Holiness

Have you ever had one of those realizations that sets you up to see the world differently? A realization that you have been trained to see the world in a particular way and you can only attribute it to “well that’s how I was raised.” I seem to have these moments often and one has been particularly prevalent. It almost reveals itself in layers like an onion with some added clarity here and some insight there. I cannot claim to have anything like a final word on the matter – only inklings that set my trajectory in a new direction. A trajectory that I hope will help others who read along with me.

The question? What is God’s holiness? It is a concept that has received attention in countless books, blogs, and sermons. It has been the motivation of so many ministries. It is even a prominent theme throughout the Bible. Yet, I wonder if the twenty first century, American Christian has wrestled with its meaning? What makes me so skeptical about our formulations of this doctrine is how often I hear the same types of phrases and conceptual associations. They are laid out with little emotion or conviction. It's like we were trained to rehearse our answers from a book. They certainly aren’t stemming from deep and personal encounters with a Holy God. Since holiness is an important concept in scripture, then we ought to work hard to understand it and appreciate it.

For many, the concept of Holiness immediately renders the idea of wrath. An Idea which we cannot help but associate with fear. It's not a healthy fear though. It's one that encourages you to look over your shoulder in every moment of slightest weakness. I find myself in this crowd often. To me, and a myriad of others, holiness is essentially about morality. We cannot seem to separate the two. It’s not completely our fault though. Generation after generation has taught this concept, upholding perfect morality and holiness as exactly synonymous. To be fair, the whole theory of substitutionary atonement requires that God’s primary characteristic be his holiness. In these formulations, God’s holiness means he is perfect, making him a flawless judge and providing him with the right to pour out wrath on anything short of his perfection. Yet, his holiness also gives him the right to be merciful and gracious toward a few who believe. Is that what scripture teaches though? Are we stuck serving a God who seems so bi-polar or schizophrenic? Someone who talks about “turning the other cheek,” but is also watching your every move – ready to punish? Someone who encourages Peter to forgive an offense “seventy times seven,” but who has every intention of sending most of humanity to Hell? Or is there another way forward that keeps the moral aspect of holiness intact without making it identical with holiness?

Holiness Is Much, Much Broader

The Bible explains that Holiness is much, much broader than morality. The term actually means “to be set apart” or to be “other.” It is often described as God being so different that he is in a class of his own. This formulation is lacking though. I think that Tony Robledo presents a better way of talking about it:

"Relative to us, the directionality of the otherness of God is not random, but an otherness strictly in the direction of betterness. In other words, God is not ‘other’ because he is worse than us, nor ‘other’ because he is categorically different than us, but because he is altogether better than us."

This otherness applies to all of God’s being, not just his morality. For instance, it means that God is capable of loving in ways that seem backwards or upside down – not because His love is awkward or misguided, but because it is far better than we imagined. Jesus, who is the best representation of the Trinity (Jn. 5:19, 14:9; Col. 1:15, 2:9; Heb. 1:3), chooses to teach rather than judge; to heal rather than harm; to set free rather than bind; to love rather than hate. It is his holiness that allows him to interact with people on such a different level. I believe, then, that it’s important for us to keep in mind that holiness is much broader than morality. To leave the discussion in the realm of ethical living is to only consider a sliver of scripture’s revelation on the topic.

Holiness Is About Wholeness

In a similar vein to the broadness of God’s holiness, is the concept of God’s wholeness. Again, morality does have its place in holiness, but holiness means much more about fullness than being scrupulously flawless. In this way, we should think of God’s moral perfection as a subcategory of His wholeness. It is a part of the picture, but it is a detail rather than the focal point of the masterpiece. Since God is whole, he can be set apart as the savior of mankind. His being is not fractured by the trauma of sin. His trust was upheld by the other members of the Trinity when men sought to betray him. His love is unbroken. His identity is clear and lived out. It is this reality that qualifies him to uniquely become one with us in the Person of Christ. It’s not primarily the absence of sin, but the presence of completeness that makes him holy. This is what Paul is talking about when he famously says, “the old is gone and the new has come.” The very fact of Christ’s wholeness carries us beyond our sinfulness and beyond a pursuit of perfection, to a place of resting in the life of God. It is not enough for us to be devoid of sin, we must be made complete – we must be made whole. That’s the work of God’s holiness.

God’s Holiness Draws Him To The Sinner

One last thought. A recent article suggests that it is God’s holiness which draws him near to sinful mankind. We have assumed for so long that our being “unclean” forced God to separate himself – to stay at arm’s length – for fear of contamination. I really do not understand how this perception still lives on. Even at Israel’s worst, God placed himself in their midst. Sure, you can point to Ezekiel’s vision of the glory leaving the temple as a result of their sin. But that’s not the end of the story. God deliberately destroys such notions of holiness by sending his Son to take on sinful flesh. Jesus was both God and Man. He felt our sorrow, experienced our pain, and let the despair of our predicament wash over him until it became his own. In his final moments on the cross he spoke his deepest word of solidarity with mankind, “My God, my God. Why have you forsaken me?” The words echo the cries of billions of men and women throughout history. What drove him to enter into such a reckless act of love? When every tear of blood dripped from his eyes and every scoffer challenged him to save himself – what kept him there? I would argue that it was his holiness. It was his unearthly capacity to love as only the Divine can. It drives him to deal with sin. Yes, in judgment, but so much more in restoration. His desire is that we be whole too and he will cross all worlds to ensure that happens. I thank God that because of his holiness, his faith is now my faith. His works are my works. His love is my love. His life is my life. I thank God that his holiness is more than law keeping and exacting precision of his ethical will. I thank God that his holiness presses him toward sin for no other reason than to restore what was broken into something that is whole.

Conclusion

I am tempted to continue with all the other thoughts swirling around this topic, but I will leave it for now. God’s holiness does not make him scary or detached. In fact, the opposite is true. It is his otherness, his wholeness, and his closeness that set him apart. It is what makes him uniquely God – uniquely savior. Since so much of these realities are seen in the person of Jesus, we can stand confident that, “If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” We are free to embrace Christ, knowing that the loving-kindness he displayed is a full expression of the God we worship.