The Holiness of God,
by R.C. Sproul
a review by Adam Pohlman
Isaiah (chapter 6) once got a glimpse of God's holiness and immediately cried out, "Woe is me. I am undone." Moses (Exodus 33) asked to see God's face and He replied, "No man can see God's face and live." The disciples trembled in fear after witnessing Christ's display of control over nature (Mark 4:35-41). These men instantly understood their place in the universe when they were confronted with the awesome holiness of their Creator.
In The Holiness of God, R.C. Sproul unfolds the incredible nature of the mysterious attribute called God's holiness. Of all God's characteristics described in the Scriptures, none is so beyond our understanding as His holiness. When we think of God we often consider His love, grace, or kindness, but Sproul notes an interesting emphasis placed in Scripture. "The Bible never says that God is love, love, love, or mercy, mercy, mercy; or wrath, wrath, wrath; or justice, justice, justice. It does say that He is holy, holy, holy, that the whole earth is full of His glory." (pg. 26)
The book describes God's holiness as being separate, high above what we are. To be holy is to be of supreme and absolute greatness. Holiness is not just another attribute in a list of what God is like; it is all that God is. Holiness encompasses everything we understand about God and far beyond. God's love, grace, justice, mercy, wrath, kindness, righteousness, power, perfection, deity are all expressed as part of God's holiness. "When we call things holy when they are not holy, we commit the sin of idolatry. We give to common things the respect, awe, worship, and adoration that belong only to God." (pg. 40)
R.C. Sproul throughout the book discusses aspects of God's holiness and the effect it has on the lives of His creatures. He expounds on Biblical examples of the LORD's holiness revealed. He takes a look at how great men of God in history, Martin Luther and Jonathan Edwards, were transformed and proclaimed holiness. Luther went from a Catholic monk who feared the holiness of God, to understanding faith in Christ and longing for His holiness. Edwards was a man who did not falter in preaching every aspect of God including His wrath, justice, love, and mercy, in his sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God."
It is wise for us to study the holiness of our God and Savior. The more we understand who God is, the better we grasp our true place in creation. We recognize how utterly sinful we are and how righteous God is; how helpless we are and how powerful God is; how empty we are and how wonderful God is. "We may dislike giving our attention to God's wrath and justice, but until we incline ourselves to these aspects of God's nature, we will never appreciate what has been wrought for us by grace" (pg. 183). We should, at the same time, both fear His holiness and yearn for it; knowing that only His holiness can save us from the consequences of our unholiness.
The lives of many professed Christians seem so tiresome and dull. They see nothing exciting about being a Christian and worshipping the sovereign King of the universe. Often these people fall away, revealing they never truly knew who God is (1 John 2:19). "It is difficult for many people to find worship a thrilling and moving experience. We note here, when God appeared in the temple, the doors and the thresholds were moved. The inert matter of doorposts, the inanimate thresholds, the wood and metal that could neither hear nor speak had the good sense to be moved by the presence of God." (pg. 26) "People do not normally feel [overwhelmed] in church. There is no sense of awe, no sense of being in the presence of One who makes us tremble. People in awe never complain that church is boring." (pg. 137) The Holiness of God will be a book that will bring a sense of awe into your relationship with your Savior.