If I knew I could only teach one more time, I would speak on the holiness of God. The modern American church desperately needs grounded teaching here, because theological liberalism has steadily reduced God from a transcendent reality to a malleable concept—acceptable so long as He is not defined biblically. Yet God is transcendent and unchanging, and His standard is unchanging; He is the norm that norms, the reference point by which we know truth, goodness, and beauty with certainty. In the last century the church has often syncretized with the culture, adopting what is culturally normal rather than what is biblically faithful, and the result has been the building of “high places” in our lives and congregations. These degradations are symptoms of a deeper problem: sin. At its core sin is self-idolatry, the attempt to become our own moral authority—“Did God really say?”—and Isaiah 6 exposes what happens when a man measures himself against God’s true standard. In the year King Uzziah died, Isaiah sees the Lord enthroned, and even the seraphim cover their faces as they cry, “Holy, holy, holy.” Isaiah’s response is not casual familiarity but dread and disintegration: “Woe is me…I am undone.” Only after atonement—symbolized by the coal from the altar—can Isaiah move from “woe” to “Here am I, send me.” This pattern is foundational: fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and repentance and confidence are impossible without first seeing God’s holiness and our unholiness. The same principle governs self-evaluation and church evaluation: we must not measure ourselves by other sinners but by the holy God, like the tax collector who cried for mercy rather than the Pharisee who congratulated himself. And if worship truly brings us into the presence of God, it cannot be flippant; it should be marked by reverent seriousness, doctrinal clarity, historic depth, and careful obedience—because “among those who approach me I will be proved holy.” Christianity does not bow to the culture; it breaks the culture, tearing down high places and rebuilding life and worship on the transcendent holiness of the Most High.

This episode, and indeed this entire series, draws heavily on and is informed by major theological resources, including Wayne Grudem's seminal work, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine.

Please note that the views expressed in this episode are those of the podcast creators and may not represent the views of the theological resources, including those cited.