Bible Students

The holiness of God is indeed something very difficult for humans to understand. This is because on earth, there are not many things to which holiness can be equivocated. Holiness, in the context of God, refers to the positive difference between God and everything else. There is a distinct separateness about God from creation, and this separateness is intrinsically good. God is, in essence, so much better than creation. His holiness is purity. Now, as mentioned before, understanding the complete moral separation of God from the world is difficult to understand, because there is nothing positive to connect this to. While one can say what God is not (not like the world), it is nearly impossible to say what God is like (other than to say, God is like God). 

The holiness of God is of the utmost importance. First, it is important that God actually be holy. Second, it is important that humans understand God as holy. God’s holiness is an essential part of who He is. Apart from His holiness, He would be just like creation. God’s holiness, His uniqueness and separateness, make Him God. He is pure, good, and different than anything we know. God must be different than creation in order to be God. Additionally, God must be good, and so be different in that manner from corrupted creation as well. Additionally, God is simply different, in that He is a completely different class, that is, Creator rather than creation. If God was not these things, He would not be God. Now, it is also important for individuals to understand this about God. God’s holiness results in repentance and growth in the believer. Understanding His moral purity and separateness from creation leads to awe and reverence toward the God who chose to redeem humanity. 

Finally, it is very difficult for people to understand how this holiness applies to their life and what it should look like. The Old Testament viewed the purity of God as very important. He is constantly being described as different. In the Law, there is a sort of a picture to aid individuals to understand God’s separateness. There are the clean and unclean Laws, which show that God is separate and expects His people to be separate as well. These involve avoiding certain foods, bodily fluids, disease, death, and molds. Holiness is so hard for people to understand, in general, because there is not a strong comparison between God’s separateness and another thing in the world, there are only strong contrasts.