1. God is Holy,
God is Righteous
The Attributes of God

2. Two moments in your life
 Class participation
 Texas boy in the snow and
introducing Adelaide

3. Beauty
1 Chronicles 16:29-30: ―Worship the Lord in the splendor
[beauty] of His holiness; tremble before Him, all the earth.‖

4. Beauty
 Words fail – ―God resorts to association and suggestion‖
– Tozer
 Awful: two effects of studying God’s Holiness:
 Increasing comprehension of mysinfulness
 Increasing comprehension of His Holiness

5. God is Holy, Absolutely Holy
 Isaiah 6:3 — "And one called to another: Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord of Hosts; His glory fills the whole earth."
 Joshua 24:19 — "But Joshua told the people, ―You will not
be able to worship Yahweh, because He is a holy God. He
is a jealous God; He will not remove your transgressions
and sins."
 Psalm 22:3 — "But You are holy, enthroned on the praises
of Israel."

6. Psalm 99:5, 9 — "Exalt the Lord our God; bow in worship at
His footstool. He is holy. Exalt the Lord our God; bow in
worship at His holy mountain, for the Lord our God is
holy."
Isaiah 5:16 — -"But the Lord of Hosts is exalted by His
justice, and the holy God is distinguished by
righteousness."
1 Peter 1:15-16 — "But as the One who called you is holy, you
also are to be holy in all your conduct; for it is written, Be
holy, because I am holy."

7. God is Holy – The Word Holy and God
 Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Spirit
 Isaiah 57:15 — "For the High and Exalted One who lives
forever, whose name is Holy says this: ―I live in a high
and holy place, and with the oppressed and lowly of
spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and revive the
heart of the oppressed. [The name stands for the character
and being.]
 Leviticus 11:43-45 & Deuteronomy 23:14

8. What Does Holy Mean?
 Holy means free from all defilement, pure.
 Defile: sully, mar, or spoil, desecrate or profane
 "God is holy" means "God is absolutely pure."
 We don’t have examples for this
 1 John 1:5 — "Now this is the message we have heard
from Him and declare to you: God is light, and there is
absolutely no darkness in Him."

9. Associations and Suggestions of God’s Holiness:
The entire Mosaic system of washings;
divisions of the tabernacle;
divisions of the people into ordinary Israelites, Levites, Priests and
High Priests, who were permitted different degrees of approach to
God under strictly defined conditions;
the insisting upon sacrifice as a necessary medium of approach to
God;
God's directions to Moses in Exodus 3:5;
to Joshua in Joshua 5:15,
the punishment of Uzziah in 2 Chronicles 26:16-26;
the strict orders to Israel in regard to approaching Sinai when
Jehovah came down upon it;
the doom of Korah, Dathan and Abiram in Numbers 16:1-33;
and the destruction of Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus 10:1-3:

10. What Does Holy Mean?
 These are the suggestions and associations God has used
 Not just holy, but unapproachably holy.
 ―The truth that God is holy is the fundamental truth of
the Bible, of the Old Testament and the New
Testament, of the Jewish religion, and of the Christian
religion. ― Torrey

11. God Is Righteous.
 Ezra 9:15 — "Lord God of Israel, You are righteous…"
 Psalm 116: 5 — "The Lord is gracious and righteous; our
God is compassionate.
 Psalm 145:17 — "The Lord is righteous in all His ways
and gracious in all His acts.‖
 Jeremiah 12:1 — "You will be righteous, Lord, even if I
bring a case against You.
 John 17:25 — "Righteous Father! The world has not
known You. However, I have known You, and these have
known that You sent Me."

12. What Is It To Be Righteous, Or Just?
 Ezekiel 18:5 — ―Now suppose a man is righteous and
does what is just and right:‖
 Zephaniah 3:5 — "The righteous Lord is in her; He does
no wrong. He applies His justice morning by morning;
He does not fail at dawn, yet the one who does wrong
knows no shame."
 To be just, or righteous, is to possess enough character to
always do what is right.

13. What Is It To Be Righteous, Or Just?
 The Hebrew word for just, according to its
etymology, means "right" or "straight."
 The etymology of the English word "righteous" is the
same.
 The etymology of the Greek word is "custom" or "usage"
— that which conforms to custom.

14. What Is It To Be Righteous, Or Just?
 The righteousness or justice of God is that attribute that
leads Him always to do right.
 It is not to be limited, as it so often is in modern
theological usage, to His punitive justice.
 Holiness compared with Righteousness

15. Looking to the Word for Examples
 How do we see God’s Holiness expressed?
 How do we see God’s Righteousness expressed?

16. Holiness Contrasted with Sin
 Habakkuk 1:13 — "Your eyes are too pure to look on evil, and
You cannot tolerate wrongdoing. So why do You tolerate those
who are treacherous? Why are You silent while one who is
wicked swallows up one who is more righteous than himself?"
 Genesis 6:5-6 — "When the Lord saw that man’s wickedness
was widespread on the earth and that every scheme his mind
thought of was nothing but evil all the time, the Lord regretted
that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His
heart."
 Deuteronomy 25:16 — "For everyone who does such things
and acts unfairly is detestable to the Lord your God."
 The holiness of God manifests itself in a hatred for sin.

17. By What He Delights in
 Proverbs 15:9 — "but He loves the one who pursues righteousness."
 Leviticus 19:2 — "Speak to the entire Israelite community and tell
them: Be holy because I, Yahweh your God, am holy"
 Leviticus 20:26 — "You are to be holy to Me because I, Yahweh, am
holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be Mine."
 The holiness of God manifests itself in a delight in
righteousness and holiness.

18. By What He Delights in
 Psalm 11:4-7 — "The Lord is in His holy temple; the
Lord’s throne is in heaven. His eyes watch; He examines
everyone. The Lord examines the righteous and the
wicked. He hates the lover of violence. He will rain
burning coals and sulfur on the wicked; a scorching wind
will be their portion. For the Lord is righteous; He loves
righteous deeds. The upright will see His face."
 The righteousness of God is manifested in His loving
what is righteous and hating iniquity.

19. God is Righteous Because of His Dealings
 Exodus 9:23-27 — "So Moses stretched out his staff
toward heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail.
Lightning struck the earth, and the Lord rained hail on
the land of Egypt. The hail, with lightning flashing
through it, was so severe that nothing like it had occurred
in the land of Egypt since it had become a nation.
Throughout the land of Egypt, the hail struck down
everything in the field, both man and beast. The hail beat
down every plant of the field and shattered every tree in
the field. The only place it didn’t hail was in the land of
Goshen where the Israelites were.
 Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron. ―I have sinned this
time,‖ he said to them. ―Yahweh is the Righteous
One, and I and my people are the guilty ones.

20. God is Righteous Because of His Dealings
 Revelation 16:5-6 — "I heard the angel of the waters say:
You are righteous, who is and who was, the Holy One, for
You have decided these things. Because they poured out
the blood of the saints and the prophets, You also gave
them blood to drink; they deserve it!"
 The righteousness of God is manifested in his assigning
to sinners the punishment due their sins.
 2 Chronicles 12:5-6 and Daniel 9:12, 14

21. Rewarding Righteousness
 2 Timothy 4:8 — "There is reserved for me in the future
the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous
Judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me, but
to all those who have loved His appearing.‖
 1 Kings 8:32 — "may You hear in heaven and act. May
You judge Your servants, condemning the wicked man
by bringing what he has done on his own head and
providing justice for the righteous by rewarding him
according to his righteousness.‖
 The righteousness of God is manifested in His granting
the righteous the reward for their faithfulness.

22. Righteousness Shown by Protection and Deliverance
 Psalm 98:1-3 — "Sing a new song to the Lord, for He has
performed wonders; His right hand and holy arm have won
Him victory. The Lord has made His victory known; He has
revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations. He has
remembered His love and faithfulness to the house of Israel;
all the ends of the earth have seen our God’s victory."
 2 Thessalonians 1:6-7 — "since it is righteous for God to repay
with affliction those who afflict you and to reward with rest
you who are afflicted, along with us. This will take place at the
revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with His powerful
angels,"
 The righteousness of God is manifested in His protecting
and delivering His people from all their adversaries.
 Psalm 103:6 & Psalm 129:1-4

23. Protection Versus Punishment
 God is Righteous has a negative connotation today
 Jeremiah 9:24 "But the one who boasts should boast in this, that he
understands and knows Me—that I am Yahweh, showing faithful
love, justice, and righteousness on the earth, for I delight in these
things. This is the Lord’s declaration."
 Psalm 116:5-6 — "The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is
compassionate. The Lord guards the inexperienced; I was
helpless, and He saved me."
 Psalm 145:5, 15-19, Psalm 96:11-13; Revelation 15:3

24. Protection Versus Punishment
 Seeing punishment of sinner in connection with
deliverance of people
 Revelation 16:4-6 — "The third poured out his bowl into
the rivers and the springs of water, and they became
blood. I heard the angel of the waters say: You are
righteous, who is and who was, the Holy One, for You
have decided these things. Because they poured out the
blood of the saints and the prophets, You also gave them
blood to drink; they deserve it!" (See also 2 Thessalonians
1:6-7, Revelation 19:1-2)
 Prominent thought: Vindication and avenging of His
people vs. suffering of the wicked

25. Review of His Righteousness
 By what He delights in
 By His dealings:
 Punishment of sinners
 Rewards righteousness
 Protection and deliverance

26. What Righteousness Means to
Humanity
 First:
 God keeps His promises because He is righteous
 Nehemiah 9:7-8 — "You are Yahweh, the God who chose
Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans, and
changed his name to Abraham. You found his heart
faithful in Your sight, and made a covenant with him to
give the land of the
Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites, and
Girgashites—to give it to his descendants. You have kept
Your promise, for You are righteous."

27. What Righteousness Means to
Humanity
 Secondly:
 The righteousness of God is manifested in the forgiveness of
the sins of the believer when they are confessed.
 1 John 1:9 — "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and
righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness."

28. What Righteousness Means to
Humanity
 Third and lastly
 Righteousness of God shown through:
 His providing a propitiation (attonement, regaining of
favor, pacification, securing a peace treaty) when sin was
forgiven, and
 in His justifying him that has faith in the substitute (the
substitute for our sins is Jesus on the Cross)
 Romans 3:25 — "God presented Him as a propitiation through
faith in His blood, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in
His restraint God passed over the sins previously committed."

29. Forgotten Holiness
 Book of Acts
 Biblical associations with God’s Holiness
 Beauty beyond sight; to the point of blindness

30. His Holiness

31. Never does Wickedness
 Job 34:10 — "Therefore listen to me, you men of
understanding. It is impossible for God to do
wrong, and for the Almighty to act unjustly."
 The holiness of God manifests itself in His never doing
wickedness or iniquity.

32. Apart from Sin
 Isaiah 59:1-2 — "Indeed, the Lord’s hand is not too short to
save, and His ear is not too deaf to hear. But your iniquities
have built barriers between you and your God, and your sins
have made Him hide His face from you so that He does not
listen."
 See Holiness of God in the separation of the sinner from
God.
 Need of atonement
 Ephesians 2:13 — "But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far
away have been brought near by the blood of the Messiah."
 John 14:6 — "Jesus told him, ―I am the way, the truth, and the
life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

33. Atonement for the Sinner
 The atonement has its deepest demand in the holiness
of God.
 The first and fundamental reason why "without
shedding of blood there is no remission" is that God is
holy and sin must be covered before there can be
fellowship between God and the sinner.

34. Holiness in the
punishment of the sinner
 Exodus 34:6-7 — "Then the Lord passed in front of him
and proclaimed:
 Yahweh—Yahweh is a compassionate and gracious
God, slow to anger and rich in faithful love and
truth, maintaining faithful love to a thousand
generations, forgiving wrongdoing, rebellion, and sin.
But He will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing
the consequences of the fathers’ wrongdoing on the
children and grandchildren to the third and fourth
generation."

35. Holiness in the
punishment of the sinner
 Genesis 6:5-7 — "When the Lord saw that man’s
wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every
scheme his mind thought of was nothing but evil all the
time, the Lord regretted that He had made man on the
earth, and He was grieved in His heart. Then the Lord
said, ―I will wipe off from the face of the earth
mankind, whom I created, together with the
animals, creatures that crawl, and birds of the sky—for
I regret that I made them.‖
 The holiness of God manifests itself in the punishment of
the sinner.

36. Holiness in the
punishment of the sinner
 Reasons for punishment
 God does not punish the sinner merely because the
sinner's good makes it necessary. God is holy. God
hates sin.
 Isaiah 53:6 — -"All we like sheep have gone astray; we
have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord
hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."

37. Hitting the brakes with Holiness
Isaiah 6:5-6 — "Then I said: Woe is me for I am ruined because I
am a man of unclean lips and live among a people of
unclean lips, and because my eyes have seen the King, the
Lord of Hosts.
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a
glowing coal that he had taken from the altar with tongs."
 The pure light of God's holiness reveals the blackness of our
sin.
Job 42:5-6 — "I had heard rumors about You, but now my eyes
have seen You. Therefore I take back my words and repent
in dust and ashes."
 If any man think well of himself, he has never met God.

38. Hitting the brakes with Holiness
 Infinite Hate
 ―God is love, it is true, but his love is not the
sentimental sort that sends costly bouquets and tender
missives to moral monsters, as some of our Universalist
theologians would have us think. ― R.A. Torrey
 Hebrews 12:29 - "Our God is a consuming fire"

39. Where that leaves us
 Correctly viewing His Love in light of His Holiness
 God's love to sinners will never be appreciated until
seen in the light of His blazing wrath at sin.
 John 3:16 — ―For God loved the world in this way: He
gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who
believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.
 1 Peter 3:18 — "For Christ also suffered for sins once for
all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might
bring you to God, after being put to death in the fleshly
realm but made alive in the spiritual realm."

40. Where that leaves us
 Infinite Sacrifice Needed
 The holiness of God manifests itself in His making an
infinite sacrifice to save others from sin unto holiness.
 Not only love – but holiness
 The death of Christ is not merely a manifestation of the
love of God but of HIS holiness as well.

41. Starting a lifetime of thinking
 Romans 5:8 — "But God proves His own love for us in
that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!"
 ―There is no forgiveness without atonement. Sin must be
covered from the Holy gaze of God, and nothing will
cover it but blood….‖ R.A. Torrey
 Hebrews 9:22 — "According to the law almost everything
is purified with blood, and without the shedding of
blood there is no forgiveness."

42. Starting a lifetime of thinking
―The wonderfulness of God's love! That the God
whose name is Holy, the Infinitely Holy
God, could love beings so utterly sinful as we
are, that is the wonder of the eternities. There are
many deep mysteries in the Bible, but none other
as profound as this. ― R.A. Torrey