Six Words All Christians Should Understand: Holiness
By Michael Mock - Posted at Place for Truth:
Published September 29, 2025
“Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.’”-Leviticus 19:2“Holy, Holy, Holy, blessed Trinity!” is how a famous hymn goes. Holiness is a huge theme running from Genesis to Revelation. Because it’s a big Bible truth, the concept comes up in the Bible in countless places. The biblical emphasis highlights its importance, and R.C. Sproul’s legacy is vindicated. He was a man who sought to recover the beauty of God’s holiness and the tragedy of man’s lack of holiness. Humanity is unholy, unholy, unholy. Even our speech today profanes the honor of the term when we say things like, “Holy cow!” or “Holy moly!” (What’s the relevance anyway with holiness and a moly, a mythical herb?) We don’t have to travel far to find the Lord’s use of holiness. Even though we cannot survey the vast land of linguistics, we can get a handle on holiness.
I love Sinclair Ferguson’s shorthand for the term: Devoted by God for God. Speaking of what is earthly, we can say that persons, places, and property are devoted by God for God. Foundationally, this horizontal/earthly plane reflects the vertical/eternal plane. In other words, the LORD God is first “Holy, Holy, Holy” (Isaiah 6:3) before anything else could be given such attribution. He is eternally so, perfectly so, unchangeably so, and gloriously so! God’s chief end is to glorify himself and enjoy himself eternally. The Lord God is eternally for God, ontologically and morally separate from and superior to all of his creation. There is no one like our triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And this holy Deity has used this term of his creation to reflect, albeit in earthly and imperfect ways, his holiness.
Part of a series posted here:
