PRINCETON CHRISTIAN CHURCH
HEBREWS 12:14 03 NOVEMBER 2024
Hebrews 12:14 – NIV –
Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness, no one will see the Lord.
Where is holiness in the church today?
• What is the church?
• What is holiness?
• Why is holiness important in and to the life of the church?
When I speak of the church in this context, I do not refer to a building, worshiping in any such building, or even worshiping outside the building.
Most of you understand that the church is not a building. As Paul pointed out in his teachings, we don’t have to go back and teach the elementary things. Hebrews 6:1 - things we know and understand to be unchanging, remaining the same - basic doctrines.
So, what do I mean when I speak of the importance of holiness in the life of the church? The church is obviously the people who God has called to follow the teachings of His Son, Jesus Christ. We know that. We understand that.
So, let’s move on to the next question, “What is holiness? What does it mean to be holy?
The dictionary meaning of holy –
1. Exalted or worthy of complete devotion – perfect in goodness and righteousness.
2. Devoted to the deity or the work of the deity. It can mean: devout, godly, pious, sainted, saintly, upright, moral, or pure.
By the dictionary definition, Holiness is the quality or state of being holy; a title of a high religious official – i.e. His Holiness, the Pope.
The Bible definition: There is no definition equal to what holiness fully means. It is one of those words that is difficult to define. But as the word holiness is used in 1 Peter 1, holiness is what God is.
Holiness is also what God wants for His people.
Holiness is separation to God; being in a right relationship with God.
For the most part, this is how the folks in the world see and view holiness or being holy.
These are terms reserved for someone, a human being, who, like the pope, or a well-known and highly respected preacher or evangelist.
Normal, ordinary people like you and me, the world believes, cannot be holy, or cannot practice holiness.
But again, the words the Holy Spirit gave to Peter to write to Christians clearly say that they – the Christians – are to be holy. We are even to be holy, just like God, who called us to Himself, is holy.
Some time ago I watched a video of a sermon preached by a well-known preacher of a mega church. He made a statement to say that Christians cannot practice holiness, only God is holy.
So, if mega numbers of pew sitters are being fed that kind of untruth, that kind of contradiction to what the Bible says, how can we expect that the world would believe any differently?
And how could we expect that Christians would see the importance of living any differently than the world lives (those living outside of Christ)?
In Hebrews 12:14 (NIV), we are told that
without holiness no one will see the Lord.
What is our ultimate goal as Christians?
To one day visibly see the Lord. To be in His physical presence and worship Him face to face.
Now, if He expects holiness to be in our lives, and without it, we cannot ever see Him, what is to be our reaction to that reality?
I hope we are eager to ask the question, what do I need to do to become holy, to live a life of holiness?
I believe that most Christians believe they live a good life, they serve the Lord Jesus Christ in every way they can, and they do.
Now, let’s go back to the dictionary to find the definition of the English word “good.”
We find it defined as 1) morally excellent; and 2) satisfactory in quality, quantity, or degree.
Millions of Christians fit into those definitions. Millions more persons who have never accepted Christ as Lord and Savior also fit into those definitions. So, how can we tell the difference? What is the difference?
The difference is based on the fact that it is possible to be “good” and at the same time not be a Christian or not be holy at all.
This point is brought to light when we read in Matthew 19:16-22. A young man came to Jesus one day as he was teaching and asked, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain life?” Read passage.
And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” Then he *said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not commit murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honor your father and mother; and You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man *said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
Bible's definition of ‘good’ --- something that is beneficial in its effect, in a physical sense and in a moral sense.
Are we much different than this young man? Don’t we want to believe that the “good things” we do are enough?
Don’t we want to believe that what we do is satisfactory in God’s eyes and that He will accept us as good people without our having to become holy?
By believing that we live a “good” life, that we are a “good” person, we are expecting one day to enter through the gates of Heaven and be transformed into a holy person at that point.
We must understand that we don’t become holy when we enter eternity. If we haven’t lived a life of holiness here on earth, the Scriptures tell us it will not happen for us in Heaven.
1 Peter 1:13-16 – NIV –
“Therefore prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written, “Be holy, because I am holy.”
1 Peter 1:22 – Peter introduces another word we don’t often encounter in our image of ourselves – he says,
“Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth…..”
The word purified means to cleanse ourselves morally, from defilement, to cleanse the heart and the soul. This sounds like being good or even being a good Christian perhaps isn’t enough.
It goes much deeper than on-the-surface goodness. It goes to the heart. It embeds itself in the soul.
It is holiness; it is purification that permeates every aspect of the Christian’s life, that God’s Word says is essential to our one day entering into the gates of Heaven.
And it can’t wait until we have done all our good deeds here on earth, said goodbye to our loved ones, and wing our way on to Heaven.
The purification and the holiness must be the life we live each and every day of life that God gives us on this earth.
Peter goes a little further in his teaching on purification.
Again, in verse 22, he says,
“Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.”
So, Peter is teaching that this holiness, this purification which is so important to the way we live our lives, so important to us individually and our own salvation and eternity, is also essential to our relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Our relationships with our family in Christ will be in direct proportion to our state of purity and holiness. In other words, we cannot exist in the church of Jesus Christ as brothers and sisters if we have not attained holiness; if we are not also seeking to be holy, as God is holy.
So, how do we attain this holiness and purification that the Bible teaches we must attain to see the Lord?
It will be easy to say, “How is it possible to live a holy life in such a sinful world that we live in?
It will be easy to look at others and say, “Well, I think I live as holy a life, or more so, than so and so over there.”
But we must understand that God didn’t give us an unattainable command to be holy, as He is holy. And He will not accept the excuse that we are as good as or better than the next guy. God judges us by His standards, not the standards man sets for himself.
With all the temptations and opportunities Christians today have and that we yield to and participate in (just like those who are without Christ), how is it possible to practice a holy life?
Well, God doesn’t leave us without answers.
Colossians 3:17 –
“…..and whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”
What does that mean in the context of how I live my life?
It tells me something about everything I say, the way I say it, the language I use, the shows I watch on TV, the things I look at on the internet, including my posts on Facebook, the music I listen to, the way I dress, whether or not I can forgive my brother or sister in Christ or a family member, the things that consume my time, and on and on it goes.
Here is what this verse from Paul in Colossians tells me about all these things and more --- it tells me that as I participate in all these things, I must examine them to determine if, by doing them, and, in fact, while I am doing them, can I say I am doing them in the name of the Lord Jesus? Can I give thanks to God the Father while I am participating in all these activities?
Philippians 4:8 – Paul says,
“…..whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me or seen in me – put into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.’
We might conduct a test as we participate in the activities mentioned earlier. Do they meet the qualities Paul mentions here – true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable? If not, we must work toward eliminating them from our lives.
That sometimes requires a change of environment, a change of friends and associates. But the wonderful thing that also can happen is that your change of habits into holy living may be the beginning of your environment and your friends making a change to holy living also.
Measure whether you can, without hesitation, take Jesus Christ along with you to participate in any activity you might be involved in. This is the only way we can begin to live a life of holiness, a life of purity, approved by God.
Consider your state of holiness today.
“Be holy, as I am holy.”
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