The Holiness of God

by R.C. Sproul

Creation was something like the magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat. Except God didn't have a rabbit, and He didn't even have a hat.

The force of divine energy splattered against the sky like a kaleidoscope of color hurled from the palette of a powerful artist.

The record of the lives of the prophets reads like a history of martyrs. Their history sounds like a casualty report from the Third Division in World War II. The life expectancy of a prophet was that of a marine lieutenant in combat.

If people are terrified by the sight of the reflected glory of the back parts of God, how can anyone stand to gaze directly into His holy face?

Here is the promise of God: We shall see Him as He is. Theologians call this future expectation the beatific vision. We will see God a s He is.

He realized that if God graded on a curve, He would have to compromise His own holiness. To count on God doing so is supreme arrogance and supreme foolishness as well. God does not lower His own standards to accommodate us. He remains altogether holy, altogether righteous,

The logic of the Bible is this: Since no one has a perfect heart, no one does a perfect deed.

We may see nonjustice in God, which is mercy, but we never see injustice in God.

In two decades of teaching theology, I have had countless students ask me why God doesn't save everybody. Only once did a student come to me and say, "There is something I just can't figure out. Why did God redeem me?"

We have come to expect God to be merciful. From there the next step is easy: We demand it.

People in awe never complain that church is boring.