"God's Holiness"

  The holiness of God is God's love for man! Let's think about this. God loves those created in His image. It's a love we cannot really grasp or fathom. Sometimes we get a little glimpse here and there but it is difficult for the created to grasp. God desires the very best for His created but sin is a barrier and vile enemy to Him. In the holiness of  God, God wants sin removed because He loves us. The holiness of God does not stand over against love, it is one aspect of His love.

  What we need to learn that love can NEVER be indifferent to sin any more than it can be indifferent to seeking the best of the beloved. Love seeks the best benefit for another always!! That's why we need a better understanding of the height and depth of love. Too much 'gooey' flows from our understanding of love and that's why the world has tainted it's meaning from God's perspective. God's love for man must chastise, prune and discipline as these are all aspects of His love. Don't we hear Jesus speak to the church at Laodicea: "Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent." (Rev. 3:19) And what about the Hebrew writer speaking for God: "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by Him; for those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives." (Heb. 12:5-6) That New Testament quote is from Proverbs 3:11-12. Love disciplines! Love disciplines with pain because the holiness of God wants to continue fellowship and from His love encourages the choices we make away from sin and sinful attitudes toward His holiness. Go and read Exodus 34:6-7 where God puts the punishment of sin right in context with God's love for people!

  Maybe that's the reason the church doesn't move forward any more. Maybe we are taking the world's fuzzy attitudes of love and never see God's love in light of God's holiness. We are embracing those in sin without calling on them to remove sin from their lives. If we would dismiss those who continue to embrace sin, they could see the love of God more clearly. If we would correct those with attitudes that aren't governed by God, knowing that if they continue in their attitude we must not walk with them, they would see the blessings of God's love. Too many are running to embrace sin and we are running to embrace sin with them by embracing them while we need to be helping them move away from their sinfulness by standing up for the holiness of God in humility and truth.