Without Holiness No-one Will See The Lord

Hebrews 12:14 (NIV)
Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.

I’ve managed to sneak in another part of my favourite Bible passage! However, this verse is really quite challenging. Holiness means restraint from sin, and conformation of our personal desires to those of Jesus. Holiness is the war waged at the centre of the passions described in Galatians 5:17, where we must choose which fork of the road to go down, fleshly sin or Spirit-filled restraint. Often, restraint from following the desires of the flesh requires a lot of trust in God, particularly when we are in a place of weakness.

The beautiful promise of the Cross is that we are freed from the guilt, shame and condemnation the enemy tries to force on us when we sin. However, the Bible warns us not to take advantage of grace, and sin deliberately and selfishly. This is emphasised in the calling outlined in our verse for today. God calls us to live in a holy way not just when we feel good and willing but also when we find all our defences are down. 

We don’t always feel like singing the chorus of ‘Refiner’s Fire’* with total honesty:

Refiner’s fire,
My heart’s one desire,
Is to be holy,
Set apart for you, Lord,
I choose to be holy,
Set apart for you my master,
Ready to do your will.

In the times of weakness, we can ask the Holy Spirit to help us to live out this divine call to be holy and set apart for the Lord. He will help us to rely on him, to lay down the heavy clothes of our fleshly desires and pick up the holy garment of life in the Spirit.

Prayer – Lord, help us to lay down our fleshly desires and follow your call to holiness. Whatever our limitations (alcohol, anger, relationship issues, bitterness) we lay them down now so that we can better follow your call to holiness. When we feel weak, we will call upon your Spirit for strength and support. 

* ‘Refiner’s Fire’, Brian Doerksen.