The Ohio Independent Baptist, October 1963

By Ralph T. Nordlund The Greatness Of His Holiness e In thi erie of in pirational n1e - , L1gc ... \\ e are not attempting a con1- plcte .. ' tUd) of the attribute of our 1[ ak.er . but onl} tr)' ing to hare the bte ~~ ... ing the \\'riter ha e perienced 1n c ntemplating a few of them. So far \\ e have een the greatne of od in Hi re ealed ame in Hi \\yord. and in the wi dom and power that are revealed in nature. In thi i ue we want to challenge our reader \\ i th Hi holine . fodern theologian put God' love ahead of Hi holine but the Bible fir t reveal him a holy and then a loving. That, of cour e, doe not mean that love i any le an eternal attri– bute of Hi nature than holiness, but onl)' inful creature have forfeited their right to hi love, but must still face hi holiness. The only way love can till extend mercy to the lo t i for it to find a way to sati fy the holy demand of their Judge. The holiness of God take in much more than human holine if the Bible is to be our guide. ot that different words are used to describe it. for surprisingly, the weaker words, in both the Hebrew and the Greek are u ed of God as of men. Khawseed i the Hebrew for inward goodness and piety. and lzosios the Greek; but these v. ords are used very little. inety-five per cent of the time the Hebrew uses Kalvdash and the Greek u e hadiadzo and its derivative for both God and man, and these words have more the idea of consecration or dedication (separation from the secular and dedi– cation to the sacred ). They do not necessarily signify purity or sinlessness except as a possible result. Only the context can tell us whether sinlessne s i meant in any' par ticular verse. This ma,, come as a shock to our r1olines ., friends, and to many Baptists too · but the truth must be spoken. We must at least tr)' to get our idea from Bible Page 4, OCTOBER 1963 reatness o tl age, and not read our modern u age back into the Bible. ow, when we tudy all the ver e in the Bible that call God holy ( a rather big ta k, but very rewarding), we will oon realize that the acred writer were not trying to give us a di cour e on the main atribute of God, but were rather wor hipping him. Even the eraphim covered their face when they faced the holine of God, and men ordinarily fell to the ground (I a. 6:2, 2; I Sam. 6:20). That they meant a great deal more than inless purity by the holiness of God i evident if we try to render Isa. 6: 3 that way: "Sinlessly pure sinlessly pure inles ly pure is the Lord of host : the whole earth is full of hi glory. ' Of course the seraphim recog– nized hi purity but since they were inle too that would not have forced them to hield their face . It was the majesty of all the ,perfections of his God head that blinded them as the glory of the un might blind us. He was not only morally perfect but he was et apart from all creatures by hi eternity, hi wi dom hi power his omnipre ence, his purity, his love, hi righteou ness ( and more) to hine with all the white light of hi full– orbed Deity! We sanctify or set him apart from all that is creatural as well a secular. He is the ource of all holiness in u and of all true sacredness in thing and places. HOLY IN HIS NATURE In I saiah 6: 3 the eraphim ascribed holine to God three time . That may not mean that they were thinking of the three per ons of the Godhead, as ome ancient Jewish rabbi and early church fathers suppo ed; but we can be sure of the fact that God i indeed holy in Hi nature, in Hi revelation and in Hi self-communica– tion. So, whether the eraphim were thinking of it or not, it i very fitting that we should apply tbi triple as– cription to the three per on of the Trinity. 0 In His very nature God i~ holy. while any holine5 we have i5 only derived. Theologian today have much to ay of "the dignity of man,' ' and politicians and educators are trying to force that concept upon u a evident truth · but drunken, immoral, gra ping, fighting men certainly are not getting any more dignified under that doc– trine. The Bible knows nothing about the dignity of inful men, but doe call upon u to "cleanse our elve of all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God ,, (II Cor. 7: l). God i as high above us a Mt. Everest is above the du ty plains of India. Jame tell u that He cannot even be tem,pted of evil. HOLY IN HIS SELF-REVELATION God is indeed exalted and et apart from everything creatural · but that doe not mean that He sits in i olated plendor for He loves to reveal him– elf to hi creature . He ha revealed himself in that great name Jehovah, a name o great and terrible that it mu t be u ed in reverence and adora– tion. Over and over the Bible call that name holy. Then He has given u Hi Word, and we rightly call it the Holy Bible. Finally as his supreme revelation , He sent us His Son· and the early Chri tian called Him, 'Thy Holy Child Je u . Whenever our Creator reveals Him elf to u , that revelation i like Him elf - holy. There are tho e who hesitate to believe that God would come to earth in the form of man· but again the Bible di agree with human reason. Even in temporary theophanie , He alway appeared in the likene of men in tead of angel . To come actually in the per on of Je u might be dif– ferent from vi ional appearance ; but ince man i not an evolved ape but a fall en child of God the eternal Son could come in human fle h if ome (Continued on page 9) The OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTIST