HOLINESS-COMMANDED
God has one
destined end for mankind – holiness! His one aim is the production of saints.
God is not an eternal blessing-machine for men. He did not come to save men out
of pity. He came to save men because He had created them to be holy.
God decreed
from eternity past that you would be like Christ (Rom. 8:29-30); He put His
Holy Spirit in you to make sure that it would happen (Phil. 2:12-13); Christ
prayed for you to be sanctified, and His prayers are always answered (Jn.
17:17); He even promises you that He will lovingly discipline you in order to
return you to holiness whenever you stray (Heb. 12:5-10). How could we ever
doubt that God means what He says, “Without holiness no one will see the Lord”
(Heb 12:14)?
Jim Elliff
The
Guarantee of Holiness, Christian Communicators Worldwide, www.CCWtoday.org. Used by Permission.
Christians
are supposed to be conspicuously holy, not for our own reputation but for
God’s. We are to be the light of the world, so that when people see our good
deeds they will glorify God (Matt. 5:16).
Mark Dever
Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, Crossway,
2000, p. 176.
Christ will
be master of the heart, and sin must be mortified. If your life is unholy, then
your heart is unchanged, and you are an unsaved person. The Savior will
sanctify His people, renew them, give them a hatred of sin, and a love of
holiness. The grace that does not make a man better than others is a worthless
counterfeit. Christ saves His people, not IN their sins, but FROM their sins.
Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord.
C.H. Spurgeon
There is
nothing which my heart desires more than to see you, the members of this church,
distinguished for holiness. It is the
Christian's crown and glory. An unholy church? It is
of no use to the world and of no esteem among men. Oh, it is an abomination,
hell's laughter, heaven's abhorrence. And the larger the church, the more influential,
the worse nuisance does it become when it becomes unholy. The worst evils which
have ever come upon the world have been brought upon her by an unholy church.
C.H. Spurgeon
It is absurd
to imagine that God should justify a people and not sanctify them,
He should justify a people whom He could not glorify.
Thomas Watson
A Puritan Golden Treasury,
compiled by I.D.E. Thomas, by permission of Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA. 2000, p. 141.
It is absurd
to think that anything in us could have the least influence upon our election. Some
say that God did foresee that such persons would believe, and therefore did
choose them; so they would make the business of salvation to depend upon
something in us. Whereas God does not choose us FOR faith,
but TO faith. “He hath chosen us, that we should be holy,” (Ephesians
1:4), not because we would be holy, but that we might be holy. We are elected
to holiness, not for it.
Thomas Watson
A Puritan Golden Treasury,
compiled by I.D.E. Thomas, by permission of Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA. 2000, p. 83.
Holiness is
not just for some select few spiritual giants; it is not just for pious people
who sit around all day with nothing to do but “be holy”… “Everyone who
names the name of the Lord” is called to live a holy life!
Nancy Leigh DeMoss
Holiness, The Heart God Purifies, Moody
Publishers, p. 35-36.
God’s goal in
saving you was not just to make your few years on planet Earth easier or more
enjoyable. He had an eternal end in view. His intent was to make you holy, as
He is holy, that you might perfectly glorify Him, that you might bring Him
pleasure, and that you might enjoy intimate fellowship with Him for all
eternity.
Nancy Leigh DeMoss
Holiness, The Heart God Purifies, Moody
Publishers, p. 51.
Why care
about being holy? Why
be willing to say no to your flesh and yes to God, day in and day
out? Because the world desperately needs to see what God is like.
Because it is your created purpose and your ultimate destiny
to be holy. Because of the price Jesus paid to make you holy. Because you are a saint. Because holy people
get to see and know God. Because you’re getting ready to move to a place
where there is no sin. And because your example may inspire
someone who is watching you to choose or reject the pathway of holiness.
Nancy Leigh DeMoss
Holiness, The Heart God Purifies, Moody
Publishers, p. 65-66.
As God
delights in His own beauty, He must necessarily delight in the creature’s
holiness which is a conformity to and participation of
it.
Jonathan Edwards
Holiness and a progressively changed life are not
optional. “By this we know that we have come to know him,” says John, “if we
keep his commandments” (1 John 2:3). Mere profession of faith, unattended by
good works, does not guarantee the reality of faith. We would do well to
remember the rebuke of Jesus to those who professed their loyalty and cited
their miraculous deeds: “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of
lawlessness” (Mt. 7:23).
Sam
Storms
The Carnal Christian – Study of 1 Corinthians 3:1-3, November 6, 2006, www.enjoyinggodministries.com.
Used by Permission.