The Attributes of God
Holiness
Pastor Jerry Koller

God’s attributes fall into one of two categories: Incommunicable or Communicable attributes.

Holiness is the state of being holy according to the dictionary.

(Holiness) primarily means separation—separation from evil. It is essential, absolute purity. ~ Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Throughout Scripture, holiness has to do being distinct, separate, or in a class by itself.

“When the Bible calls God holy it means primarily that God is transcendentally separate. He is so far above and beyond us that He seems almost totally foreign to us. To be holy is to be ‘other,’ to be different in a special way.” ~ Dr. R.C. Sproul

Transcendent means beyond and outside the ordinary range of human experience or understanding.

Holiness also has to do with ethical or moral purity.
· Purity is the state of being free from sin or moral wrong.

The attribute of holiness calls attention to all God is.

Because God’s holiness calls attention to all God is, it is used as a synonym for His deity.
· Holy is the way God is.
· He is the standard.

God shares this attribute with us.
· He created us with the capacity to be holy.
· This part of our image-bearing was affected by sin.
· Apart from God, we are incapable of being holy on our own.

The key to being considered holy, and the ability to live in a state of holiness, hinges upon our relationship to Jesus Christ.
· Those who have surrendered their lives to Him have His holiness credited to our account. The theological term for this is imputation.
· Those in Christ also have the ability to live out our holiness because the Holy Spirit lives in us. We have received this ability by impartation.

Left to our own ways and ability, we cannot be holy. That is why God took the initiative to make us holy before the world began.

Glory is closely related to holiness.
· In one sense, glory simply means “honor or excellent reputation.” (see Isa. 43:7; Romans 3:23; John 17:5; Heb. 1:3)

Key Definition: Glory is the public display of the holiness of God.
· We cannot see the holiness of God. In that sense, it is a non-communicable attribute.
· It is a communicable attribute because it is something God shares with us.

· O.T. Example: Exodus 33
· N.T. Example: John 1 :14

The Bible says that God is holy, holy, holy. Not that He is merely holy, or even holy, holy. He is holy, holy, holy. The Bible never says that God is love, love, love, or mercy, mercy, mercy, or wrath, wrath, wrath, or justice, justice, justice. It does say that He is holy, holy, holy; the whole earth is full of His glory. ~ R. C. Sproul

Glory also has to do with the brightness or light that surrounds God’s presence.

Because we are created in God’s image, we reflect His glory because of Christ Jesus.

· Rhonda Dobberstein is recovering from a lumpectomy and waiting for test results.
· Ginny Dorsey (Rhonda Dobberstein's mom) is still in the hospital on the rehab floor as she is not ready to be home yet. Her husband Jim also took a fall last week and is barely walking by himself, so not having her return home yet is a blessing while they both continue to recover.
· Vincent Bryant (son of Miriam Bryant) is dealing with several health issues. He has been dealing with blood clots which have been interfering with his dialysis treatments. He continues to recover from a second surgery on his left hand after an infection which resulted in one finger being amputated. He is also having issues with an ankle that prevents him from driving. As a result, Miriam is transporting him to dialysis three days a week.
· Miriam Bryant has begun therapy for hip issues.
· Pete Danapilis has a second cataract surgery rescheduled for February 27.
· Nolan Marshall · was approved to receive services for another year. Praise God for answered prayers!
· Anna Bocock’s Lyme tests came back that she has Epstein Barr in addition to one strain of Lyme. They are not able to treat the Lyme until the Epstein Barr is under control. She is currently very sick and is not responding to the treatments for the Epstein Barr. Pray that the treatments start working and she is able to get that under control so that she can move forward with the Lyme treatment within the next few months. .
· Caroline Bocock is doing much better! She passed her concussion test after a year of failing and has been approved to do anything she wishes. She will have more Lyme testing later this month, but the symptoms have almost completely disappeared since her treatment in July. Pray for continued improvements and for clear test results so she doesn’t have to do anymore treatments.
· Joyce Bocock continues to do well. Prayers for continued improvement and relief from pain are appreciated.
· Check out our monthly prayer card on-line at southhavenfbc.com under “Weekly Bulletins” for a list of those with on-going needs.

First Baptist Church
1635 76th Street
South Haven, MI 49090
269-637-1291
southhavenfbc@gmail.com