We're All Humans, Aren't We?

Highlights of The Holiness of God

I firmly believe it is the duty of the Christian to always be learning something about our faith. 1 Peter 3:15 makes this clear when it says, “[I]n your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.”

The remarkable thing about following an infinite God is that you will always learn something new about Him. You will never run out of new things to learn about God because the infinite stretches out for, well, forever. (This should encourage those of you who think heaven will be dreadfully boring after a few hundred years of bouncing around. We will never stop growing.)

So, for me, I learn best by reading. I have been devouring a lot of books on Christian theology lately. Every now and then, in this space I will highlight things that I am reading and use them to 1) encourage you; 2) to share what I’ve been learning; and 3) to maybe point you to more material where you can read on your own.

I just finished R.C. Sproul’s book The Holiness of God. Sproul is quickly becoming one of my favorite theologians. In his writings he’s able to simply explain heady topics such as the holiness of God or predestination at a level where everybody can follow him and not get lost. His philosophy and theology is solid and biblical, especially in The Holiness of God. It is with danger of hyperbole that I say this: His study of the holiness of God and the ramifications of following a holy God has quickly catapulted itself to the top five list of the most important books I’ve read in my life. It has affected deeply my thinking of myself as a sinner and who I am compared to the One who created me. It has made God’s grace more real and profound for me. Sproul, through his book, has helped me understand God on a more personal level. I thank him for writing such a book that impacted me.

I highly recommend this book, and in the future I will be talking about some of the things that I learned from it with you. But for now, I’d like to leave you with some highlights so you have some food for thought today. (I took copious notes; practically half of the book is highlighted for me!)

But chance is no thing. It has no weight, no measurements, no power. It is merely a word we use to describe mathematical possibilities. It can do nothing. It can do nothing because it is nothing. To say that the universe was created by chance is to say that it came from nothing. This is intellectual madness. What are the chances that the universe was created by chance?

But when the word holy is applied to God, it does not signify one single attribute. On the contrary, God is called holy in a general sense. the word is used as a synonym for His deity. That is, the word holy calls attention to all that God is.

When we meet the Absolute, we know immediately that we are not absolute. When we meet the Infinite, we become acutely conscious that we are finite. When we meet the Eternal, we know we are temporal. To meet God is a powerful study in contrasts.

God’s usual course of action is one of grace. Grace no longer amazes us. We have grown used to it; we take it for granted.