Ｂ
God is holy; holiness is one of the main attributes of God—1 Pet. 1:15-16:
１
“The four living creatures…have no rest day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God the Almighty, who was and who is and who is coming”—Rev. 4:8:
ａ
The emphasis in Revelation 4:8 is that the Triune God is holy and is triply holy, referring to the quality of God’s nature—God’s being; what He is, is holy—Isa. 6:3.
ｂ
To partake of God’s holiness is to partake of the quality of His nature, of what He is—Heb. 12:10.
２
“Our God is also a consuming fire”—v. 29:
ａ
God is a consuming fire in His holiness and severity—Deut. 9:3; Rom. 11:22.
ｂ
Whatever does not correspond to His holy nature, He, as the consuming fire, will consume; thus, He is severe, expressing His holiness in severity—Deut. 9:3.
Morning Nourishment
Heb. 12:10 …He [disciplines] for what is profitable that we might partake of His holiness.Deut. 9:3 Know…today that Jehovah your God is the One crossing over before you as a consuming fire…
7:9 …It is Jehovah your God who is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and lovingkindness to the thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments.
First Peter 1:15 and 16 say, “According to the Holy One who called you, you yourselves also be holy in all your manner of life; because it is written, You shall be holy because I am holy.” The Holy One is the Triune God—the choosing Father, the redeeming Son, and the sanctifying Spirit (1 Pet. 1:1-2). We become holy through the sanctification of the Spirit, based on regeneration, which brings us the holy nature of God and issues in a holy life. The Father has regenerated us to produce a holy family—a holy Father with holy children…. He begot us with His life inwardly so that we might have His holy nature; He disciplines us outwardly so that we may partake of His holiness (Heb. 12:9-10). (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 85-86)
Today’s Reading
First John 1:9 also reveals God’s faithfulness: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” God is faithful in His word (1 John 1:10), the word of the truth of His gospel (Eph. 1:13), which tells us that He will forgive us our sins because of Christ (Acts 10:43). If we confess our sins, He, according to His word, forgives us, because He must be faithful in His word.In 1 Corinthians 10:13 Paul says, “No temptation has taken you except that which is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow that you be tempted beyond what you are able, but will, with the temptation, also make the way out, that you may be able to endure it.” On the one hand, we should take heed not to be tempted, lest we fall. On the other hand, God in His faithfulness will not allow any temptation to befall us beyond what we are able to endure, but will always make a way out for us. This is a word of promise and encouragement.
First Thessalonians 5:23 and 24 say, “And the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, who also will do it.” Here we see that the faithful God who has called us will also sanctify us wholly and preserve our entire being complete…. Surely this divine faithfulness is a sweet attribute of God. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 95-96)
In Deuteronomy 7:9-15 Moses wanted the people to realize that Jehovah their God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and lovingkindness to the thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments; that He would love them, bless them, and multiply them; that He would bless the fruit of their womb and the fruit of their ground, their grain, their new wine, their fresh oil, the offspring of their cattle, and the young of their flock; and that He would remove every sickness and those evil illnesses of Egypt from them.
Today God loves us, blesses us, and multiplies us because we keep His Christ. It is in Christ that we receive and enjoy God’s blessings. God is with us in Christ. God’s grace and peace are to us in Christ. Therefore, we need to be right with God by taking Christ. The unique commandment God gives to the world today is to believe in His Son and to receive Him. Actually, Christ Himself is the commandment of God. We need to receive Him, keep Him, and be right with Him. If we do this, we will be right with God, and He will love us and bless us. (Life-study of Deuteronomy, p. 54)
Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msgs. 5, 7, 9-11, 384, 388