In Leviticus chapter 10 we find the account of Nadab and Abihu. Most Bible students recall that there were the sons of Aaron who offered “profane fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them” (v.1). This is a wonderful placed to go to show the necessity of doing things just exactly as God has commanded them to be done. However, for the purpose of this article, it is verse 3 we want to focus on as Moses informs Aaron what God had said to him concerning the reason for His shocking punishment of Aaron’s two sons. God’s words in that verse are: “By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; and before all the people I must be glorified.” It is this idea of God’s holiness our response to it that will be the theme of this article.

I do not believe that it is overstating the case to say that element of Deity (God’s holiness) overshadows all others (Psalm 99). God is separate from everything and everyone else in His wisdom, His power, His knowledge, His love, His presence, His everything. This is the idea behind God’s holiness. It remind me of God’s words in Isaiah 40:18, 25. “To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare with Him…To whom then will you liken Me that I would be his equal…” Read the entire chapter for yourself and the answer is screamed back at us: “No one!”

But His holiness goes even deeper than this because it also encompasses His absolute moral perfection. I don’t care who it is, if you spend some time with someone eventually you are going to come across an imperfection of some sort. Who has found God’s imperfection? Who has found God’s blemish? You cannot find what does not exist! Notice how painfully aware of his own imperfections Isaiah was when he found himself in the presence of true perfection. “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts” (Isaiah 6:5).

In 1 Peter 1:14-16 Peter says to Christians: “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves in all your behavior; because it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’” As children of God we are to reflect God’s holiness in our lives through our words and actions. This has always been true for God’s people, both in the Old and New Testament. Notice what is said in the last part of Amos 2:7: “And a man and his father resort to the same girl in order to profane My holy name.” In the New Testament, in 1 Thessalonians 4:7, we read: “For God did not call us unto uncleanness, but in holiness” (NKJ). Obviously, if the Christian’s conduct tends toward uncleanness then he is profaning the holy name of God. Consider Peter’s words in 1 Peter 1:14-16 and then consider your own personal conduct. Are you striving to be holy as the Holy One who called you?

Let’s consider this now from another perspective. It is not uncommon in congregations all around this country to witness Christians coming into the assembly either right when the services begin or a few minutes after, wearing clothes that look almost slept in or picked up off the floor that morning, yawning every step of the way, and collapsing into a pew to put in their time. They hardly crack their lips to sing praises, they do not follow along in their Bibles, and they leap up (showing their first and only excitement of the morning) at the closing prayer and hustle to the nearest exit. I could wish that it were otherwise but these “Christians” are going to have to answer for that when they stand before the Lord in judgment. “By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy…”

Yet there is more that we need to consider. The hardest working people I have known have been some of my brethren. I have known Christians who seem to work all day, every day and yet they still manage to attend each and every service. They are to be commended for this because that does require effort and faith. However, I have a suspicion that we as Christians sometimes get the feeling that God will be pleased with our leftovers. There is a lesson that we must learn if we ever wish to be truly pleasing to our God: He (not our families, jobs, finances, homes, hobbies, etc.) must get the very best that we have to offer. Does this mean that we ignore all of these other things? Of course not—yet God must come before them all.

There is an innumerable host in heaven worshipping God and one of the beautiful statements that they repeat endlessly is recorded in Revelation 4:8, which says: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, Who was and Who is and Who is to come.” That is the God that we worship and serve and He must be regarded as holy by those who approach Him. Is that how you consider God? If not, dare you approach Him? Think about these things.