"Be Holy, for I Am Holy
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I don't know where ministers who preach something less than holy living get their assurance that a holy God accepts less than that for entrance into His heavenly kingdom. Surely no one has returned from the dead to assure them that it is so, and they cannot find such a thing in the Word of God. Perhaps they preach something less than holy living for fear people will not enter their church, and have not the fear they should have that without holiness those same people will never enter heaven. "Pursue . . . holiness, without which no one will see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14). ". . . as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy. . . . conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, . . . but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot" (1 Peter 1:15-19 - italics mine).
"But the day of the Lord will come
as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass
away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with
fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in
it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things
will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you
to be in holy conduct and godliness?" (2 Peter
3:10-11, italics mine) |
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