How can we cultivate the sense of God’s presence and holiness in our life?

The book The Holiness of God is authored by Robert Charles Sproul (1939-2017). He was an American reformed theologian, preacher, author and founder of Ligonier Ministries. This book was first published in 1985 by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

In this book the author, R.C. Sproul defines the Holiness of God and guides readers how to practice God’s Holiness as Christians.

He starts the book with how he was captivated by the Holiness of God. He then defines the Holiness of God; and explores how Christians can imitate the Holiness of God. He says The Holiness of God is not one of the attributes of God, instead all the attributes of God are under the principle of God’s Holiness. It is the foundation of the God’s character. Sproul delves into how the great men of the Bible like Isaiah, Peter, Jesus’ disciples and Paul encountered the Holiness of God. He describes how their experiences were both terrifying as well as fascinating. He ends each chapter with a couple of questions to discuss in group. His aim from the questions is that readers will not only read but also relate their learnings in their lives and practice the Holiness of God. The last question in the last Chapter is: How can you cultivate the sense of God’s presence and holiness in your life?

A short summary of each chapter and quotes from the book:

Chapter 1: The Holy Grail – Sproul narrates his testimony on a sleepless night. He terms ‘inner summon’ and calls the experience that he ‘tasted the Holy Grail.’ A new thirst was born in him that could never be satisfied in this world.

‘God has declared, “Be holy, because I am holy” (Lev. 11:44). To reach that goal, we must understand what holiness is.’

Chapter 2: Holy, Holy, Holy – In this chapter the author exposits Isaiah 6:1-8. He gives the significance of the word ‘Holy” repeated three times. No attribute of God is repeated three times in the Bible.  

Chapter 3: The Fearful Mystery- Sproul here defines the Holiness of God. He admits the difficulties in defining the Holiness of God which itself gives clearer picture of the foreignness of God to us. He quotes a German scholar Rudolf Otto who called The Holiness of God as “the mysterium tremendum. A simple translation of this concept is the “awful mystery.”

Chapter 4: The Trauma of Holiness: Here, Sproul discusses the trauma of encountering God by some biblical character like Isaiah, Peter and Paul. How the encountering of God’s holiness is a scary, fearful and yet refining experience.

Chapter 5: The Insanity of Luther- Let God be God: The author examines the struggle of Martin Luther on his understanding and practicing God’s Holiness in his life. Some may call Luther insane. But the author states, “Was Luther crazy? Perhaps. But if he was, our prayer is that God would send to this earth an epidemic of such insanity that we too may taste of the righteousness that is by faith alone.”

Chapter 6: Holy Justice: In this chapter the author attempts to answer the difficult and offensive questions about God’s action in the Bible. The swift and sudden judgment that falls on Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron; God’s strike Uzzah dead for touching the ark of the covenant; the slaughter of women and children done under the orders of God. Why can a loving God do such a thing?

Chapter 7: War and Peace with a Holy God: Sproul here narrates how Jacob wrestled with God and how Paul persecuted God. He also goes further on how they have become the channel of blessing after they encountered God.  “For the Christian the holy war is over; the peace has been established. Access to the Father is ours. But we still must tremble before our God. He is still holy. Our trembling is the tremor of awe and veneration, not the trembling of the coward or the pagan frightened by the rustling of a leaf.”

Chapter 8: Be Holy Because I Am Holy: Sproul in this chapter makes an effort to how as Christians we can be holy as God is. He studies different passages of the scripture to understand more on how we can practice God’s Holiness.

Chapter 9: God in the Hands of Angry Sinners: Here the author quotes and analyses Jonathan Edwards’s famous sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”  

“How can we love a holy God? The simplest answer I can give to this vital question is that we can’t. Loving a holy God is beyond our moral power. Unless we are born of the Spirit of God, unless God sheds His holy love in our hearts, unless He stoops in His grace to change our hearts, we will not love Him.”

Chapter 10: Looking beyond Shadows: Sproul draws an illustration from Plato, in his work The Republic, men who are chained in a dark cave, whose vision was limited to the shadow on the wall. This was to illustrate knowledge and opinion. However, here the author uses the illustration to demonstrate the spirit of our own age – this world and the world beyond. 

“To contemplate the truly holy and to go beyond the surface of creaturely things, we need to get out of our self-made cave and walk in the glorious light of God’s holiness.”

Chapter 10: Holy Space and Holy Time:  The author compares the worldview of Jean Paul Sartre in his play No Exit and the worldview of contemporary culture. There seems unbridgeable chasm between us and the holiness of God. Yet Sproul recounts how Abraham, Moses and Noah encountered God in a specific time and place where they could experience the Holiness of God.

“In sacred space and sacred time Christians find the presence of the holy. The bars that seek to shut out the transcendent are shattered, and the present time becomes defined by the intrusion of the holy. When we erect barriers to these intrusions, dikes to keep them from flooding our souls, we exchange the holy for the profane and rob both God of His glory and ourselves of His grace.”

Recommendation: Christians who are serious about living a holy life should read this book. It will not only teach you how to live a holy life, but it will also help you to know the Holiness of God deeper. This book contains both theological teaching as well as devotional message.