SEMESTER 1
111 – The Holiness of God
BIBLE INSTITUTE OF CORRESPONDENCE
COURSE: THEOLOGY I LESSON # 11
THE HOLINESS OF GOD
Read Rev. 4:1-11
and Rev. 5:7-13.
INTRODUCTION:
1. In Revelation 5, the theme is praise for redemption.
2. It is preceded in chapter four by praising God for what He is, (as creator and owner of all things).
3. Praise for redemption may be mere humanism, if not preceded and accompanied by a contemplation of divine attributes.
III: The little boy who died to keep a dike from breaking.
4. If God saves deserving sinners because they accept a deserved chance, it is only justice, and no praise is due.
5. This lesson considers that basic attribute of God, to which all the others are inseparably attached.
I. HOLINESS IS THE BASIC ATTRIBUTE OF GOD
1. God is the essence of holiness (both its source and criteria).
i. i.e., God is not holy, by holy action, but His nature and subsequent action demonstrate what holiness is.
2. God does not obey laws of right and wrong, rather His desires determine the laws.
3. This attribute explains and justifies all the others, and they all subscribe to His holiness.
4. Love, mercy, anger, wrath, immutability, power, etc., can be sinful if they are not holy.
5. The angelic beings praise God for His holiness. (Isa. 6:3,Rev.. 4:8)
6. God swears by His own holiness. (Ps. 89:35, Heb. 6:13-18)
II. THE TRI-UNITY OF GOD’S HOLINESS
i.e., the three persons of the Godhead are equally holy.
1. The Spirit is almost always referred to namely as the “Holy Spirit.”
2. Jesus refers to the Father as the Holy Father. (Jn. 17:11)
3. The Son is called Holy. (Mk. 1:24, Acts 4:27)
III. MANIFESTATIONS OF DIVINE HOLINESS
1. Creation manifests God’s holiness. (Gen. 1:31, Ps. 145:17)
2. God’s law manifests God’s holiness. (Rom. 7:12, I Pet. 1:5)
3. Redemption manifests God’s holiness. (Not overlooking sin, but punishing it in a substitute.)
4. It is manifest in our conversation. (Eph. 4:24)
5. It is to be manifest in our glorification. (Ps. 17:5, Rom. 8:29, Rom. 5:2, Rom. 8:23)
6. It will be manifest by His judgment. (Rev. 6:16)
7. The sinner may profanely consider God’s holiness now, but not at the judgment.
IV. WE ARE EXHORTED TO BE HOLY
1. The Bible abounds with this charge to Christians. (I Pet. 1:16, I Tim. 2:8, Heb. 12:14)
2. True love for God is always manifested by effort to be godly. (Eph. 5:1)
V. TAKE TIME TO BE HOLY
1. Holiness takes time: This is why we meditate in this and all divine attributes.
III: The effect of “beholding as in a glass (mirror) the glory of the Lord.” (II Cor. 3:12-18)