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Holiness As The Opposite Of Sin

Holiness, in its highest sense, belongs to God [4]. The prophet Isaiah records a seraphim crying out, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory" (Isaiah 6:3). The concept of holiness is intrinsically linked to God's nature and serves as the standard for all excellence [6, 7]. Sin, conversely, is understood as the direct opposite of this divine holiness [6].

The Bible defines sin as "any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God" [5], whether in thought, disposition, or outward action [5]. This includes both acts of omission and commission [5]. The book of Proverbs contrasts righteousness, which guards integrity and exalts a nation, with wickedness and sin, which bring disgrace and overthrow [1, 2]. Charles Hodge, in his Systematic Theology, elaborates that sin is not merely a violation of human constitution or a system of things, but an offense against a personal, moral Lawgiver who enforces penalties [5]. Sin is inherently vile and polluting, and it justly deserves punishment [5].

The opposition between holiness and sin is fundamental to Christian theology. Hodge argues that "the opposite of the divine holiness is sin" [6]. He further states that God is the source and standard of all good, and conformity to His will and nature is the "idea and perfection of all excellence" [7]. The lack of this conformity is the "sum and essence of all evil" [7]. Sin, in this view, encompasses both guilt and pollution, reflecting its relation to God's justice and holiness, respectively [7].

Patristic writers like Augustine also emphasized this opposition. Augustine taught that humanity, after the fall, struggles for the recovery of holiness [8]. He noted that the devil can only conquer those "who are in league with sin" [10]. Augustine also addressed the apparent tension between the biblical statement that "He that is born of God sinneth not" and the confession "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves" [12]. He reconciled these by explaining that while spiritual regeneration renews a part of human nature, the corruptible body still presses down the soul, leading to ongoing struggle with sin [12].

The scholastic tradition, as seen in Thomas Aquinas, also highlights the absence of holiness as a characteristic of sin. Aquinas, discussing hypocrisy, notes that "no one is entirely deprived of holiness save through mortal sin" [9]. He also connects the gravity of sins to the virtues they oppose, stating that "the more grievous sin must needs be opposed to the greater virtue" [14].

For Christians, personal holiness is a gradual development, a work carried out under various hindrances [4]. It involves being consecrated to God's service and conforming to His will [4]. The Apostle Paul urged believers to renounce "the hidden things of shame" and to manifest truth [3]. Matthew Henry, commenting on 2 Peter, emphasizes that the truths of Scripture should lead to practical godliness, urging believers to depart from sin [11]. John Gill, in his commentary on 1 Thessalonians, describes true holiness as originating from the Spirit of God and being a stable, enduring quality [13]. The call to holiness is thus a call to actively turn away from sin and align with the divine nature.

Sources

  1. Proverbs “Righteousness guards the way of integrity, but wickedness overthrows the sinner. -- Proverbs 13:6”
  2. Proverbs “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people. -- Proverbs 14:34”
  3. 2 Corinthians “But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by the manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. -- 2 Corinthians 4:2”
  4. Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Holiness — In the highest sense belongs to God (Isa. 6:3; Rev. 15:4), and to Christians as consecrated to God's service, and in so far as they are conformed in all things to the will of God (Rom. 6:19, 22; Eph. 1:4; Titus 1:8; 1 Pet. 1:15). Personal holiness is a work of gradual development. It is carried on under many hindrances, hence the frequent admonitions to watchfulness, prayer, and perseverance (1 Cor. 1:30; 2 Cor. 7:1; Eph. 4:23, 24). (See [280]SANCTIFICATION.)”
  5. Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Sin — Is "any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God" (1 John 3:4; Rom. 4:15), in the inward state and habit of the soul, as well as in the outward conduct of the life, whether by omission or commission (Rom. 6:12-17; 7:5-24). It is "not a mere violation of the law of our constitution, nor of the system of things, but an offence against a personal lawgiver and moral governor who vindicates his law with penalties. The soul that sins is always conscious that his sin is (1) intrinsically vile and polluting, and (2) that it justly deserves punishment,”
  6. CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 2, section 44: dependent and created nature with the infinitely holy nature, which of necessity is not only the sum but the standard of all excellence. Herein is sin that we are not like God. As the opposite of reason is 188 unreason, the opposite of wisdom is folly, and the opposite of good is evil; so the opposite of the divine holiness is sin. It matters not of what exercises or states in the nature of a moral being this opposition may be predicated; of deliberate acts, of merely impulsive acts, or of dispositions or habits; if opposed to the divine ”
  7. CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 2, section 44: God is the source and standard of all good. His favour is the life of the soul. Congeniality with Him, conformity to his will and nature, is the idea and perfection of all excellence; and the opposite state, the want of this congeniality and conformity, is the sum and essence of all evil. Sin includes Guilt and Pollution. Sin includes guilt and pollution; the one expresses its relation to the justice, the other to the holiness of God. These two elements of sin are revealed in the conscience of every sinner. He knows himself to be amenable”
  8. Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 5: Augustine — Anti-Pelagian — CHAP. 55.-- TO RECOVER THE RIGHTEOUSNESS WHICH HAD BEEN LOST BY SIN, MAN HAS TO STRUGGLE, WITH ABUNDANT LABOUR AND SORROW.: The flesh which was originally created was not that sinful flesh in which man refused to maintain his righteousness amidst the delights of Paradise, wherefore God determined that sinful flesh should propagate itself after it had sinned, and struggle for the recovery of holiness, in many toils and troubles. Therefore, after Adam was driven out of Paradise, he had to dwell over against Eden, --that is, over against the garden of deli”
  9. theology (Catholic (Scholastic)) “Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Second Part of the Second Part (Secunda Secundae), Of Dissimulation and Hypocrisy, Art. 4: Article: Whether hypocrisy is always a mortal sin? I answer that, There are two things in hypocrisy, lack of holiness, and simulation thereof. Accordingly if by a hypocrite we mean a person whose intention is directed to both the above, one, namely, who cares not to be holy but only to appear so, in which sense Sacred Scripture is wont to use the term, it is evident that hypocrisy is a mortal sin: for no one is entirely deprived of holiness save through mortal sin. But if by a ”
  10. Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 2: Augustine — City of God, Christian Doctrine — CHAP. 22.--WHENCE THE SAINTS DERIVE POWER AGAINST DEMONS AND TRUE PURIFICATION OF HEART.: It is by true piety that men of God cast out the hostile power of the air which opposes godliness; it is by exorcising it, not by propitiating it; and they overcome all the temptations of the adversary by praying, not to him, but to their own God against him. For the devil cannot conquer or subdue any but those who are in league with sin; and therefore he is conquered in the name of Him who assumed humanity, and that without sin, that Himself bein”
  11. 2 Peter (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on 2 Peter 3:11: The apostle, having instructed them in the doctrine of Christ's second coming, I. Takes occasion thence to exhort them to purity and godliness in their whole conversation: all the truths which are revealed in scripture should be improved for our advancement in practical godliness: this is the effect that knowledge must produce, or we are never the better for it. If you know these things, happy are you if you do them. Seeing all these things must be dissolved, how holy should we be, that are assured of it, departing from and dying to sin, that has so corrupted and”
  12. Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 5: Augustine — Anti-Pelagian — CHAP. 12 [X.]--HE RECONCILES SOME PASSAGES: OF SCRIPTURE. The statement, therefore, "He that is born of God sinneth not,"[1] is not contrary to the passage in which it is declared by those who are born of God, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."[2] For however complete may be a man's present hope, and however real may be his renewal by spiritual regeneration in that part of his nature, he still, for all that, carries about a body which is corrupt, and which presses down his soul; and so long as this is the ”
  13. 1 Thessalonians (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on 1 Thessalonians 3:13: To the end he may stablish your hearts,.... Which are very unstable and inconstant in their frames, and in the exercise of grace, and have need to be established in the love of God, against the fears of men, the frowns of the world, the temptations of Satan, and in, and with the doctrines of grace; See Gill on Th1 3:2, unblamable in holiness before God, even our Father. There is no holiness in men naturally; what is in them without the grace of God is only a show; true holiness is from the Spirit of God; and this is a stable thing in itself, and can never b”
  14. theology (Catholic (Scholastic)) “Aquinas, Summa Theologica, First Part of the Second Part (Prima Secundae), Of the Comparison of One Sin with Another, Art. 4: Article: Whether the gravity of sins depends on the excellence of the virtues to which they are opposed? I answer that, A sin is opposed to a virtue in two ways: first, principally and directly; that sin, to with, which is about the same object: because contraries are about the same thing. In this way, the more grievous sin must needs be opposed to the greater virtue: because, just as the degrees of gravity in a sin depend on the object, so also does the greatness of a ”
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