The seven aspects of God’s holiness show the greatness of God, how much we need Jesus, and how lavish is his grace.

We have looked at the subject of God’s holiness for several months now, so a summary is in order. “God is holy” means

1. He alone is God.

God is holy because he alone is deity. The God-ness of God makes him the Holy One, self-existent, dependent on no one, the eternal I Am.

Isaiah 45:11–12, 22 says, “Thus says the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and the one who formed him: ‘Ask me of things to come; will you command me concerning my children and the work of my hands? I made the earth and created man on it; it was my hands that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host…. Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.’”

2. He is supremely awesome in majesty.

God dwells in spectacular glory.

1 Timothy 6:16 says, God “dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.”

God told Moses, “You cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live” (Exo. 33:20).

3. He alone is perfectly good.

Everything about God is good. Every aspect of his character and divine nature is good. All his works and words are good. He only thinks and does what is right, just, and true. He cannot do wrong. To be near God is to be near absolute goodness.

Jesus said, “No one is good except God alone” (Mark 10:18).

1 John 1:5 says, “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”

4. He is set apart for highest reverence.

God is exalted over the earth, dwelling in heaven, unassailable, inviolable, separate from sinners, adored by the hosts of heaven.

“Thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place’” (Isaiah 57:15).

5. He is perfectly pure.

God is as pure as sunlight, as clean as fire. He is not 99.99 percent pure, but rather 100 percent clean and pure, perfectly free from contamination and corruption, perfectly delighting in what is pure and abhorring what is defiled.

“Our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29).

6. He righteously judges all evil.

As the Creator of all people, God alone has the knowledge, power, and wisdom to hold everyone morally accountable for their thoughts, motives, words, and actions. On Judgment Day he will call this evil age to an end and sit as judge.

Psalm 9:7–8 says, “The LORD sits enthroned forever; he has established his throne for justice, and he judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with uprightness.”

Romans 2:6 says, “He will render to each one according to his works.”

7. He is jealous for the glory of his name.

God protects the honor of his name. When people profane and violate him through sinful actions and words, he sooner or later vindicates his name through judgment if they do not repent and trust in Christ.

God says, “I will be jealous for my holy name” (Ezekiel 39:25).

What God’s holiness tells us

This summary of what it means to say God is holy brings two things into clear focus.

First, we need a Savior. God the Father sent his Son Jesus into the world because we desperately need him. Apart from a relationship with Jesus Christ, no one can stand before this holy God. But if we have a relationship with Jesus, we can stand before the Holy One fully accepted, beloved, blameless, and pure, filled with joy and confidence. Such is the sufficiency of the atonement that Jesus achieved on the cross when he shed his holy blood for fallen mankind! The blood works. Through faith in Jesus we are completely forgiven. God’s holy wrath is completely satisfied. Because of the blood of God’s holy Son on the cross, God’s name is fully vindicated, fully honored as holy. That is why the suffering of Jesus at the hands of sinners was so horrific. That is why Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). You cannot understand or appreciate the Cross apart from the holiness of God.

Second, the only reason we have a Savior is God’s grace. In his holy love and kindness, the Holy One decided to give us what we do not deserve. His holy goodness overflowed toward sinners in grace. His grace is just as much an expression of his holiness as his wrath. He is rich in grace because he is rich in holiness. Holy means good. Holy means loving. And holy means kind and generous. Because he is holy, he chose to be gracious.

When we understand the holiness of God, we realize what a miracle it is that we can have peace with God.