God’s Attributes – Holiness

In many respects, holiness is a communicable attribute of God because it’s shared by some facets of creation. The Scriptures frequently refer to locations, objects, spirits and people as holy. And the biblical adjectives that we usually translate as “holy,” “sacred” or “sanctified” — qadosh in Hebrew, and hagios in Greek — simply mean “separate” or “set apart.” But both general revelation and the Scriptures make it clear that the holiness of creatures is finite, temporal and changeable, while God’s holiness is infinite, eternal and unchangeable.

Theologians most often approach the incommunicable qualities of God’s holiness by calling attention to God’s moral holiness. They also highlight what may be called his majestic holiness.

On the one side, the moral holiness of God refers to the fact that he is separate from all evil. As Psalm 92:15 puts it, “There is no wickedness in him.” And Habakkuk 1:12-13 exclaims, “Holy One … Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.” God’s moral purity is so basic to biblical faith that James wrote confidently in James 1:13, “God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone.”

On the other side, the Scriptures also point to what has been called the majestic holiness of God. This terminology indicates that God is separate from all creation, including his morally pure creatures. God’s majestic holiness is most vividly illustrated in Isaiah 6:3 where seraphim cry out:

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty.

In this passage, seraphim, morally pure creatures who serve before the throne of God, acknowledge that God is to be worshiped as thrice holy; infinite, eternal, unchangeable, utterly supreme in his holiness.