To understand the holiness of God is to operate in humility. What is humility, biblically speaking? What did it mean to Jesus? It is such an important subject that I have given an in-depth seminar entitled “The Supreme Virtue: Living the God-Centered Life.”

Let me offer a distillation: humility is, at its core, a radical, total dependence on God. Humility is the vision that God is all, and all in all. It is an awareness that can grow in us: I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me (Phil 4:11-13).

Humility begins with a recognition: apart from me you can do nothing, followed by a responsibility: Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit (John 15:5). It leads to the confession: He must increase, but I must decrease (John 3:30) accompanied by a lifestyle of worship: we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us (2 Cor 4:7).

God is glorified not in our strength but in our weakness.

Of myself, I am totally insufficient. In my very weakness, He is made strong. We must lower ourselves so that the Holy God may be highered (if there is such a word). Only then will he truly be exalted or lifted up. Decrease yourself so that God may increase in you.

In light of all this, can you see why hypocrisy is such a stench to God? Hypocrisy is acting as if God is not really holy, that He does not really see. And if He does see, He does not really care. Therefore, I can pretend to be spiritual. I can feign righteousness. No wonder Jesus vocally and forcefully criticized hypocrisy.

The hypocrite says in their heart, “I can do all these religious things and impress others,” and yet go my own way. But Jesus, who had such an intimate relationship with the Holy God of Israel, understood that it was a sham. It is an affront. It profanes the name of God: You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. (Exodus 20:7).

Remember before whom you stand. Purge yourself of hypocrisy. Worship God with sincerity, with wholeness of heart. Do not let the pride that nips at your heels and chirps in your ear detract you from pursuing, with abandon, the God of all holiness: You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy (Lev 19:2). Be mindful, intentional.

The central issue in the Bible is sovereignty. Who is in control? Or said in a more picturesque biblical way: Who is on the throne, self or the King?

A true recognition of the holiness of God elicits a response of faith.

This is an important point. A true awareness of God’s holiness can inspire and foster faith. Let’s be clear: the word ‘belief’ is not a mere synonym for ‘faith’. When the Hebrew Scriptures were translated into Greek, the Greek word used for the Hebrew emunah was pisteo or pistis, meaning “to believe.” But the Hebrew word emunah, which includes the concept of believing, does not stop there. It means to be faithful to what you believe; to have faithfulness.

Are you familiar with this text? Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith (Habbakuk 2:4). Faith here is emunah. A concept so vital to Paul and the early church that he quotes Habakkuk in two letters, Romans 1:17 and Galatians 3:11, as does the author of Hebrews (10:38). Most modern translators recognize the significance of the Hebrew word in Habakkuk 2 and include a footnote: “or faithfulness.”

Those that are saved by the Holy God—the righteous, the justified—shall live by their faithfulness. It makes sense, does it not? We witnessed this in the life of Isaiah:

• “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”
• “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
• And I heard the voice of the LORD saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”

Again, those justified by grace shall live faithfully unto the God who saves. And a true awareness of His holiness should inspire and foster faith/faithfulness.

Notice the caution against pride and hypocrisy: Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him.

The prophet’s declaration in chapter 2 is amplified by his situation: Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. So the law [Torah] is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted (1:3-4). Here is Habakkuk’s posture before the Holy One of Israel: O LORD, I have heard the report of you, and your work, O LORD, do I fear (3:2).

Listen carefully to his conclusion:

Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the LORD, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places (17-19).

“I will be faithful, come what may,” says Habakkuk, “because the Holy God is Faithful.” Given his historical context, we can better appreciate his witness.

The church needs to hear Habakkuk, not only as a prophet but as a brother in the faith.

Simply on the basis of who He is, the Holy God warrants, even commands, our total allegiance, our fidelity, our loyalty. Not merely our mental assent to the doctrine of His sovereignty but our determination that, come what may, even trials and troubles, suffering and calamity—by His grace, His steadfast love and faithfulness—we will follow, and we will persevere.

You are to recognize Him as Holy! Holy! Holy! — in the fullness of His biblical revelation. Without it, you will quickly fall by the wayside when the time of testing comes: And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it (Matthew 7:26-27).

Take heart, my dear haverim [friends]. You will endure to the end. It was so for Habakkuk, and it will be true of you too, in Messiah Jesus.