“Therefore, having these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 7:1).

What is holiness? What does it mean to be holy? The writer of Hebrews put it this way: “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14).

So, we need to know what holiness is, what it isn’t, and how to perfect it if we plan on seeing the Lord.

Holiness is not something you do; you can’t make yourself holy. You can practice all the things that are typically held up to do in Christian life, but they won’t make you holy. You may attend church meetings every time the doors are open; you may read your Bible regularly; you may be a faithful tither; you may be an evangelist, pastor, teacher, deacon, or song leader; but none of these will make you holy.

Holiness, or being made holy comes from God alone. Holiness has everything to do with your heart being separated from this world and separated unto God. And to fully understand this, we must look at what God has done and is doing.

Your old heart is corrupt and dead in trespasses and sins; it cannot be made holy. And you cannot ever see or be with God in that condition. But God, in His great love for you, wants you to live with Him and Jesus forever in His home as His dear children. And so, before ever creating this world or making man, God made plans to make unholy people holy.

One of the first to preview God’s plan was a man named Nicodemus. He came to Jesus, thinking he knew about God and Jesus. And that’s when Jesus revealed the only way anyone could ever see God:

“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God…. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God…. You must be born again” (John 3:3-7).

It is through the new birth that a sinner man is brought to life by the mercy and grace of God and given a new heart. The new birth is of God.

“Jesus came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13).

When anyone is born of God, Paul declares he is in Christ and “…is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). And this is when and where the sinner is made holy.

When a person is born again, they are baptized into Christ, both by the Holy Spirit and in water. The water visibly demonstrates what God has done through His Holy Spirit. The new believer is joined to Christ in His crucifixion, burial, and resurrection. In this spiritual oneness in Christ, the believer is effectually separated from the world and separated unto God. The old man has died with Christ, and the newly born one has risen with Him. The new man is holy unto the Lord; he has been separated from the domain of darkness and translated into the kingdom of God’s dear Son.

Peter writes:

“You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ… you are a holy nation…” (1 Peter 2:5-9).

There is only one way we may become holy, and that is by being born of God. The text at the beginning of this article calls for us to perfect that holiness in the fear of God. How are we to do that? God’s word is plain and simple: it’s all about watchfully and willingly separating yourself from the love for the things of this world.

We live in this world: we go to school, we marry and raise families, we work, we buy and sell, we build, and we form friendships. But in living in this world, we are called to remember that this world is not our home; we are pilgrims and strangers just passing through. Paul warns and instructs us:

“…Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2).

But Paul declares a particular area where, if we would be holy, we must be separate:

“Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God.

“As God has said: ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be my people.’ Therefore ‘come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. ‘Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty'” (2 Corinthians 6:14-18).

This Scripture calls for us to behave as God’s holy children, thereby perfecting holiness in the fear of our Father. Separation from the ungodly is the call here; The world and the apostate church of Rome are calling for and promoting just the opposite. Brotherhood among all religions is the order of the day. The great deception is well underway. And many affluent and high-profile Western “pastors and teachers” are buying into it.

All the religions of this world deny Christ as the Son of God and God in the flesh; the religious cults deny Christ as being the virgin-born Son of God: true God and true man; they deny His literal resurrection. All of these have one thing in common: they are of the spirit of antichrist. So, to call for “fellowship and brotherhood,” mutual respect and understanding for all religions is to ask Christ to have fellowship with the devil.

Do you want to be found in a church that is part of this deception; do you want to sit under a teacher that promotes this? This is the broad road that leads to destruction.

You may say, “Well, I agree with what you say, but I love the fellowship and don’t intend to leave. I’ll just ignore what’s being said.”

You can easily dismiss what I’ve said, but can you afford to ignore what the Scripture says?:

“Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord.”

Separation will cost you friends and positions, but if you want to follow Christ, you will perfect holiness in the fear of God.

Brother Bill Oldham

bboldham@sbcglobal.net

 

Philippians 4:4-7: “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone; the Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (ESV – all emphasis is mine.)

Hebrews 4:14-16; “Since then we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens; Jesus the Son of God; let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Isaiah 45:22-24; “Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. By Myself I have sworn; from My mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return; to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.”

If the above passage sounds familiar, turn to Philippians 2:9-11; “Therefore, God has highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow; in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Isaiah was written between 600 and 700 years before Jesus walked this earth. We must remember that our Heavenly Father, including Jesus and the Holy Spirit, have no beginning and will have no end. Our Triune Godhead is eternal. Also, it’s difficult for some to understand that God is not regulated by any measure of time as we are. In Genesis 1 we’re told about the Father creating day and night and sun and moon during His creation of the heavens and the earth, and all that dwells on the earth.

After the first sin in the Garden of Eden, God made some changes because of the evil serpent, who is actually a fallen archangel, Lucifer. This is all found in Genesis 3, and in verse 15, He states, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”

The “He” is Jesus, and the offspring of the serpent would be the fallen angels or demons who chose to follow the devil. At this time, Jesus knew He would have to eventually provide our pathway to Heaven, or all mankind would be lost forever.

In the Old Testament was the law, which the Father gave to Moses. There were blood sacrifices required even though they could never be permanent. Priests of the Temple would be required to make the sacrifices according to the law, and all who were in the will of God would be covered temporarily. Hebrews 10:3-4 shows that up to Calvary, more sacrifices had to be made. “But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sin every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”

Long before our Savior came to this sin-filled earth, He knew the Father could not accept anything but pure, sinless blood to be a permanent payment for our sins. He also knew that not everyone would receive and accept Him, as told in Matthew 7:13-14. This is when Jesus told us of the two pathways leading into eternity. One pathway is wide and the way easy that leads to destruction. The other is narrow and hard and leads to eternal life with Him in Heaven. The “hard” part of the narrow pathway is believing that it is a gift that we cannot earn or buy.

Jesus also knew that more people would accept this world and what it supposedly has to offer than to receive and accept His free gift of eternal Salvation. He told His disciples in John 16:33, “I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Bible prophecy tells us that toward the end of this age, there would be many changes, and not all for good. What we are seeing in the world today is as if we’re living those prophecies word for word. Christians are being singled out for persecution, and some places on this earth for martyrdom. Even in America we feel the animosity toward us growing stronger every day.

For true believers, our hope and strength and trust come through our Jesus. In 1855, Joseph Medlicott (1819-1886) wrote a song, “What A Friend We Have in Jesus.”

1.) What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege to carry everything to God in Prayer. Oh, What peace we often forfeit; Oh, what needless pain we bear. All because we do not carry everything to God in Prayer.

2.) Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged; take it to the Lord in Prayer. Can we find a friend so faithful, who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in Prayer.

3.) Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care? Precious Savior still our refuge; take it to the Lord in Prayer. Do thy friends despise, forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in Prayer. In His arms He’ll take and shield thee; thou will find a solace there.

In this wonderful hymn, we’re encouraged to take our thoughts and wishes to the Lord in prayer. Please know, Our Father is never too busy to listen to our prayers. Jesus encouraged His followers to pray, and He is there right now to listen to us.

For anyone who may say they don’t feel comfortable or know how to pray, just tell the Father your thoughts. No special incantations or certain words are necessary. Please remember this is your Heavenly Father, Shepherd, and Holy Spirit. He knows our thoughts before we even speak, but He loves for us to “talk” to Him anyway. Jesus told us that when we pray, we should ask for our daily needs, praise the Father for loving us, ask forgiveness for sins we’ve committed, and just tell Him your feelings. For anyone who may be a mute, your thoughts are “heard” loud and clear by the Father.

Long drawn-out messages are definitely not necessary. Sometimes, even a single sentence will do. There have been times that I’ve felt the Lord helped me with an issue, and my whole prayer is, “Thank You, Father. You helped me at a perfect time.”

Every day, I thank my Savior for loving us as He does, and for my being a part of His precious flock.

If you have not received and accepted Jesus as your Savior, today would be a great time to do so. All who will call out to Him to be forgiven and to be saved will have the Holy Spirit come to live within them, and will be ready to rise up to meet the Savior in the air when the Rapture takes place.

Those who don’t will go through the most terrible seven-year period of time that this earth has ever experienced.

Romans 10:9-13 gives the simple steps to Salvation. The only hard part is believing it’s true. Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us we’re saved by grace through faith, and not by any works, as stated earlier.

John 14:6 and Acts 4:12 specifically state that Jesus is the only way to Heaven, no matter what false prophets may try to tell you. Don’t take the chance of being left behind, as the call could come any day – any minute – now.

Mara-Natha! Come, Lord Jesus!

huebshman46@gmail.com