Which Describes God Better: Love or Holiness??

The Bible tells us about God:

• God is love. (1 John 4:8)
• God is holy. (Leviticus 11:44)

What do you think when you read those words?

I think people are comfortable talking about “God is love.” After all, love is good; love is sweet. Unfortunately, some people have watered down God’s love to fit their own personal preferences. God’s holiness, I think, is not as easily manipulated.

It is important to understand both of these statements about the character of God. After all, God expects His people to love as He loves and to be holy as He is holy.

We should first recognize that we are thinking about God’s nature. To say that God is love means that the very nature of God is love. So, God does not have to think about loving someone or try to love. There is no internal struggle within God when it comes to love. Love describes of the very essence of God’s being.

Holiness is similar. God is holy by nature. He does not have to think about being holy or try to be holy. For God, there is no internal struggle to be holy. Holiness describes the very essence of God’s being.

We should also recognize that God does not balance love and holiness. Balance implies tension, as if love and holiness pull in different directions. Yet, in every thought, in every word and in every action, God is both loving and holy.

We are called to love as God loves!

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
—1 John 4:7-8

So what does it take to love as God loves?

God not only communicated His love through creation and through His interaction with ancient Israel; He ultimately communicated His love through Jesus Christ.

On which day did Jesus live for Himself? When did He tell everyone to back off because He was tired of helping people? His alone time was spent in prayer to His Father, not vacationing. The rare moments in which Jesus appeared to refuse someone’s request, He was focused on God’s will...and yet still stopped and helped when He observed genuine faith and humility.

Of course, Jesus’ ultimate act of love was far from soft and fuzzy; it involved beating, mocking, spitting, splinters, thorns, nails and blood.

God is love demands sacrifice!

But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 

—1 Peter 1:15-16

Holiness doesn’t get as much press as love. Holiness has to do with morality, purity, devotion and goodness. The Son of God, just like His Father, was holy. He saturated His mind with the word of God. He was completely given over to the accomplishment of God’s will. To be an acceptable sacrifice to God, He had to be pure in His motives and sinless in word and action.

When tempted, He did not indulge Himself. His desire to do God’s will overruled His personal desires. He gave everything to be holy.

God is holy demands sacrifice!

To love as God loves, we must sacrifice.
To be holy as God is holy, we must sacrifice.

Only in sacrifice are we truly like our God.

Mark Stinnett

May 30, 2021