Why does this teaching matter?
Sproul identified the root problem of modern evangelicalism with surgical precision: we have lost the holiness of God. When the holiness of God disappears, everything else collapses. Sin becomes trivial, grace becomes cheap, the Cross becomes unnecessary, and the gospel becomes self-help. The prosperity gospel, the entertainment-driven church, the therapeutic preaching — all trace back to one root cause: we no longer understand who God is. Without holiness, God becomes a celestial bellhop. With holiness restored, everything falls into its proper place: sin is terrifying, grace is amazing, the Cross is necessary, and the gospel is the power of God unto salvation.
What did RC Sproul teach?
"The failure of modern evangelicalism is the failure to understand the holiness of God."
Speaker: RC Sproul
Source: The Holiness of God (1985)
What does Scripture confirm?
1 Peter 1:15-16
"But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, 'Be holy, for I am holy.'"
— NKJV
The command to be holy is grounded in who God IS: 'I am holy.' This is not an optional extra — it is the foundation of the Christian life. Sproul taught that when we lose sight of God's holiness, we lose the standard by which all else is measured. The modern church has replaced 'Be holy, for I am holy' with 'Be happy, for I want you happy.'
Revelation 4:8
"The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: 'Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!'"
— NKJV
In heaven, the creatures around God's throne never stop declaring His holiness. Not His love. Not His grace. Not His power. His HOLINESS. This is the one attribute of God repeated three times — the trihagion. Sproul built his entire theology on this foundation: God is first and foremost holy. Everything else — love, grace, justice, mercy — flows from holiness.
Habakkuk 1:13
"You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness."
— NKJV
God is so holy He 'cannot look on wickedness.' This is the God that modern evangelicalism has forgotten. We have replaced the consuming fire of Hebrews 12:29 with a comfortable companion who winks at sin. Sproul's life work was to restore this vision of God to the church.