Dr Paul Allen

In the presence of God, everything trembles. The earth trembles, according to Psalm 114:7: “Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob.” The psalmist trembles in Psalm 119:120: “My flesh trembles for fear of you, and I am afraid of your judgments.” Indeed, the one who trembles at God’s word, that person catches God’s attention, according to what he tells us in Isaiah 66:2: “But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.” And in the New Testament, Paul calls us in Philippians 2:12 —Christians — to “work out” our salvation “with fear and trembling.” So why do Christians tremble?  Here’s Revelation 19:15: “From his mouth comes a sharp sword [now, this is describing Jesus at his second coming] with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.” Now, that last sentence is exceedingly ter...

When Scripture calls God , or individual Persons of the Godhead, "holy" (as it often does:  Lev. 11: 44, 45; Josh. 24:19; 1 Sam. 2:2; Ps. 99:9; Is. 1 :4; 6:3; 41 :14, 16, 20; 57:15; Ezek. 39:7; Amos 4:2; John 17: 11; Acts 5:3, 4, 32; Rev. 15:4), the word signifies everything about God that sets Him apart from us and makes Him an object of awe, adoration, and dread to us.  It covers all aspects of His transcendent greatness and moral perfection, and is characteristic of all His attributes, pointing to the "Godness" of God at every point. The core of this truth, however, is God's purity that cannot tolerate any form of sin (Hab. 1: 13) and calls sinners to constant self-abasement in His presence (Is. 6:5). Justice, which means doing in all circumstances things that are right, is one expression  of God's holiness. God displays His justice as Lawgiver and Judge, and also as Promise keeper and Pardoner of sin. His moral law, requiring behavio...