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1Sa_5:10
This attribute is, to our own apprehension, so essential to the mere idea of God—is in itself so obvious and self-evident—that we may at times be inclined to wonder at the frequency with which it is stated and enforced in the Scriptures. But the view of the Divine character out of which this feeling arises, is itself the creation of those Scriptural declarations on the subject; and the formation of this high conception of God, was the use they were designed to serve, and which we thus find that they have served.
It may also be remembered, that to the Hebrews the enforcement of this doctrine was of an importance which it is scarcely in our power to understand or appreciate fully. The surrounding heathen—indeed all the heathen, had very different and inferior notions of the gods they served. Holiness was not their attribute. They were very capable of sin; and the choice of good in preference to evil, was not essential to their nature. These were above man in their essence and in their sovereign powers; but in character they were men, and not always good men. The popular mythologies of every nation ascribed to the gods acts which would have been vile even in men. There was no one attribute by which Jehovah was so pointedly distinguished from the gods of the nations as by this. Its maintenance, its constant assertion, was therefore of the utmost importance among a people whose tendencies so often were to merge the worship of their own Lord in that of the neighboring idols. This attribute set a great gulf between them, which could not be overpassed so long as its presence was constantly kept before the mind of the people. So long as they retained in remembrance the essential and distinctive holiness of God—so long as they did not allow themselves to think God was altogether such a one as themselves (Psa_50:22), it was impossible for them to compare Him with other gods, still less to prefer any of them to Him.
Such was the special use of this doctrine to the Israelites; but there was another, and a more general use is it, of which we share the benefit with them. It is a check to sin, and an incitement to righteousness. It seems impossible for any one to realize a clear and distinct idea of the holiness of God—that sin, that whatever defiles, is abhorrent to his pure and holy nature, without hearing his voice crying to us—“O, do not that abominable thing which I hate!” When sin entices, and when temptation is near, we cannot doubt that he hates it, for he is holy; and if we are strongly persuaded of his holiness, we can never be in doubt respecting the things which he, a holy God, must hate. It will then be impossible for us to sin but in the presence of an offended God, a crucified Savior, a burning world, and a judgment to come.
This use of the holiness of God in promoting the holiness of those that love him, is constantly enforced in Scripture: In the New Testament, no less than in the Old, that God is holy, is urged as a reason why we should be holy, that we may be like him—that is, in a state of unison with him and conformity to him—in a state of fitness for his presence. Surely that attribute which, of all others, is, proclaimed in the courts of heaven continually by the cherubim, and by saints made perfect in glory, is one of most exalted importance, and claims our most careful thought—not abstract thought, but thought evidenced in, and having a wholesome influence upon, all our conduct in the church and in the world. Indeed, we are told, that “without holiness no man shall see God.”—Heb_12:14. It is therefore of supreme importance for us to consider what this holiness—a reflection of God’s holiness—is, seeing that it becomes so essential to our welfare. We apprehend, indeed, that without holiness, not only will no one see God, but will have even no real desire to see him. There are thousands who desire a place in heaven—not because they love God, not because they, being made partakers of his holiness, long for more perfect union with him and conformity to him—but because they dread hell, and know no other way of escaping from it but by going to heaven. But of such is not the kingdom of heaven. They would be as miserable as in hell, in the immediate presence of One with whose holiness their souls have not been brought into unison. Let us believe that it is impossible for the soul of man to be happy with God, till it has become holy like him.
Seeing, then, that to be holy is to be like Him, it behooves us to count holiness as our highest attainment and most glorious distinction. And, instead of imitating the ignorant Bethshemites, in putting away the ark of God from us, because we cannot stand before his holiness, let us rather strive after this assimilation to him, that we may be enabled to keep the ark among us. But that, indeed, we are commanded to be holy as he is holy, it might seem presumption to aspire so highly. It is a glorious privilege, and it becomes us to regard it as such, while it is Hot the less an essential duty. Here our ambition may have free scope; and our highest aspirings to a greater degree of that holiness which brings us nearer to God, by making us more and more like him, meets no rebuke. To stand before a holy God in holiness like his, may indeed seem difficult to flesh and blood; but there is a way, a safe, a certain, and a pleasant way, known of those to whom Christ is revealed as a Redeemer, and to whom the Spirit has come as a Sanctifier.
What this holiness in God is, has been pointed out. In man it consists in that blamelessness of feeling and conduct which at once constitutes and adorns the Christian character; and also in the habitual abhorrence of sin and love of goodness—1Jn_3:7; Rom_6:18. In this way the Christian becomes like God, and loves him from similarity of disposition, and in return is loved by God, as a dutiful son who resembles his father is loved by him. Man is destined by God for holiness, and for the happiness which is invariably connected with it; and hence, when any one is admitted to the communion of saints, holiness becomes the great object of his pursuit. Without this, his admission into the church, and his fellowship with the saints, would avail him little; indeed, his condemnation would be the greater on account of these privileges, for of him to whom much is given much will be required. Holiness is therefore justly stated by theologians as at once the result and the evidence of conversion, or of repentance and regeneration. Let no one cherish vain delusions. He who is destitute of holiness, or who is remiss in the pursuit of it, has not been converted, has not repented, has not been born of the Spirit, has not been sanctified.