colossians says Christ made atonement “in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight” (Col. 1:22). The sacrifice of Christ makes one holy. This is imparted by the Spirit’s indwelling in every believer. It is not by any works (Eph. 2:9), but only through the blood of Christ that a believer is made holy. In other words, the believer is made legally holy through relationship with God. God’s presence makes them holy. 

Holiness in Leviticus

In Leviticus, holiness is imparted on the people through their relationship with God. They were holy because God was with them. They were called to be holy because God was holy (Lev. 11:44). The holiness of God was reflected in the set-apart practices of the people. In Leviticus 1-7, sacrificial practices were used to atone for their sins (specifically, the sin and burnt). They could not do this apart from sacrifices, as there was no other way for covering of sin. The consecration of the people and priests required reflecting His character by being clean. In fact, consecration is a big part of Tabernacle activities as a whole. All of the pieces of the Tabernacle must be consecrated before use (Exodus 35-40). Additionally, Priests needed to be consecrated before their activities (Leviticus 8-9). The conduct of God’s people and priests needed to reflect God’s character. Laws of purity needed to reflect the purity of God (Leviticus 11-15). The religious calendar also needed to reflect God’s actions (Exodus 20:11). All of the actions Israel was to do reflected the holiness of God. Reflecting God’s character was how Israel would show herself to be a holy nation (Exodus 19:6). 

The focus of the book of Leviticus on the Tabernacle and sacrifice shows how these holy actions were tied up with the direct involvement of God. Without God’s involvement, there would be no hope for holiness. The imputation of God’s holiness would later be made more clear through the Word tabernacling on earth. It was through the presence of God in Israel that Israel would be a holy nation. 

Conclusion

God’s holiness is an essential attribute of His being. His holiness is present in His love, justice, mercy, wrath, presence, and transcendence. It permeates everything He is. God’s holiness can not be taken lightly. He is a consuming fire, and His unrestricted holiness will destroy anything unholy. The wrath of God is as much tied to His holiness as His love is. This means neither God’s wrath or God’s love can be ignored, as is often done by popular imbalanced theologies. 

On that same note, God’s holiness alters whatever it comes into contact with. When He manifests His holy presence on the earth, the ground becomes holy. When He manifests His presence in Israel, Israel becomes holy. When He manifests His presence in the believer, the believer becomes holy. It is not on the basis of the believer’s own righteousness which makes them holy, but rather their positioning relative to God. Only by the imparting of His own holiness to them is anyone able to be made holy. The holiness of any believer is wholly based on God’s presence with them. 

Application

Holiness is not optional for the believer, and neither is it able to be attained alone. The presence of God, His Spirit, lives within every believer. This presence transforms the believer, causing their positional holiness to manifest itself in practical holiness. In other words, while the Spirit makes the believer legally holy by way of God’s immanent presence, He also causes the believer to act in a way consistent with this legal holiness. 

I am made legally holy before God due to His presence. This legal standing does not mean that I have a free pass to live in unholiness. God still is wrathful toward sin. Sin is still contrary to God’s holy nature. Because God is holy, He is both loving and wrathful. Because He hates sin and loves me, I can not continue to believe that sin is better. Whenever I choose unholiness, I am deciding that whatever unrighteousness I am doing is better than the righteous decision. Because God is with me, I have His immanent presence and power to realize God’s love for me and hatred for sin. I pray God’s Spirit would continue to make me practically holy.

Bibliography

Barker, Kenneth L. eds John R. Kolenberger III. The Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Corporation, 1994.

Erickson, Millard J. Christian Theology. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1983.

Feinberg, Charles Lee. The Minor Prophets. Chicago, Illinois: Moody Press, 1990.

Hamilton, Victor P. Handbook on the Pentateuch. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1982.

Keener, Craig S.. The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1993.

MacDonald, William. Believer’s Bible Commentary. Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, 1993.

Sailhamer, John H. The Pentateuch as Narrative. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1992

Walvoord, John F. eds Roy B. Zuck. The Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament. Wheaton, Illinois: Victor Books, 1983.

Walvoord, John F. eds Roy B. Zuck. The Bible Knowledge Commentary: New Testament. Wheaton, Illinois: Victor Books, 1983.

Vine, W. E.. Vine’s Concise Dictionary of the Bible. Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, 1997.