Theological Error of God Allowing Unholiness in His Presence
The presence of God is often associated with holiness and purity, yet the Bible and Christian tradition acknowledge that unholiness can occur in God's presence. According to Leviticus, those who were ceremonially unclean were forbidden from eating holy things, indicating a concern for maintaining purity in God's presence [3]. The apostle Paul warns that partaking in the Lord's Supper unworthily is dangerous, suggesting that unholiness in the presence of God can have serious consequences [1].
One theological error related to this issue is the idea that God's presence somehow necessitates or excuses unholiness. However, Scripture consistently emphasizes that God is holy and demands holiness from his people. The prophet Haggai illustrates this point when he asks whether holy flesh can impart holiness to other things by contact, and the priests respond that it cannot. This demonstrates that holiness is not contagious in the same way that uncleanness is [4].
The Bible also teaches that God's permission of unholiness in his presence is not equivalent to approval or causation. According to John Calvin, God's governance over evil involves a distinction between doing and permitting. Calvin argues that God directs the malice of Satan and the wicked to execute his judgments, but this does not mean that God is the author of their sin [2].
In the view of Charles Hodge, human sinfulness is not mitigated by God's presence. Instead, the awareness of God's presence often heightens the sense of sin and the need for confession. Hodge notes that the holy men of God throughout Scripture come into his presence with the confession of sin, illustrating the recognition that God's presence demands holiness [6].
The patristic tradition also grapples with the issue of unholiness in God's presence. Augustine addresses the question of why God permits evil, including the defilement of Christians, and concludes that God's judgment is not always immediately apparent. He suggests that some wicked desires are allowed free play by God's secret judgment, but will be judged publicly in the future [7].
The Reformed tradition, as represented by Calvin and Hodge, emphasizes that God's presence is not incompatible with human sinfulness, but rather highlights the need for holiness. According to John Gill, true holiness is a gift from the Spirit of God, and believers are called to be unblamable in holiness before God [5].
The theological error of supposing that God's presence allows or excuses unholiness is thus countered by the biblical emphasis on God's holiness and the demand for human holiness. The presence of God is not a justification for sin, but rather a call to repentance and faith.
The biblical concept of God's presence as a motivator for holiness is further underscored by the examples of Isaiah and other prophets, who felt undone and unclean in the presence of the holy God. This awareness of God's presence and holiness serves as a check on human sinfulness, rather than an excuse for it [6].
Sources
- I Corinthians “I Corinthians 11:29 (BBE) — For a man puts himself in danger, if he takes part in the holy meal without being conscious that it is the Lord's body.”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 34: how, in a common operation, he is exempt from all guilt, and can justly condemn his own ministers. Hence a distinction has been invented between doing and permitting because to many it seemed altogether inexplicable how Satan and all the wicked are so under the hand and authority of God, that he directs their malice to whatever end he pleases, and employs their iniquities to execute his Judgments. The modesty of those who are thus alarmed at the appearance of absurdity might perhaps be excused, did they not endeavour to vindicate t”
- Leviticus (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Leviticus 22:1: Those that had a natural blemish, though they were forbidden to do the priests' work, were yet allowed to eat of the holy things: and the Jewish writers say that "to keep them from idleness they were employed in the wood-room, to pick out that which was worm-eaten, that it might not be used in the fire upon the altar; they might also be employed in the judgment of leprosy:" but, I. Those that were under any ceremonial uncleanness, which possibly they contracted by their own fault, might no so much as eat of the holy things while they continued in their pollutio”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 69: minds they cannot be induced to confess that they are devoid of righteousness. Even acknowledging themselves to be unrighteous, because they cannot deny it, they yet arrogate to themselves some degree of righteousness. This vanity the Lord admirably refutes by the prophet: “Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying, If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No. Then said Haggai, If one tha”
- 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”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 3, section 36: vehicle through which the people of God for millenniums have poured out their hearts? How can such a man sympathize with Ezra, Nehemiah, or any of the prophets? How strange to him must be the language of Isaiah, “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” Argument from the Lord’s Prayer. 4. Not only do the holy men of God throughout the Scriptures in coming into his presence, come with the confession of sin and ”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 2: Augustine — City of God, Christian Doctrine — CHAP. 28.--BY WHAT JUDGMENT OF GOD THE ENEMY WAS PERMITTED TO INDULGE HIS LUST ON THE BODIES OF CONTINENT CHRISTIANS. (part 2): believe that God overlooked their character when He permitted acts which no one with impunity commits. For some most flagrant and wicked desires are allowed free play at present by the secret judgment of God, and are reserved to the public and final judgment. Moreover, it is possible that those Christian women, who are unconscious of any undue pride on account of their virtuous chastity, whereby they sinlessly”