WHAT IS HOLINESS?

Having dealt with consecration and sanctification, we come to HOLINESS. 

Hell is a typical expression of the wrath of God. And to escape Hell fire, you MUST be holy. So today, we want to look at this major requirement for Heaven - “WHAT IS HOLINESS?”

Hebrews 12:14 says, “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.”

Because God is completely holy, it takes a pure person to see a pure God!

1 John 3:3 says, “And every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure.”

There are two types of holiness: (1) Fake or false holiness, and (2) True holiness.

Ephesians 4:24 says, “And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and TRUE holiness.”

NLT puts it this way, “Put on your new nature, created to be like God - truly righteous and holy.”

To understand true holiness, we need to understand the components of holiness! The word “HOLINESS” means: “H” stands for Humility; “O” stands for Obedience; “L” stands for Love; “I” stands for Integrity (Faithfulness); “N” stands for New Life; “E” stands for Endurance (2 Tim. 2:3; 4:5); “S” stands for Self-denial; and the last “S” stands for Separation.

People should be able to see a difference between Christians and non-Christians because of the way Christians live. We are to live full of light (Eph. 5:8).

What is fake holiness? Fake holiness is dressing and talking like a Christian, but behaving like the devil. You dress and talk like a Christian but you do things like the devil (Gal. 5:19-21).

What is true holiness? True holiness, according to Oxford dictionary, is being spiritually perfect or pure, unstained by sin.

1. The Bible defines true holiness as a state of spotlessness, blameless or to be above reproach (Eph. 5:27).

2. The state of having clean hands and a pure heart. Who shall enter Heaven and see God? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart.

Psalm 24:3-4 says, “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy place? 4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.”

In Matthew 5:8 Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall sere God.”

“And they that have this hope (of seeing the Lord face to face) must purify themselves even (just) as He is pure” (1 Jn. 3:3).

It takes a person with a pure heart to see a pure God.

When you are talking about true holiness, you are looking at the condition of the heart. God desires a pure heart.

“Man looketh at the outward appearance but God looketh at the heart” (1 Sam. 16:17).

In Jeremiah 17:9-10 God said, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? 10 I the Lord search the heart, I try (test) the reins (mind), even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.”

2 Chronicles 16:9 says, “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him….”

3. True holiness means to be wholly dedicated and devoted to God, distinct and separate from the world’s way of living, committed to right living and purity.

4. True holiness is the absence of sin, evil, and wrongdoing.

5. True holiness is being spotlessly free from wrinkle or blemish.

6. True holiness is being separated from what is unclean and dedicated to what is clean and pure.

7. It is God Himself that makes us holy. God looks at you as though you had never sinned. When you become a Christian God makes you holy by forgiving you your sins, and gives you His Holy Spirit to indwell your spirit-man. The Holy Spirit in you therefore imparts holiness to you.

a) God is the only one who can make us holy. In Leviticus 21:8 God said, “I, the Lord, am holy, and I make you holy.”

b) We cannot create holiness in ourselves, because we are born in sin. Job 14:4 says, “Who can create purity in one born impure? No one!”

c) God makes us holy by setting us apart as special for Him. Deuteronomy 14:2 says, “You have been set apart as holy to the Lord your God, and He has chosen you to be His own special treasure from all the nations of the earth.”

d) Through Christ’s death God has brought us into His presence and made us holy and blameless before Him.

Colossians 1:22 says, “Through His death on the cross in His own human body . . . He has brought you into the very presence of God, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.”

e) God makes us holy by teaching us His truth. In John 17:17 Jesus prayed saying, “Make them pure and holy by teaching them your Words of truth.”

But while He sees you as holy, you have not perfected holiness. We must therefore, still strive each day to be more like Jesus, totally holy.

9. True holiness can be explained this way: When you become Born Again, you are made righteous by God Himself.

2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For He (God the Father) made Him (Jesus Christ) Who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God IN HIM.”

What really happens? When one becomes Born Again, he is gorgeously clothed with a sparkling white robe of righteousness, a robe not stained or wrinkled. 

Job 29:14 says, “I put on righteousness; it clothed me.”

Revelations 19:8 reads, “For the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints.”

A holy person is therefore, a person whose garment of righteousness has no spot, stain, wrinkle, or blemish.

10. Does continuing in sin remove your righteousness? Continuing in sin doesn’t cancel your righteousness. However, it soils [stains] your garment of righteousness thereby removing your holiness. That very thing that removed your holiness removed you from the presence of God. Outside His presence there is no blessing – no peace but frustration in Hell.

Whenever that garment of righteousness is without spot or wrinkle, you are said to be holy.

11. What does it mean to perfect holiness? Perfecting holiness or the maintenance of holiness is therefore, the result of doing righteousness.

“Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness [does things God’s way] is righteous, just as He is righteous (1 Jn. 3:7).

You perfect (maintain) holiness through progressive sanctification. This implies that without progressive sanctification you can never perfect your holiness.

12. As long as you continue to do righteousness, your garment will remain unstained.  

In Ecclesiastes 9:8 the Bible says, “Let your garments always be white [unstained; without spot or wrinkle], and let your head lack no oil.”

What are the benefits of holiness? And holiness will lead to unlimited anointing upon your life. Unlimited anointing in your life will lead to unlimited church growth (Heb. 1:8-9). Holiness bring you to Heaven (Heb. 12:14).

Watch out for the next edition of Good News from the Pulpit!

• Your friend: I. I. MADUBUNYI (Senior Pastor)                                               14.07.2019