[Pastor Lee Grzywinski]

Hello friends!

Separate. Transcendent. Consumingly majestic. Wholly other. An awful mystery. Sproul offers such amazing descriptions of what holiness is! That means these are what God is.

I have to admit, I have felt the “unhealthy fear” of God Sprouls talks about. It happens when I realize I have failed in a big way – committed some sin or failed to represent God as I should have. But I think that it is the healthy fear of God – what the Bible calls us to – that keeps us from many more of those great failures. That keeps us from using what God has given us – our very lives – for those “common matters” that the holy are not fit for. That is the holiness we are called to, and it is inseparably tied to the proper fear of a holy God.

This chapter goes well with my sermon from yesterday. God calls us to be holy, and He has made us holy. We are supposed to be separate and uncommon. We have been made wholly other – a new creature! What God has done for us and in us is a “fearful mystery”! What a sobering idea that is.

[Nayara Jordan]

Hello everyone!

I agree that the chapters thus far have felt very complementary to recent sermons and have reinforced my understanding of God’s holiness. One point I really liked from this chapter is the idea that anything called holy in scripture, outside of God himself, is only so because God has sanctified it and designated as holy. Holy mountain, holy ground, holy bread, etc.

Another point that stuck with me is the truth that holy is a synonym for God’s deity, not just one of His many attributes and this is how I’ve traditionally/erroneously compartmentalized it in my head. Instead, holy is encompassing of his entire being- “…His love is holy love, His justice is holy justice, His mercy is holy mercy, His knowledge is holy knowledge, His spirit is holy spirit.”

The focus on the use of the word holy also led me to reflect on how we attach the word holy to so many common and generic things in life, specifically in our speech. It made me wonder at the origin of “Holy (blank),” as an expression of awe or surprise in the modern day. There are so many of them, some obviously more vulgar than others, ie. holy cow, holy smokes, holy moly, holy mackerel… the list goes on. Isn’t that crazy?! For some reason it just blew my mind. When we are shocked, in awe, surprised, whether for good or bad, we instinctively yell out to something “holy.” To me, it is very revealing. Could it be a reflection that we were created with a deeper, innate desire to show awe, shock, fear, etc. to the Holy God?

[Tom Courain]

This chapter brought me back to when I was about 8 years old and my fascination with the old horror movies began. I remember watching the original Dracula movie starring Bella Lugosi. I was strangely drawn to the theme of an evil that was not of this world. I was soon to become a big fan of the cool goul Zacherley who hosted Friday night scary movies. Even today the original Frankenstein movie interests me. The mysterium tremendum of the holiness of God seems to be at the heart of this fascination. Like a moth that is drawn to the evening light so man is drawn into God’s inner sanctum. Without the changing power of the Holy Spirit, this appearance into God’s presence would result in certain death. March 9, 1977 was the day that God transferred me from the land of the dead and dying into the land of the living. Mary Shelley’s tale was made a reality in my life because of the obedience of Jesus. I had become a new creation. Brought from death into life, never to die again. Romans 1 vs 4 tells us that it was the Spirit of Holiness that raised Jesus from the dead. No longer is the thought of God’s Holiness going to scare me but now the creaking door of the Inner Sanctum is a welcome sound for me to enter into the glorious presence of The Holy. Thank you Jesus.

[Lynne MazzaHilway]

Yes, thank you Jesus! And thank you Tom for simplifying my struggle in your last few lines. I have to admit I was taken aback by the idea outlined by Otto that there could be a demonic form to the feeling of the awful mystery of God’s holiness. I had to research his theories more and he seems to be saying that’s the experience an “uncivilized person who hasn’t found religion” would feel.
Thankfully once we’ve submitted our lives to Christ, perhaps the more repentant and sanctified we are, the more like Him we are, the more ‘at home’ we’d feel in His presence.

The idea of our fear being our wish came to mind, “being attracted and repulsed by something, not being able to live with or without it; fear or hatred of strangers, anything foreign, God in His holiness being the ultimate foreigner.”
“Meeting God is a powerful story in contrasts-the Other is overwhelming. Even in defining holiness, there are so many words that can be used yet it defies explanation and is impossible.”
“Satan’s lie, you shall/could be like Him” yet we were created in His image and meant to reflect His character and someday we will be like Him. We pray that through obedience and submission to His Spirit of Holiness, He’s doing the changing in us and we are looking/being more like Him every day. Not for ours but for His glory.

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