What is God’s holiness?
Question 02041
Of all the attributes of God presented in Scripture, holiness occupies a unique place. It is not simply one characteristic among many; it is the attribute that the biblical writers single out for the most intense emphasis. The angels in Isaiah’s vision do not cry “love, love, love” or “power, power, power.” They cry “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts” (Isaiah 6:3). The threefold repetition is without parallel in the whole of Scripture, signalling something beyond superlative — a quality so defining of who God is that it demands its own category.
What the Word Actually Means
The Hebrew word translated “holy” is qodesh, and its root meaning is to be set apart, separate, or distinct. Holiness at its core is otherness — the quality of being categorically different from everything else in existence. When applied to God, it means that He is in a class entirely by Himself. He is not simply a more powerful version of the beings He has created. He is fundamentally unlike anything in the created order.
This is why the biblical encounter with divine holiness consistently produces the same response. Isaiah, confronted with the vision of the seraphim and the train of the Lord’s robe filling the temple, does not respond with curiosity or admiration. He cries out, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” (Isaiah 6:5). The awareness of God’s holiness immediately produces an awareness of personal uncleanness. The contrast is total. Jacob’s response at Peniel (Genesis 32:30), Ezekiel’s collapse at his vision (Ezekiel 1:28), John’s falling as dead at the sight of the risen Christ (Revelation 1:17) — these are not theatrical performances but honest reactions to an encounter with absolute holiness.
Two Dimensions of the Same Character
Scripture presents holiness as having a transcendent dimension and a moral dimension, though these are not ultimately separable because they both belong to the same perfectly unified divine character.
The transcendent dimension is God’s absolute otherness, His incomparable greatness, His sheer God-ness. Exodus 15:11 captures it: “Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?” There is no analogy, no comparison, no adequate frame of reference for what God is.
The moral dimension is God’s absolute purity and His separation from everything sinful. Habakkuk 1:13 states directly: “You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong.” This is not a physical inability but a declaration of moral character. God’s nature is such that sin is utterly incompatible with Him. He cannot be party to it, tolerate it, or regard it with indifference. 1 John 1:5 makes the statement in absolute terms: “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”
Holiness and the Problem It Creates
The holiness of God creates what is, from the human side, an enormous problem. If God is completely holy and human beings are not, then any encounter between them would be catastrophic for the human side. The Old Testament is very deliberate about this. The Israelites, receiving the law at Sinai, are warned to keep their distance from the mountain where God is present. Uzzah, reaching out to steady the ark, is struck dead (2 Samuel 6:7). The elaborate system of purification, the repeated instruction to the priests about approaching the holy things, the veil separating the Holy of Holies from the rest of the tabernacle — all of this is not religious theatre but an honest acknowledgement of the reality that a holy God and sinful humanity cannot simply coexist without mediation.
This is why the gospel is not merely good news about human improvement or divine kindness. It is the announcement that the One who is absolutely holy has dealt with the barrier that holiness creates. At the cross, God’s holiness did not relax or look the other way. It fell, fully and without remainder, on the Son who stood in the place of sinners. The tearing of the temple veil at the moment of Christ’s death (Matthew 27:51) was not symbolic theatre but the declaration that the way into the presence of the Holy One had been opened.
The Call to Holiness
The holiness of God is not only a doctrine about who God is; it is the basis for the call addressed to His people. “Be holy, for I am holy” appears in Leviticus (11:44-45; 19:2; 20:26) and is picked up directly by Peter in the New Testament (1 Peter 1:15-16). The logic is not that we can attain God’s absolute holiness but that those who belong to the Holy One are to reflect the character of the One to whom they belong. Their lives are to be shaped by the same fundamental quality of being set apart. Hebrews 12:14 frames it practically: “Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” This is not optional enrichment for the spiritually advanced; it is the direction in which every genuine Christian life moves.
So, now what?
God’s holiness has to be the starting point for understanding everything else He is and does. His love is holy love — not sentiment, not mere warmth, but the love of One who is perfect and pure. His judgement is holy judgement — the necessary response of absolute purity to the absolute wrongness of sin. The Christian who grasps this will approach both worship and daily life with a quality of seriousness that bears fruit in genuine transformation.
“And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!'” Isaiah 6:3