Revelation Chapter Three, Christ Is Holy

Revelation 3:7a “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, ‘These things says He who is holy,

We have come to a pristine, spiritually vital church. Unlike Sardis, who was falling apart at the seams so to speak, Philadelphia was a spiritually active and powerful organism. God was clearly at work in them mightily. But we will get to that in due time.

Christ comes to the church first as He who is holy. The One addressing the church, the One who is speaking to them is first of all holy. What is holiness? Holiness, unlike many other characteristics man shares with God, is entirely alien to us and entirely native to Him. Holiness is a separatedness from sin and iniquity. It is wholly consumed with what is good; it is the radiance of godliness; a refusal and inability to do anything but good as God defines it. God’s holiness speaks to His unimpeachable character. God cannot lie, cannot sin, cannot fail. Sin is defined as missing the mark (Romans 3:23); sin’s opposite, holiness, is the ability to only ever find the mark perfectly. Why? Because every attribute of God is perfectly displayed. God’s holiness is no different.

It is God’s holiness that prevents sinners from entering into His presence without first having our sins atoned for. The first mention of the Hebrew term holy is found in Exodus 3:5, where we read, “Take the sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” Here Moses finds a Theophany, or physical manifestation of God; and the only way he may approach without harm done to him is by the method God prescribes. The word holy is used in excess of 50 times in Exodus alone, and when ascribed to God, it always depicts separatedness. When an object in the tabernacle is created for worship purposes it is deemed holy; set apart for God’s express use; any mundane use of it would result in the death of the person offending in such a manner. In short, holiness is a unique quality of God, the vast perfect chasm that separates Him from fallen man, bridged only by the vicarious sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sins. Rather than bridged, we enter into it, being given holiness in exchange for our wickedness, clothed with Christ’s nature, while having ours removed in every meaningful way as far as God’s judgment is concerned.

One of the persons of God is the Holy Spirit, or the Holy Ghost in the KJV. He is also referred to as the Spirit of God, and sometimes as the Spirit of Christ. God the Holy Spirit inspired Scripture, so when the Biblical writers speak of the Bible being God-breathed, we may also conclude that Scripture itself is holy. It expounds upon the God with whom we have to do, and only God the Holy Spirit may rightly lead us into the written word, since He is the Author. If we have the Spirit of God indwelling us, we too are holy, Hebrews 10:10, Romans 8:10.

Holiness is a quality of the Lord that is altogether alien to man, and when we come suddenly into its presence the Bible records that we are overwhelmed by it. When Isaiah had the great fortune of walking into the temple and seeing the glory of God face to face, his initial response (and the only correct response) was sheer panic. “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts,” Isaiah 6:5. As an aside, if the Bible records that no man has ever seen the Father, but Isaiah here witnesses God, the Lord of Hosts, who is he seeing? The Son, of course, in His preincarnate form.

In Mark’s Gospel Peter, James, and John behold the glorified Christ and stand in the presence of His undiluted holiness, and once more panic ensues. “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here, and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”--because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid,” Mark 9:5, 6. As we take our own sin too lightly too often, having a very low view of it and its consequences, we also may not meditate enough on the holiness of the Lord. When God’s presence covers creation in a new and intimate way when the heavens and earth are remade, His holiness will compass everything. “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea,” Habakkuk 2:14, see also 2 Peter 3:13.