OF THE HOLINESS OF
GOD
John Gill
Having considered those
attributes of God which bear a likeness to affections in men; I proceed to
consider those which in them may be called virtues; as holiness, justice, or
righteousness, truth, or faithfulness; and shall begin with the holiness of God. And,
1. First, show that it is in
God, and belongs to him, and what it is.
The scriptures most abundantly ascribe it to him; he is very frequently
called "holy", and "the Holy One"; this title he takes to
himself, #Isa 40:25 Hos 11:9 and is often given him by
others, angels and men; and, indeed, without holiness he would not be that
perfect being he is; unholiness is the imperfection of every rational being in
whom it is; it is what has made angels and men both impure and imperfect; and
since no men, even the best, are without sin; therefore none are in themselves
perfect. But as for God, his ways and works are perfect, and so is his nature;
being just and true, and without iniquity, #De 32:4.
Holiness is the purity and rectitude of his nature; whose nature is so pure, as
to be without spot or stain, or anything like it: he is light and purity
itself, and in him is no darkness or impurity at all; as "he is of purer
eyes than to behold iniquity", so he is of a purer heart and mind than to
have one sinful thought in it: his thoughts are not as ours; he is the pattern
of purity and holiness, and to be copied after: men should
be holy, as and because he is holy; it is one of the imitable perfections of
God, in which he is to be followed; though it cannot be attained to, as it is
in him, #Le 11:44,45 19:2 #1Pe 1:15,16.
Holiness is an essential attribute
of God; it is his nature and essence; it is himself; he is
holiness itself; "he swears by himself, because he can swear by no
greater"; and he will not swear by any less, and yet he swears by his
holiness, #Heb 6:13 Ps 89:35 #Am 4:2 6:8 which places put and compared together
show that the holiness of God is himself; and it has been thought to be not so
much a particular and distinct attribute of itself, as the lustre, glory, and
harmony of all the rest; and is what is called "the
beauty of the Lord", #Ps 27:4 as it is the beauty of the good angels, and
of regenerate men; and, indeed, what is wisdom or knowledge, without holiness,
but craft and cunning? or what is power, without it, but tyranny, oppression,
and cruelty? but God is "glorious in holiness", #Ex 15:11 this dives
a lustre to all his perfections, and is the glory of them; and therefore none
of them are or can be exercised in a wrong manner, or to any
bad purpose. And as it is his nature
and essence, it is infinite and unbounded; it cannot be greater than it is, and
can neither be increased nor diminished; when, therefore, men are exhorted to
"sanctify" the Lord, and are directed to pray that his
"name" may be "hallowed", or sanctified, #Isa 8:13 Mt 6:9
the meaning is not as if he was to be, or could be made more holy than he is; but that his holiness be declared, manifested, and
celebrated more and more; it is so perfect that nothing can be added to it. And
as it is his nature and essence, it is immutable and invariable; the holiness
of a creature is changeable, as the holiness of angels and men; which has
appeared by the apostasy of the one, and the fall of the other; and the
holiness of saints, though its principle is the same, the acts
and exercises are variable. But God is always the same holy Being, without any
variableness, or shadow of turning. He is originally holy, he is so in and of
himself, and of no other; there is none prior and superior to him, from whom he
could derive or receive any holiness; as his Being is of himself, so is his
holiness, which is himself: the holiness of angels and men is not of
themselves, but of God; he is the fountain of holiness to
all rational creatures that partake of it; it is peculiar to him, yea, only in
him; Hannah says, in her song, "There is none holy as the Lord", #1Sa
2:2. In another song yet to be sung, the song of Moses and of the Lamb, it is
said, "Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou
only art holy", #Re 15:4. The holiness of creatures is but a shadow of
holiness, in comparison of the holiness of God; the holy
angels are chargeable with folly in his sight, and they cover their faces with
their wings, while they celebrate the perfection of God's holiness; as
conscious to themselves, that theirs will not bear to be compared with his,
#Job 4:17,18 Isa 6:2,3. God only is essentially, originally, underivatively,
perfectly, and immutably holy.
This must be understood not of
one person in the Deity, to the exclusion of the rest; as not of the Spirit,
though he is peculiarly called the "Holy Ghost", and the Holy Spirit,
yet not to the exclusion of the Father and Son; so not of the Father, to the
exclusion of the Son and Spirit; for as they are the one God, who is a Spirit,
they partake of the same common and undivided nature, and
all the perfections of it, and of this with the rest. Hence we read of the holy
Elohim, or divine Persons, in the plural number; and of the Holy Ones, the Holy
Father, the Holy Son, and the Holy Spirit, #Jos 24:19 Pr 30:5 Da 4:17. And no
doubt respect is had to the holiness of the three divine persons, by the
seraphim, when they said, "holy, holy, holy, Lord God of
hosts!" #Isa 6:3 and by the four beasts, or living creatures, continually
employed in the same divine service, celebrating the perfections of God in much
the same language, saying, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty!" #Re
4:8. As there is no doubt made of the Deity of the Father, there can be none of
his holiness: our Lord addresses him under the relation of "Father", and
under the epithet of "Holy Father", #Joh 17:11 and
all that has been said of the holiness of God belongs to him; of which there
can be no question made: and it is as true of the Son as of the Father; for as
the Father is the holy Father, he must be the holy Son, since he is of the same
nature, and is "the brightness of his Father's glory, and the express
image of his person"; and as the Father is of purer eyes than to behold
iniquity, so is the Son; as the Father loves righteousness
and hates iniquity, this is expressly said of the Son, #Heb 1:8,9 he is
eminently called "the Holy One of God", #Ps 16:10 and "the Holy
One of Israel", more than thirty times in the prophecy of Isaiah; and
particularly is so called along with the titles of Redeemer and Husband, which
are peculiar to the second Person, the Son of God, the Redeemer of his people,
and the Husband of his church, #Isa 47:4 54:5 yea, he is
called the "most holy", who was anointed with the Holy Ghost above
his fellows, and "having the Spirit without measure", #Da 9:24 the
title of holy he takes to himself when addressing the church, which is an
emblem of the purest state of the church militant on earth, the church of
Philadelphia; "These things saith he that is holy", #Re 3:7. Nay, the
devil himself gives it to him; "I know thee, who thou
art, the Holy One of God", #Lu 4:34. Besides, Christ is not only holy in
his human nature, even perfectly so, and sanctified and set apart to his office
as Mediator, by his Father; for which office holiness is a necessary requisite and
qualification; but he is the Fountain of holiness to his church and people;
they are sanctified in him and by him; he is made sanctification to them, and
all the holiness, or holy graces that are in them, are all
from him, #Joh 1:14,16 which could not be, if he was not holy, and even
holiness itself. And as for the blessed Spirit, the third Person in the Deity,
the epithet of "holy" is commonly given to him, as before observed;
and very truly, since he is of the same nature with the Father and the Son; and
so he is holy by nature and essence, and as appears by his graces, operations, and influences; and by his being grieved, speaking after the
manner of men, with the sins and impurities of men; the reason of which is,
because they are so contrary to his pure and holy nature, that he cannot bear
them, but expresses his dislike and displeasure at them, #Eph 4:29,30. And all
this will be still more clear and manifest, by considering,
2. Secondly, The instances
whereto and whereby the holiness of God is displayed, which are his works, and
actions, and proceedings towards his creatures; God is holy in all his works;
or his holiness is manifest in them, and by them, #Ps 145:17.
2a. The
holiness of God the Father; which is visible,
2a1. In the
works of creation; for as he made all things by his
Son, not as
an instrument, but as co-efficient with him, so
when he
overlooked them, he pronounced them very good; which
he
would not have done, had there been anything impure or
unholy in
them. Angels, not only those that stood, but those
that fell,
were originally holy, as made by him: the elect
angels
continue in the holiness in which they were created;
and the
angels that sinned are not in the estate in which
they
were at their creation; they kept not their first
estate, which
was an estate of purity and holiness; and
abode not in
the truth, in the uprightness and integrity in
which they
were formed, #Jude 1:6 Joh 8:44. And as for man,
he was made
after the image, and in the likeness of God,
which
greatly consisted in holiness; a pure, holy, and
upright
creature he was; and had a law given him, holy,
just, and
good, as the rule of his obedience, and which was
inscribed on
his heart; some remains of which are to be
found in his
fallen posterity, and even in the Gentiles.
2a2. The
holiness of God appears in his works of providence;
which, though
many of them are dark and intricate, not
easily
penetrated into, and to be accounted for; yet there
is nothing
criminal and sinful in them: the principal thing
objected
to the holiness of God in his providences, is his
suffering sin
to be in the world; but then, though it is by
his voluntary
permission, or permissive will, yet he is
neither the
author nor abettor of it; he neither commands
it, nor
approves of it, nor persuades to it, nor tempts nor
forces
to it; but all the verse, forbids it, disapproves of
it, dissuades
from it, threatens to punish for it, yea, even
chastises his
own people for it; and, besides, overrules it
for great
good, and for his own glory; as the fall of Adam,
the sin of
Joseph's brethren, the Jews crucifixion of
Christ;
which have been instanced in, and observed under a
former
attribute: wherefore the dispensations of God, in his
providence,
are not to be charged with unholiness on this
account.
2a3.
The holiness of Jehovah the Father is to be observed in
those acts of
grace which are peculiar to him; as in
choosing some
in Christ his Son to everlasting life, before
the world
began. Now though not the holiness of the
creature, nor
even the foresight of it, is the cause of this
act;
yet holiness, or the sanctification of the Spirit, is
fixed as a
means in it; and it is the will of God, that
those whom he
chooses and appoints to salvation should
partake of
it, or come to salvation through it; nay, he has
not only
chosen them "through" it, as a means, but he has
chosen
them to it, as a subordinate end; he has chosen them
to be holy in
part, in this life, and perfectly in the life
to come; and holiness
of heart and life, is the evidence of
interest in
it, and nothing more powerfully excites and
engages to
it. The covenant which he has made with his Son
Jesus
Christ, on the behalf of the chosen ones, provides
abundantly
for their holiness, both internal and external;
see #Eze
36:25-27 and the promises of it serve greatly to
promote it,
and to influence the saints to be "perfecting
holiness in
the fear of God", #2Co 7:1. And in this covenant
is
laid up a rod of correction, in love, to chastize with it
the sins of
God's people, #Ps 89:29-34. Justification is an
act of God's
grace towards them; it is God, even God the
Father, that
justifies, through the imputation of his Son's
righteousness
to them; by which the holy law of God is so
far
from being made void, that it is established, magnified,
and made
honourable: nor are justified persons exempted from
obedience to
it, but are more strongly bound and constrained
to serve it;
and though God justifies the ungodly, yet not
without a
righteousness provided for them, and imputed to
them:
nor does he justify, vindicate, or approve of their
ungodliness,
nor connive at it; but turns it from them, and
them from
that: and faith, which receives the blessing of
justification
from the Lord, by which men perceive their
interest in
it, and enjoy the comfort of it, is an operative
grace,
works by love to God, to Christ, and his people; and
is attended
with good works, the fruits of righteousness:
the like may be
observed with respect to other acts of the
Father's
grace; as adoption, pardon, &c.
2b.
Secondly, The holiness of the Son of God is to be seen in all his works; in the
works of creation and providence, in common with his divine Father; and in all
his works of grace; in giving himself to sanctify his church, and make it a
glorious one, without spot or wrinkle, through his blood and righteousness; in
redeeming his people from all iniquity, to purify them to himself a peculiar
people; in bearing their sins, and making satisfaction for
them, that they might live unto righteousness, and that the body of sin might
be destroyed, #Eph 5:25,27 Tit 2:14 1Pe 2:24 #Ro 6:6 and so in the execution of
all his offices; as a Prophet, he has appeared to be an Holy One; the faith
delivered by him to the saints, is a most holy faith, wholesome words,
doctrines according to godliness: as a Priest, he is holy and harmless,
separate from sinners, and has offered up himself without
spot to God; and though he makes intercession for transgressors, it is upon the
foot of his sacrifice and righteousness: as a King, all his administrations are
in purity and righteousness; and his laws, commands, and ordinances, are Holy
Ones; and when he comes as judge of the world, he will appear without sin, and
"judge the world in righteousness".
2c. Thirdly, The holiness of
the blessed Spirit, is visible in the formation of the human nature of Christ;
in separating that mass out of which it was framed in the virgin; in
sanctifying it, and preserving it from the taint and contagion of original sin;
in filling the human nature, when formed, with his holy gifts and graces, and that without measure; and through him it was offered up
without spot; and he was declared to be the Son of God with power, by the
Spirit of holiness, through the resurrection from the dead. Moreover, his
holiness is manifest in the sanctification of the chosen of God, and the
redeemed of the Lamb, which is therefore called, "the sanctification of
the Spirit", #2Th 2:13 1Pe 1:2 in convincing them of sin, of the evil nature and just demerit of it; in converting them from it; in
calling them with an holy calling, and to holiness; in implanting principles of
grace and holiness in them; in purifying their hearts by faith, through the
sprinkling of the blood of Jesus; in leading them in the way of holiness, in
which men, though fools, shall not err; and in carrying on, and perfecting the
work of sanctification in them, "without which none shall
see the Lord".