Start with God, not with sin
Many people think the Gospel begins with “you are a sinner”. But the Bible begins with God: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). Before we can understand the bad news about ourselves, we need to see who God is.
If God were only a kind grandfather who overlooks everything, sin would be a small problem. If God were only a cruel judge, there would be no hope. The Bible shows us a God who is perfectly holy, perfectly just and perfectly loving at the same time.
What does “holy” mean?
To be holy means to be completely pure and set apart from all evil. When the prophet Isaiah saw the Lord, the angels were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts” (Isaiah 6:3). It is the only attribute of God repeated three times like this in Scripture.
Isaiah’s reaction is important: “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips” (Isaiah 6:5). He was a prophet, a religious man, yet in God’s light he saw his own sin clearly. This is exactly what happens when a person meets the holy God.
God is also just
A just judge cannot pretend that evil did not happen. God “will by no means leave the guilty unpunished” (Exodus 34:7). This is not cruelty: we expect the same from any good judge on earth. When someone hurts a child, we do not want the judge to say, “Never mind, I am a kind person.”
God’s justice is good news for victims of injustice, for persecuted Christians and for everyone who has suffered. But it is bad news for all of us who have done wrong.
Holy and loving
The same God who is holy is also love (1 John 4:8). His holiness shows us the problem; His love prepares the solution. We will come back to this in the next modules. For now, remember: we cannot understand the cross until we understand the holiness of God.
How to say it
When you talk with someone, you can start like this:
“Do you believe there is a God who made everything? The Bible says He is completely good and pure, without any evil at all. What do you think that means for people like us?”
This opens the conversation with God’s greatness, not with an accusation. It also gives the other person space to answer.
Check yourself
Practise
In two or three sentences, explain to a friend who has never read the Bible why God's holiness matters for them.
Tips
- Use simple words, no church vocabulary.
- Start with God's goodness, not with accusation.
- End with a question that invites them to keep talking.
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