Without holiness no man shall see God

 

Now, consider this—

"You cannot study the Bible diligently and earnestly without being struck by an obvious fact—the whole matter of personal holiness is highly important to God!" — A. W. Tozer

  

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Two verses that any mature evangelical Christian must seriously consider—including we Pentecostals, are found in the epistles of Paul. The first is 1 Timothy 3:15—

“[If] I am delayed, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth.”

And the second one is Ephesians 3:10, where Paul declared that it was God’s intent—

 “[That] through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places.”

Interestingly enough, nowhere does Paul declare that the Scriptures provide that certainty. Now, bear with me before you get all riled up and get ready to anathematize me, because I am not through yet.

The Church is the foundation on which truth rests, and the framework, including the pillars that give that truth structure. Truth, as much as we would like to believe to the contrary, does not stand alone. Each nugget of truth stands in relationship to all truth, or it is not truth at all. This is just one way of saying that truth (with the exception of God, or course) is contingent—such truth depends on something greater than itself not just to function, but to make sense.

The Church is no different, either. The Church does not stand alone. For sure the Apostles and Prophets with Christ as the Chief Cornerstone form the foundation (Ephesians 2:20).  We, the fellowship—the ecclesia, the building blocks must rest solidly on this solid foundation, or we will crumble. 

Paul also reminds us that we—the Church, are also a body. He therefore writes—

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. (1 Corinthians 12:12 NIV)

That is to say that without Christ there is no Church, and without the Church that mystical body disintegrates into a corpse.

Trumpet the inerrancy of Scripture all you want, but I am here to tell you that unless we as the Church do not embody the very likeness of Christ in holiness—not just a passive holiness, but one that is actively righteous, then we can never be “the manifold wisdom of God that is now made known.”

Scripture contains truth, that’s for sure, but it remains a dead letter unless it comes to life through the Church. You and I have that responsibility—that is, to be “living letters seen and read by all men.” (2 Corinthians 3:2)

For sure, we are not saved by works, but we are rewarded according to the good works we perform. Everything else is wood, hay and stubble which will be purged. Check it out, it’s in the Bible—

For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.  If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. (1 Corinthians 3:11-13 NIV)

 Now, if you disagree, please explain Paul’s comment that—

“For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10 NIV)

Therefore, let us continue to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12) for—

 We must persevere to the end if we would gain eternal life (Romans 2:7)

Sober words, but none-the-less, Biblical in every sense of the word, “for without holiness no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14).

And, oh, by-the-way, what is holiness? Obedience is holiness, pure and simple, that's the answer in a nutshell. Nothing less, nothing more.

Just remember, we are not alone on this journey,

Jim R/