Holiness and Justice

Q: Would I be right in saying that, because God has always existed, He is our standard for Holiness and Justice- since justice means `as it should be.`And that He has to be everything the Word says He is or else He wouldn't be God, and nothing would exist, because-The God of creation is the God of the Bible.

A: Absolutely, you are correct in saying God is our standard of holiness and justice. The Bible is God's Word. It is His testimony of Himself. It is true and we can accept what it says about Him and about us. God, alone, is Holy. "Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy (Revelation 15:4)." The name of God is holy. "Let them praise your great and awesome name—he is holy (Psalm 99:3)." No one is holy like the Lord. "There is no one holy like the LORD; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God (1 Samuel 2:2)." God is light and there is no darkness in Him. "This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5)." These are just a few of the verses that talk about the holiness of our God. This is our God and there is no other God, but Him.

Our God is always just in His dealings. He deals with the earth justly. "Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right (Genesis 18:25)?" Justice is the foundation of His throne. "Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you (Psalm 89:14)." There is no injustice in God. "He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he (Deuteronomy 32:4)." God will not pervert justice. "It is unthinkable that God would do wrong, that the Almighty would pervert justice (Job 34:12)." Here we have seen the answer to your question. God is both holy and just, as it should be.

The holiness and justice of God is personified in Jesus Christ. "Such a high priest meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens (Hebrews 7:26)." Knowing just how holy and just our God and Savior is should be humbling to us. When we measure ourselves up against His holiness there is only one thing that we can ask of our God. When Jesus gave His Sermon on the Mount He amplified God's standard of holiness and justice. He told His listeners just what was expected of them. "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48)." Jesus did not say this to inspire us to keep trying to meet God's standards of holiness and justice. He said this to bury us under the weight of our own unholiness and injustice. It was meant to drive us to the end of ourselves so we would exclaim to God, "Who then can be saved (Mark 10:26)?"

The good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that through faith in Him we are holy and justified in His sight. We are holy and blameless. "But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation (Colossians 1:22)." We are justified. "[F]or all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus (Romans 3:23-24)." Thank God we are holy and just in His sight because of the finished work of Jesus Christ on our behalf. That is the only way it can be. God is all you said He is and more. God, the Creator of the universe, saw fit to love us so much that we have received the benefit of His holiness and justice in Him. May God continue to reveal to you all that you have received as a result of your faith in Jesus Christ.