About holiness

^{by David Guzik - Enduring Word}

Listen

Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God?
1Sam 6:19-20
the whole story: 1Sam 6:1-21

You see, in their disrespect for God, the men of Beth Shemesh offended the holiness of the Lord. They knew that the Lord was holy, but it didn't make them want to be closer to God. It made them want to distance themselves from God.
The basic idea behind holiness is not moral purity, although it includes moral purity, but the basic idea behind holiness is the idea of apartness, that God is separate. He's apart different from His creation, both in His essential nature that's who He is and in the perfection of His attributes, His character and what He does.
When men encounter the holiness of God, they are not necessarily attracted to it. When Peter saw the holy power of Jesus, he said, depart from me for I am a sinful man, O Lord. (That's in Luke chapter 5, verse 8.) When the disciples on another occasion saw the holy Jesus shining forth at the transfiguration, they were greatly afraid. (That's Matthew chapter 17, verse 6.)
When we meet the holy God, we are excited and afraid all at the same time. It's like going up on a roller coaster. You want to be there, but at the same time, you don't want to be there.
Many of the thrill-seeking pleasures of our modern world are simply weak attempts to imitate the fulfillment, we can only find by meeting the holy God.
It's really a good question:
"Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God?" You see, in one sense, the men of Beth Shemesh showed a bad heart in asking what can be a good question, but their question made God seem too harsh instead of understanding that the problem was that they were too disobedient. You see, in another sense, that question "who is able to stand before this holy Lord God", is a good question because God is, in fact, holy and who is able indeed to stand before Him.
Now, though God is holy,
though He is apart from us,
instead of building a wall around His apparteness, God calls us to come to Him and share His apparteness.
As it says in 1 Peter 1:15-16,

God calls us to be holy for "I am holy"

Holiness is not so much something we have as much as something that has us.
Holiness is not so much achieved through our own efforts, but it is received as we are new men and new women in Jesus.
Holiness is part of the new man that we are in Jesus Christ. You can read about that in Ephesians 4:24.

you put on the new self, the one created according to God’s likeness in righteous­ness and purity of the truth.

And we are invited to be partakers, sharers of Jesus's holiness. That's in Hebrews 12:10.

{our fathers} disciplined us for a short time based on what seemed good to them, but He does it for our benefit, so that we can share His holiness.

You see, in Jesus, you and I, everyone who will come to Him in humble faith, we can stand before the holy God, but only in Jesus.
Recognize that and embrace God in His holiness today and let Him work some of His holiness into you and your life.

the original Audio Podcast is here:
Who Can Stand Before the Holy God? - 1 Samuel 6:20 - July 9, 2024