Holiness of God and His Love

I hear a lot about God’s love. People speak about the love of God as if it his most important characteristic. Of course, love is an important characteristic of God. 1 John 4:8 shows this when John writes:

“Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” -ESV

God is love. He is perfectly love. However, if we only view God as love we miss the greatness of that love. We need to view God’s love within his most important attribute…his holiness. R.C. Sproul gives some great insight on the importance of God’s holiness when he writes:

“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.” -R. C. Sproul. The Holiness of God (Kindle Locations 267-269). Kindle Edition.

Before Sproul penned these words he gave an elaborate examination of how repetition is used in Scripture to indicate the importance of a word or thought. So, when Scripture says that God is “holy, holy, holy” it is greatly important.

So, God is “holy, holy, holy” and “God is love”. But, what does God’s holiness have to do with God’s love?

God’s holiness means that he is pure, righteous, and complete. When we have this in view we see the amazing greatness of God’s love. The pure, righteous, and complete God loves those that are impure, unrighteous, and broken.

That is the greatness of God’s love. He loves those who are undeserving of it.