"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Mat.5:8).
Holiness is a very important word in the Bible. For it speaks of the triune God. The Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit are holy. The Israelites sang of God’s holiness when they were delivered from Pharaoh and his army at the Red Sea. They sang, “Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?” (Ex.15:11). 1 Samuel 2:2 answers by saying, “There is none holy like the Lord, for there is none besides You, nor is there any rock like our God.” As we have studied on past occasions, we have come to understand that there is another word that speaks about God’s holiness and it’s the word, transcendent. The word “transcendence” means literally “to climb across.” It is defined as “exceeding usual limits.” To transcend is to rise above something, to go above and beyond a certain limit. When we speak of the transcendence of God we are talking about that sense in which God is above and beyond us. It tries to get at His supreme and absolute greatness. The word here is used to describe God’s relationship to the world. He is higher than the world. He has absolute power over the world. The world has no power over Him. Transcendence describes God in His consuming majesty, His exalted loftiness. It points to the infinite distance that separates Him from every creature. 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. In the words of A.W. Tozer, “Holy is the way God is. To be holy He does not conform to a standard. He is that standard. He is absolutely holy with an infinite, incomprehensible fulness of purity that is incapable of being other than it is. Because He is holy, His attributes are holy; that is, whatever we think of as belonging to God must be thought of as holy.” Charles Spurgeon said, “...this is the crown of His honor and the honor of His crown. His power is not His choicest jewel, nor His sovereignty, but His holiness.” Because this is the case, holiness is important for us to understand if we’re going to understand God. Matthew 5:8 is essential for our walk with God because it focuses on the holiness that God requires.
Holiness is a very important word in the Bible. For it speaks of the triune God. The Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit are holy. The Israelites sang of God’s holiness when they were delivered from Pharaoh and his army at the Red Sea. They sang, “Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?” (Ex.15:11). 1 Samuel 2:2 answers by saying, “There is none holy like the Lord, for there is none besides You, nor is there any rock like our God.” As we have studied on past occasions, we have come to understand that there is another word that speaks about God’s holiness and it’s the word, transcendent. The word “transcendence” means literally “to climb across.” It is defined as “exceeding usual limits.” To transcend is to rise above something, to go above and beyond a certain limit. When we speak of the transcendence of God we are talking about that sense in which God is above and beyond us. It tries to get at His supreme and absolute greatness. The word here is used to describe God’s relationship to the world. He is higher than the world. He has absolute power over the world. The world has no power over Him. Transcendence describes God in His consuming majesty, His exalted loftiness. It points to the infinite distance that separates Him from every creature. 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. In the words of A.W. Tozer, “Holy is the way God is. To be holy He does not conform to a standard. He is that standard. He is absolutely holy with an infinite, incomprehensible fulness of purity that is incapable of being other than it is. Because He is holy, His attributes are holy; that is, whatever we think of as belonging to God must be thought of as holy.” Charles Spurgeon said, “...this is the crown of His honor and the honor of His crown. His power is not His choicest jewel, nor His sovereignty, but His holiness.” Because this is the case, holiness is important for us to understand if we’re going to understand God. Matthew 5:8 is essential for our walk with God because it focuses on the holiness that God requires.
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