In order to cultivate a vision of God’s holiness and a passion for Christ in our people in our local congregation, we have directed our Bible Study groups to discuss, meditate and learn from R.C. Sproul’s book “The Holiness of God”, an exposition on Isaiah chapter 6. We begun this study on the second week of December and has continued through other groups through today. The book consists of 11 chapters and I’ll be posting my lectures on the site as the material has been presented in our groups.

Also one new feature in N.D. will be the paginated posts. So for all the new long posts that I will be putting up they will be split up to a number of posts, not separate posts, but posts natively having “Page 1, 2, 3, …”.

If you live locally in Manila/Quezon City Philippines you are more than welcome to join us in our study, leave a message in the comments below if interested.

If you want to start your own study on R.C.’s book you can purchase the paperback here: The Holiness of God.

This is a “one sitting” book that kept me turning the pages until wee hours of the morning. Few authors possess the keen ability to help readers come into a grasp of the nature of God’s holiness, but through this book Dr. Sproul (along with his wits and unique sense of humor) is able to help us understand better and transport the reader into the presence of God.

We often hear many talk about how God is love, yet why do fewer ever speak of His holiness and justice? The Holiness of God reminds me yet again that my salvation (through Christ’s propitiatory death) is an act of mercy and grace by God (not an obligation), since His absolute holiness demands only justice for my sins. Dr. Sproul helps readers dig deeper beneath a superficial surface of what it means that God is holy—bringing us into a deeper understanding and love of who God is, a greater awe for His absolute holiness, and reverence in worship. As the famous Reformed preacher Jonathan Edwards once wrote: “A true love of God must begin with a delight in his holiness, and not with a delight in any other attribute; for no other attribute is truly lovely without this.”

One of my favorite chapters carries an intriguing title: The Trauma of Holiness. Why and how does holiness invoke trauma? Many other religions have invented god(s) who brought only comfort. Even Sigmund Freud espoused the theory that people invent “god(s)” to help them deal with scary things, to serve as a “crutch,” so to speak. In this book Sproul draws a contrast by demonstrating how the one and only true God has certain characteristics distinct from those that would normally be attributed by the common man. Our true God possesses a uniqueness (an awesome “otherness”). After Jesus miraculously calmed the storm in the Sea of Galilee, the disciples felt uncomfortable and terrified (yes, terrified) upon realizing that they, in their sinfulness, were in the presence of the Holy One. What a contrast to those popular man-made ideas of God invented only to bring comfort!

This book helps us to see better the God who is—who not only brings comfort in time of need, invokes our adoration and praise, but also in whose Holy presence drives us to our knees in reverential worship.

—Jessica Santoso, A Pilgrims Progress