Attributes of God: Holiness
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory.” (Isaiah 6:3, NIV)
More than six hundred times throughout Scripture, we see the word “holy.” Holy means set apart. The holiness of God sets Him apart from everything else. He is sacred and holiness is the very nature of God. This attribute influences all others as God’s love is holy. His justice is holy.
God is holy.
His Word is holy.
His ways are holy.
His name is holy.
His nature is holy.
Because God is holy He is perfect. We can see the perfection and God’s holiness through His Son, Jesus. Christ is our example.
“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word” (Hebrews 1:3). In His life and death, Jesus was perfect and holy and came to make us holy. Christ bridges the gap between us and God.
“Be holy because I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16).
We are declared holy the moment we trust Jesus as our Lord and Savior. From that point forward, God continuously fine tunes us, making us more holy throughout our lives. This is called the sanctification process – and it’s a life-long process. As we grow in our faith and become more like Jesus, one can see the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23).
The pursuit of personal holiness not only benefits us—it has a positive impact on those around us. They can be influenced to pursue holiness, or even the starting point—Christ—by what they see in our lives.
The more we become like Jesus through the study of God’s Word and through the Christ-driven choices we make in our behavior, the sweeter our relationship with Him as He transforms us into a person who reflects the image of a holy God.
Prayer: Holy, holy, holy are You Lord. You are sacred and set-apart. Your Word commands us to, “be holy as You are holy”, and I know that in and of ourselves, we cannot live in true holiness of heart, except as the Lord Jesus lives His life in us, and the Holy Spirit carries out a life-transforming work in us through the fruits of the Spirit. Search our hearts, Lord. Purify our hearts and examine our motives as we desire to live in holiness of heart. Thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus to be our example of how we should live. Produce in us the fruits of the Spirit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Thank you for transforming us to be more like You – in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Praying for you today that God would encourage you and strengthen you!
Christine