“The Holiness Of God” by R. C. Sproul

I just finished reading The Holiness Of God by R. C. Sproul. It has eleven chapters wherein Sproul makes observations on what it means for God to be holy and how that holiness affects those who truly encounter it. Examples include individuals such as Moses, Isaiah, Martin Luther and the apostle Peter. It is 265 pages and contains questions for discussion at the end of each chapter.

Here are some of the quotes that I found most interesting:

"The God we worship is the God who has always been. He alone can create beings, because He alone has the power of being. He is not nothing. His is not chance. He is pure Being, the One who has the power to be all by Himself." (p. 13)

"Only once in sacred Scripture is an attribute of God elevated to the third degree. Only once is a characteristic of God mentioned three times in succession. 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, that the whole earth is full of His glory.” (p. 32)

“The more faithful preachers are to the Word of God in their preaching, the more liable they are to the charge of hypocrisy. Why? Because the more faithful people are to the Word of God, the higher the message is that they will preach. The higher the message, the further they will be from obeying it themselves.” (p. 41)

“The primary meaning of holy is ‘separate’ … things that are holy are things that are set apart, separated from the rest.” (pp. 46-47)

“Sinful people are not comfortable in the presence of the holy. People have an appreciation for moral excellence, as long as it is removed a safe distance from them.” (pp. 69 & 71)

“In two decades of teaching theology, I have had countless students ask me why God doesn’t save everybody. Only once did a student come to me and say, ‘There is something I just can’t figure out. Why did God redeem me?’ We are not really surprised that God has redeemed us. Somewhere deep inside, in the secret chambers of our hearts, we harbor the notion that God owes us His mercy. What amazes us is justice, not grace.” (p. 150)

“This is the essence of idolatry: replacing the reality with a counterfeit.” (p. 230)

It is surprisingly accessible and easy to read for a book on this subject. I highly recommend it. If time is a consideration, then the first four chapters are the most helpful.