“Strive for peace with all men, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fail to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” spring up and cause trouble, and by it the many become defiled;”
Hebrews 12:14-15 (RSV)
Paul told us through his writing, to pursue peace with all people and to strive for holiness. Then he adds, without which, no one will see the Lord. As I read this I think, “uh-oh, without holiness, no one will see the Lord?” Then my chances are pretty slim. This scripture keeps a healthy fear of God within any believer. The Lord wants every believer to see Him and to live Holy, but we cannot make ourselves Holy, because it is God who sanctifies us. Paul said more about this, “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23)
Everything Jesus did for us, has a divine purpose that goes beyond giving us a “Get out of Hell free” pass. He wants to put His own nature with us. If we strive for the pathway to holiness, He will keep us on that path until He comes. Jesus can transform anyone into a holy believer, because holiness is meant for everyone, not just those who are called to full time Ministry. Jesus pretty much summed up all of the Ten Commandments into just two:
To love the Lord our God with all our heart and then to love our neighbors as ourself. It’s His blueprint for holy living. Being made Holy or sanctified is what God does in us, not what we do to change ourselves. In striving for holiness, a new way of praying begins to take shape within us. Prayer is no longer just about asking God to do what we want, it’s asking God to help us do more of what He wants. To strive for holiness is simply striving to be the person God created us to be. Jesus said without Him, we can do nothing, and we cannot achieve a holy life on our own efforts. Only through Jesus, can a person live out the two greatest commandments. God wants to share His nature with us and that’s how He alone can transform us into a life of holiness. With holiness we receive love from God for those who we never loved before. With holiness we can trust, where we previously let anxiety rule us. With holiness we can forgive that one person who we find the hardest to forgive. It is Jesus who helps us look beyond the face of that enemy, and hear Him softly whisper that He loves that person as much as He loves us. That is His path to holiness. I heard a theologian say that the word for holiness (Kadosh) is only mentioned a few times in the Old Testament, but it’s mentioned repeatedly throughout the New Testament. The reason for that difference is that we now have Jesus, who paid the price for our salvation and is alive within us. The epistles remind us that we are new creations in Christ, our old ways have gone and have been replaced with new ways. Someone once said “God is still writing our story. Let’s not steal His pen.” Jesus is not yet finished transforming us into new creations, without our striving for holiness. I feel like the simplest prayer to say is “I want to be better, I don’t want to stay as I am, Lord.”
Jesus, you desire us to be holy, to take on your nature, so we pray that you make us better, help us to live in holiness and become the new creation you have called us to be. Amen