Section 1: God
Week 2: God Is Good
Day 3: God Is Holy
Ps. 99
We’ve seen that a key aspect of God’s goodness is his love. We briefly discussed the fact that God’s love is eternal and he always seeks our welfare even though we don’t deserve it. We also noted that his capacity for love greatly exceeds our own. Today we want to take a look at another key aspect of God’s goodness – his holiness.
Because He is Holy, God Never Wants to Do Anything Other Than Good
Take the best person you know. In comparison to the rest of us, they’re probably pretty good and, no doubt, do many good things. Nevertheless, as good as they are, there are still times when they want to do the wrong thing, even if they wind up doing the right thing.
Unfortunately, that’s part of what it means to be human in this fallen world. We have sinful desires, which means we often want to do what we know is wrong. And because we often want to do wrong, there are inevitably also times when we actually do wrong. That’s true even of the best of us. The result is our goodness isn’t very reliable.
God is not like us, however. He never does what is wrong. Because holiness is part of the very fabric of his nature, he never even wants to do the wrong thing. He always only wants to do good. Because he never desires what is wrong, we can always count on him to do what is right (Ps. 119:68, Job 34:12). His holiness gives his goodness a stability our goodness doesn’t have.
Because He is Holy, God Hates Sin
God’s holiness doesn’t stop there. Because God is holy, he not only doesn’t want to sin, he also hates sin. God is different from us in that respect. Our response to sin is not nearly as strong. Because we live in a fallen world, we’re immersed in sin. As a result, we’ve become desensitized to it. That’s not the case with God, though. His purity actually intensifies his hatred of sin.
To illustrate, think about American tourists traveling in Mexico. We’re told not to drink the water. That’s because our digestive systems haven’t been exposed to the particular bacteria found in the water there. Our digestive systems are “pure,” so to speak. Because our bodies aren’t accustomed to the bacteria, we can’t tolerate it. As a result, when we come in contact with the bacteria, our bodies reject it – often violently.
God’s reaction to sin is similar. God can’t stand sin (Rom. 1:18, James 1:13). Because he is pure, his nature rejects sin in the strongest terms possible.
Because He Is Holy, God Must Punish Sin
That explains why God punishes sin. To refuse to punish sin would be tantamount to tolerating it, which is something God can’t do because tolerating sin goes against his essential nature.
Challenge:
Write down 10 evil things that are going on in the world at this moment.
Reflection Questions:
How do you feel when you think about those things? How should God feel about them?
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