Mission Venture Ministries

As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am Holy.” (1 Peter 1:14-16) 

The apostle Peter instructed believers to live as God’s obedient children, because Scriptures says, you must be holy because I am holy (1 Peter 1:14–16). Once we are saved, we strive not to slip back into our old ways of living but pursue a lifelong endeavor toward personal holiness. 

God’s holiness is a critical aspect of His character. He not only desires, He commands that His people seek after His holiness “I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy” (Leviticus 11:44). Seeking after a lifestyle that reflects God’s holiness is so very important that we see the writer of Hebrews urge Christians to “make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). 

The affirmation ‘without holiness no one will see the Lord’ reflects a sense of seeing Christ at His return, like 1 John 3:2 states: “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” If our ultimate goal is to be like Christ and see Him when He returns, our daily pursuit must be toward complete purity of speech, thought and lifestyle. 

Another reminder of not being able to see the Lord unless we are holy is where Paul writes to the church Ephesus: “For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God” (Ephesians 5:5). 

John wrote that in the future, glorious New Jerusalem, “Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Revelation 21:27). 

In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8). People who desire to live in close fellowship with the Lord and see Him face to face must turn away from self-seeking desires and unholy attitudes. They must “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). 

Those who are truly born again, are the temple of the living God (2 Corinthians 6:16-18). In light of this revelation, and, “since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God” (2 Corinthians 7:1). 

And Paul told Timothy, “Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be an implement for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work” (2 Timothy 2:21). 

It’s vital to understand that, Christ has perfected for all time those who are sanctified (Hebrews 10:14) and made us holy through Christ’s finished work, the offering of His body on the cross (Hebrews 10:10). We are saved by Jesus “to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began” (2 Timothy 1:9). 

And “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we did in righteousness, but in accordance with His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5). 

Therefore, motivated by the knowledge that “without holiness no one will see the Lord,” we should desire and continuously strive “to put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth” (Ephesians 4:24). 

So, how can we become holy? Holiness only results from a right relationship with God by believing in Jesus Christ as Savior, repenting of our sin and accepting His free gift of eternal life. If we have not placed our faith in God’s Son alone to save us from our sins, then our pursuit of holiness is in vain. So, we must first make sure that we are born-again believers (please read John 3:1-21). 

Then, if we truly are believers, we recognize that our position in Christ automatically sets us apart from the world (1 Peter 2:9); and once we are God’s children, we have a relationship with the living God! Therefore, we must live a set-apart life, not trying to “blend in” with the world, but instead living according to God’s Word as we study Scripture and grow in it. 

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