What does it mean that God is holy?

God is uniquely holy. That should thrill you, and here’s why.

First, that God is holy means he is special, not common, not everyday. He is not just divine; he is uniquely divine. He alone is the sovereign, immortal Creator of all. He is one of a kind. He is different from and superior to all created things.

That means he is never boring, never ho-hum.

Unique like the Sabbath

Genesis 2:3 says, “God blessed the seventh day and made it holy.” Six days of the week are common days for work and whatever, but one day of the week is special, uniquely God’s, and so it is called holy. The Sabbath is unique and special; God is unique and special.

Unique like the special anointing oil

Similarly, God commanded Moses to make a special anointing oil and a special incense that were only to be used in the Tabernacle and with the priests (Exodus 30:22–38). The priests were to use this unique oil to anoint the Tabernacle, the ark of the covenant, other tools and Tabernacle furniture, as well as the priests and their garments. Anything that was anointed became holy.

God made sure this holy anointing oil would be unique. He commanded Moses to tell the people, “This shall be my holy anointing oil throughout your generations. It shall not be poured on the body of an ordinary person, and you shall make no other like it in composition. It is holy, and it shall be holy to you. Whoever compounds any like it or whoever puts any of it on an outsider shall be cut off from his people” (Exodus 30:31–33).

Like this singular oil, God is unique. He is different from and superior to all created things. He is holy, not common, holy, not profane.

Unique in control

When God sent Moses to deliver Israel from bondage in Egypt, during the plague of frogs, Moses told Pharaoh that he would pray for the frogs to be removed. Moses told Pharaoh to set a time for the frogs to leave so that Pharaoh would know it was not a coincidence. Pharaoh said tomorrow, and “Moses said, ‘Be it as you say, so that you may know that there is no one like the LORD our God’” (Exodus 8:10).

And the frogs indeed left on schedule, because there is no one like the LORD our God. Holy is he—unique, superior, different from everything and everyone else.

Supreme and Thrilling

“There is none like God, O Jeshurun, who rides through the heavens to your help, through the skies in his majesty” (Deuteronomy 33:26)

“Therefore you are great, O LORD God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you” (2 Samuel 7:22)

“There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours” (Psalm 86:8)

“I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it” (Isaiah 46:9–11)

“There is none like you, O LORD; you are great, and your name is great in might. Who would not fear you, O King of the nations? For this is your due; for among all the wise ones of the nations and in all their kingdoms there is none like you” (Jeremiah 10:6–7)

“To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power not one is missing” (Isaiah 40:25–26)

“You alone, whose name is the LORD, are the Most High over all the earth” (Psalm 83:18)

Thrilling. God is holy, uniquely divine, and therefore supremely and without pause thrilling.

Our way versus God’s way

Our way: In one way or another, we may treat God as common. The way of fallen humans is to treat God as no more important than the things of this world—to make idols, to believe in many gods, to act as though many things compare to God in importance, value, glory, honor, beauty, and worth.

God’s way: God is holy for he is the one and only God—the one and only, immortal, eternal, Creator and Sovereign over all. In this we should delight.

God’s holiness means no one can compare to him in any way. He alone is God. He is not common or ordinary, and we must never treat him in a common or ordinary way. We must treat him with the honor due to the infinitely extraordinary God.