‘The Holiness of God’ by RC Sproul (Tyndale House, 1985, 222pp)

This classic by RC Sproul is essential reading on the subject of holiness. He starts with a personal testimony of his life-transforming realisation of the need to grapple with this fundamental concept. Here, he claims, is what defines our goal as Christians; holiness is our holy grail! Sproul also confesses that even in later life he is still absorbed with this question of the holiness of God.

The author takes us through seven more chapters from ‘Holy, holy, holy’ to ‘Be ye holy’. He talks of holiness as ‘The Fearful Mystery’ and references the study by German scholar Rudolf Otto, who attempted to discover what the idea of holiness meant to various people groups and cultures worldwide. Otto’s conclusion was that ultimately holiness contained elements that defied explanation, coining the phrase mysterium tremendum to try to express the inexpressible.

Sproul goes on to tackle subjects such as the trauma of holiness, holy justice, and war and peace with a holy God. He does so knowing how dangerous it is to assume that being able to write on such topics means he has attained a level of holiness himself. But he writes from a sense of mission to others and from a sense of having had a taste of the holiness of God and crying out for more.

His final chapter is entitled ‘God in the hands of angry sinners’, a smart reworking of the title of one of Jonathan Edwards’ most famous sermons, ‘Sinners in the hands of an angry God’. Sproul quotes part of this sermon as he brings to a conclusion his plea for every believer to take seriously the holiness of God and come to a deeper appreciation of what this means in their lives.

‘The Holiness of God’ is available on Amazon in paperback, hardback, e-book and audiobook forms.

‘The Knowledge of the Holy’ by AW Tozer (reprinted by Authentic Classics, 144pp)

Tozer’s book is more than just an exposition on the great theme of holiness. Its main concern is to help believers capture (or recapture) a sense of who God is and so rejuvenate their walk in the Holy Spirit. Tozer insists that is it vital for us to ‘think rightly about God’ even if ultimately we cannot fully comprehend him. He states that “what comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us” (p1).

Written in 23 short chapters, the author takes us through many of the main attributes of God, always bearing in mind the need to recognise that God will remain beyond our human understanding in every one of them. He warns us that “we must not compare the being of God with any other…We must not think of God as highest in an ascending order of beings…we must grant him transcendence in the fullest meaning of that word” (p84).

Here is a suitable book to use in personal devotions. Each chapter is both short enough and yet meaty enough to fill a day or more of thoughtful meditation. Tozer says has not written for professional theologians but for “plain persons whose hearts stir them up to seek after God Himself” (p. ix). If your heart is being stirred in that way, then this book is well worth investigating.

‘The Knowledge of the Holy’ is available on Amazon in a variety of formats and editions. See here and here.