 By James H. Cagle |
“Follow . . . and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” (Heb. 12: 14 KJV). “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God” (Mat. 5: 8 KJV).
Holiness is defined as “the state or condition of being holy, sanctified, consecrated, the root idea of separateness or apartness by conformity to the nature and will of God.”
In the Old Testament, things, persons, places, ceremonies, times and seasons were designated as holy because of their association with a holy God.
But holiness, especially in the New Testament, came to mean that kind of separateness and apartness which is a mark of personal character. This is holiness in the ethical sense and applies to both God and to men.
Holiness is most often used to refer to a state while sanctification is used to refer to a process. Something becomes holy because it is set apart or sanctified. But holiness and sanctification are sometimes used to mean the same thing and are interchangeable.
Firstly, there’s initial or positional holiness or sanctification. This is deliverance or liberation from the power of sin, and happens at regeneration.
Secondly, there is progressive holiness or sanctification. This is deliverance or liberation from the practice of sin, is incomplete, an ongoing process, as we walk in obedience, having our character changed to be like Christ.
Thirdly, there’s ultimate holiness or sanctification. This is deliverance and liberation from the presence of sin, and for the first time, becoming sinless, perfect, and receiving a body like Christ at the Rapture and going to dwell in that Holy City(1 Cor. 15: 51-57; Rom. 8: 30).
Our text tells us there is a “Holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” (Heb. 12: 14). This holiness, that without it a man shall not see the Lord, is that holiness spoken above in the second category. Without sanctification in one’s everyday life there is no salvation. Without salvation, of which sanctification is the solid evidence and proof of one’s salvation, one will not go to Heaven and will not see God. As someone put it, a salvation that doesn’t sanctify doesn’t save either.
This is because sanctification or holiness of life is the invariable result of that vital union with Christ. The outcome and inseparable consequence of regeneration, the certain evidence of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, is a sure mark of a true child of God. It is the works that follow and is a result of our saving faith in Christ (James. 2: 14-26). It is proof that one is a branch on The Vine and it is the fruit of the Spirit (Jn. 15; Gal. 5: 22-25).
Holiness or sanctification is not talk about religion, religious feelings, external formalism or outward devoutness, but habitual respect to God’s law, and habitual effort to live in obedience to it as a rule of life. This cannot possibly be done without the indwelling Spirit of Christ, which is an obedient Spirit, and without a new nature which comes at regeneration, and without the aid of God’s grace, which all work together in the obedient and submissive Christian that they might be Christ like. This Christ likeness is also called godliness.
The test if one is saved and on their way to Heaven, where they will see God, is not if they’ve had some religious experience but rather, is there holiness of life which is evidence of salvation and that is the certainty that they will go to Heaven and see God.
