If you were to see God today, what would you say?

Perhaps we'd be like the seraphim (Isa 6:3) or the four living creatures (Rev 4:8), who cry out, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord". Out of all the attributes of God that they could shout—loving, just, merciful, wise, creative—they cry "holy", because it is the fundamental attribute of God. John Piper puts it this way: "Every effort to define the holiness of God ultimately winds up by saying: God is holy, means God is God." To be holy means to be set apart: to be made distinct from the world and dedicated to God—which is inherently who God is! To drive home the point, these angelic creatures say "holy" thrice as a sort of intensifier: truly, God is holy!

But I think our response will probably be more like that of Moses (Exo 3:6), Samson's parents (Judg 13:22), Isaiah (Isa 6:5), Ezekiel (Eze 3:23), or John (Rev 1:17): falling on our face, and proclaiming "Woe is me!" or something similar. The truth is that God's holiness and glory inspires fear and awe. Isaiah's cry is particularly explanative: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!" Isaiah comes to the crippling realisation that his sin is so incompatible with God's holiness that he pronounces woe on himself!

And that's what holiness really looks like. That's the staggering reality of God's holiness and our sinfulness—which is also the staggering gap that Jesus died to reconcile, and the staggering expanse of love that God has for us to have set this reconciliation plan into action. May we not lose sight of this, and when the word "holy" appears in worship songs or in Bible passages, may we keep a picture of God's fear-inducing and awesome holiness in mind.

– alvin(:

John Piper – What Does It Mean to Be Holy?

Here's some John Piper again (which is really because he has a way of presenting ideas cogently and clearly!)—and here he's looking at a passage from 1 Thessalonians about what it means to be holy. The best part is that he brings you along with him, looking at the Word critically to understand what is being said in an analytical manner that can be applied to any passage of the Bible!

Only A Holy God – Song Story

"Only A Holy God" is a beautiful song from CityAlight, and in this clip they share the story behind this song from multiple perspectives—songwriter, producer, director, and so on. Music Director Tiane Kleyn says this: "Those two words are all we have to say—'Who else?'", and I think it captures God's holiness beautifully—He is set apart from everything else in His infinite power, love, and majesty. I hope that you may be encouraged and affirmed as you listen to the hearts behind this song!

1 Peter 1:15–16 reminds us that as God is holy, so too should we be holy—consecrated, set apart, and wholeheartedly living for God (Rom 12:2). We are, after all, a holy nation, chosen to proclaim God's praises (1 Pet 2:9)!

Over and out!