I would like to wrap up this section with a last look at the purely biblical evidence which makes it clear that God's holiness is the sum of all He is, including His love. God's name is Holiness!

          Ezekiel 39:25: "Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Now I will bring back the captives of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name.'"

            Isaiah 54:5: "For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is His name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth."

          Psalm 106:47: "Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the Gentiles, to give thanks to Your holy name, to triumph in Your praise."

          Psalm 111:9: "He has sent redemption to His people; He has commanded His covenant forever: holy and awesome is His name." And in the NLT: "He has paid a full ransom for his people. He has guaranteed his covenant with them forever. What a holy, awe-inspiring name he has!"

          Psalm 99:8-9: "You answered them, O LORD our God; You were to them God-Who-Forgives, though You took vengeance on their deeds. Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at His holy hill; for the LORD our God is holy."

          Luke 1:49, the Song of Mary: "For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name."

          Isaiah 6:3,7: "And one cried to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!'... And he touched my mouth with it, and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.'"

          In each of these passages God is said to be "holy."  But these verses also give us reasons why God is holy.  He "sent redemption to His people," He is the "God-Who-Forgives"; He has "done great things" for us and purged our sin.  These statements are important because they show that these acts of forgiving, redeeming, and purging sin are direct acts of mercy and love.  Notice that in Psalm 106 God is praised for saving His people, but He is not credited as having a "loving name" for saving people.  Instead, the writer of the psalm goes straight to the highest reason why God loves and saves: His "holy name."  In Isaiah 54:5 God is called our "husband," a term which refers to His tender love for us, and our "redeemer."  But what is God's conclusion as to what this makes Him?  He does not say that He is these things primarily because He is a God of love, but because He is the "Holy One": He is set apart in all His transcendent power, grace, wisdom, love, and justice, and there is none like Him.  These verses plainly show that God is holy because He is merciful and loving to undeserving people.

God's glory is the radiance of His holiness.  Therefore:

          1 . If God's glory is defined by His love and mercy, these things are also part of what makes Him holy.  In Exodus 34:6 we read, "And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth.'"  This is the classic passage where Moses asks God to show him His glory. It is here we learn that God's mercy and kindness and longsuffering and goodness make up His glory.

          2 . Therefore, love is not outside of God's holiness, but inside of it.  God's infinite, divine love comes out of His holiness, along with the other infinite attributes that make Him utterly holy and set apart.  Holiness is the sum of all God's perfections.

          I hope some have begun to see that what is being discussed here is very similar to what we discussed about the glory of God.  Earlier, we talked about how God's glory, as He describes it, is seen in that He is both sovereign and merciful (Exodus 33 and 34).  Now we see that God is holy because He is "set apart"; "absolutely unique."  We find, in our studies, that what makes Him utterly unique is very similar to what makes Him glorious.  This is no surprise, for we have learned earlier that God's glory is the outshining of His holiness.  The sun is His holiness, and the light is His glory.

          Therefore, let it stand that when we say God is holy, it means that God is God. Holiness is God's divinity, His nature.  The inspired scripture tells us that God is fundamentally holy.  Still, to truly understand the depths of this would be like sailing on a boat on an infinitely large ocean, hoping one day to find the end. God is the self-declared "I AM."  God's very name means "to be" or "to exist."  In this way God has declared Himself as a continual act of absolute holy power in constant motion, unhindered and uninfluenced by anything outside Himself.  He is who He is, and all else is defined and stamped by His absolute and glorious reality.

         (This is article is both found in my forth coming books: The blood of Jesus Never Fails" and "Where to find the Glory of Jesus Christ.")

Sincerely Yours: Oshea