What exactly do we mean when we talk about God’s holiness? For many, holiness is quickly defined by what God isn’t—sinful, flawed, or imperfect. But what if that approach misses the entire point?
When Moses wanted to “See” God’s glory
In Exodus 33, Moses boldly asks God, “Show me your glory!” God’s response might surprise you. He says, “I will make all my goodness pass before you.”
Then Moses said, “I pray You, show me Your glory!” And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.” (Exodus 33:18-19)
Notice, God equates His glory directly with His goodness. To show His “glory”, He reveals Himself as compassionate, gracious, patient, and overflowing with goodness and truth.
And we know that God’s glory includes God’s holiness.
Holiness is not the absence of sin
Holiness isn’t primarily about God’s distance from sin—
If, in an attempt to show the holiness of God, you have to talk about sinlessness—you’ve missed the point of the holiness of God. It’s about His overwhelming goodness.
Think about it: God was not only revealed as holy after Adam falls—God is holy long before Adam falls. God doesn’t look more holy because man looks more sinful. God is holy, and sin has nothing to do with the holiness of God. You’ve cheapened the definition of holiness if you even mention sin. Because why would you mention something so dark when you’re talking about the Father of lights?
This matters because how we understand God’s holiness shapes how we view God Himself. If we define holiness by focusing on sin and separation, we risk missing the beauty of God’s goodness. True holiness should always point us directly to God’s kindness, compassion, and grace. Paul even reminds us in Romans 2:4, “It’s God’s goodness that leads us to repentance.”:
Jesus expressed His glory through goodness
Even Jesus revealed His glory and holiness through His goodness. When Jesus does His first miracle at Cana, listen to what John has to say about it:
This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.
The glory was not about the miracle in itself, bit the glory was the manifestation of Jesus’s goodness, that stemmed from holiness.
Take Zacchaeus, for example. Nobody wanted to be seen with him, let alone eat with him. But Jesus? He invites Himself over for lunch.
Or the woman at the well—ashamed, tired, and avoiding the crowds because of her past. She comes to draw water at noon, all alone. Who shows up right then? Jesus.
That’s compassion stemming from goodness.
Then there’s the crowd of 5,000—hungry and tired after listening to Jesus preach. Spiritually full, but physically empty. And what does Jesus do? He feeds them—with a kid’s lunch.
That’s kindness in action, from goodness.
He touches lepers who haven’t felt a hand in years. He steps into Peter’s boat after a long night of catching nothing, tells him to try again, and suddenly—overflow. The nets break. The boat can’t contain it.
And Peter? He falls at Jesus’ feet, undone.
He repents—not because he was lectured or warned—but because Jesus was just good to him. And this same Peter- what does he say when he gets a chance to talk about Jesus?
“God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all those who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” (Acts 10:38)
That is THE picture of God’s holiness.
And here’s the thing: if we aren’t portraying God as good, we’re not preaching the gospel. If we talk about holiness but leave out goodness, we’ve missed the point entirely.
Holiness without goodness isn’t holiness at all.
We’re not talking about doing good to get good.
We’re talking about a good that comes out of His holiness.
Because it’s the goodness of God that leads people to change their minds about Him.
He’s holy from the inside out, not from the outside in.
God is not holy because God is good.
God is good because God is holy.
Your goodness springs forth—it doesn’t produce your holiness.
It comes forth from your holiness.
But any emphasis on holiness that does not equally emphasize goodness does not understand holiness.
The anointing that was on Jesus was an anointing to go about doing good.
There’s no way around it. So God’s glory is His goodness and it stems from His Holiness.
Leave a Reply