
When you think of God, what words come to mind? Strong? Eternal? Good? Wise? These are what we call attributes of God; characteristics, or qualities, that are part of who God is. One of the more common answers to this question is love. In the first epistle of John, the apostle writes that “God is love” (1 John 4:8). Admittedly, many today flip that beautiful phrase around and claim that love is God, leading to all sorts of twisted and unbiblical things, but that’s a topic for another time.
While it’s true that God is love, there is only one attribute in Scripture that is used in the superlative degree. That simply means that it’s not merely said to be very true, or even very very true, but very very very true! Pardon the poor grammar, but we are dealing with an ancient language that works differently than ours. In the Bible, when things need to be emphasized to show their importance, they are repeated. Think of Jesus and His abundant use of the phrase, “Truly, truly I say…”. In Isaiah 6, we find the prophet taken into the throne room of heaven and shown the power, might, majesty, and splendor of God in His very throne room. There are spectacularly frightening angelic beings known as seraphim hovering around the throne, covering their faces to protect them from the dazzling light of God’s glory. But the fascinating thing is what these angels are saying. Repeatedly, in rhythms of three, these angelic beings are saying, “Holy, holy, holy,” in response to the pure Godhood of God. Notice they aren’t saying He is, “Good, good, good,” although He is; they aren’t saying He is, “Kind, kind, kind,” although He is; they aren’t even saying He is, “Love, love, love.”
No, they are proclaiming that what God is at His very core is holy: totally set apart, separate from any other created thing, perfect in every way, not bigger than we think, but bigger than we can think.
Now, what does all of this have to do with you and I as men of God? Short answer? Everything.
After committing yourself to living a life built upon a foundation of blamelessness, you must give yourself wholly to the task of walking in a holy, or pious, devotion to your heavenly Father. You’ll notice that this chapter heading is pious, which is an older English term used to describe the type of person who was known for an extraordinary holiness of life and conduct. For some, I recognize that you are already frightened by what I’ve said. My point is simply this: An unholy man is a dull tool in the hand of God. If you have ever done carpentry, you know the frustration that comes from having bladed tools that are dull. A razor knife that won’t sharpen a pencil becomes quite a thorn in the flesh. So it is with men who live as sons of God but who do not pursue holiness of mind, body, and soul; they are tools in the hands of God, but ineffective and dangerous ones.
When I say holiness, again, I am referring to the idea of otherness and set apart-ness. For us as men, pious and holy doesn’t mean that we are perfect in every way, but rather that we are consciously moving in a direction of Christlikeness in our thoughts, words, deeds, and emotions. A man with a defiled mind but a Christian sounding mouth is a dangerous thing, for he will be leading people to think he is one thing when he is another. Yes, we are always in need of greater and greater holiness, but we cannot expect this to happen passively. It must be pursued, sought out, fought for. As the Church Father Augustine is credited with saying, “Without God, we can’t, and without us, God won’t.”
Man of God, you must pursue a holistic devotion and piety towards God and neighbor. Start where you are. Don’t go and become a monk, cutting yourself off from the world. You can, however, put real barriers and boundaries up between yourself and unholiness. If that social media app causes you to stumble, get rid of it; if that female coworker is causing your mind to drift towards sin, get a new job. God is faithful to provide a way of escape from every opportunity for unholiness (1 Cor. 10:13), but we must be willing to take it. You will never be disappointed with a radical pursuit of holiness, but it must truly be radical. The God we serve is holy, so let us be holy (1 Peter 1:13-16).