For our series on sharing the Gospel, we talked about the centrality of Jesus in the Gospel in the September issue. It’s all about Him. The church is not the good news, Jesus is the good news! People need Jesus.
In this issue we will look at another critical idea that must be included in a complete Gospel presentation: God is holy. The holiness of God is one of His primary characteristics. He is called holy more than anything else in Scripture. The seraphim declare Him, “Holy, Holy, Holy†in Isaiah 6:3. These are the words they sing to Him around heaven’s throne.
The main meaning of the word holy is to be set apart. With regard to God, holy means God is utterly set apart from all else. He is wholly different. He is above, infinitely above, all of creation. He alone has life in Himself, and depends on nothing else. This holiness also includes God’s majesty, His sovereign will, and His moral nature expressed in righteous judgment. God is God. He is the sole determiner of what is good and right. So God’s goodness is an outflow of all that He is. Everything contrary to that goodness is against Him, the source of all goodness. That is why sin is so evil and wicked. Every sin is against the very source of all goodness. That’s why sin deserves hell. In its very essence, it is enmity against God.
God’s wrath, then, His perfectly right and just anger, targets sinners for death. Romans 6:23 begins, “The wages of sin is death . . .†This is an essential element of the Gospel. Man is a sinner; God is holy. That is a huge problem! When you are sick, you want to ask: “Is it serious, Doc?†Psalm 7:11 says, “God is a righteous judge, And a God who has indignation every day.†That is serious! Jesus said, “My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!“ (Luke 12:4-5). The Book of Hebrews says, “our God is a consuming fire†(12:29).
Knowing these verses and being able to articulate God’s holiness is an important part of presenting the Gospel. The main idea you want to convey is that sin is an offense against Him, and that He is just in punishing it, but has also provided a Savior who bore that full punishment on our behalf!
“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.â€
2 Corinthians 5:20-21
Yes, “The wages of sin is death,†but as Paul continues, “but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.†Amen!
Yours in Christ,
Originally printed in The AFBC Pony Express. Vol. XII, No. 10, October 2019.