Oh, you were told repeatedly that you could never be ‘holy enough’ for God so just ‘trust Jesus’ and His holiness would be ‘good enough’ for you? As God once asked Adam- ‘Who told you that?” (Gen. 3:11)
IF...holiness does not really matter, then why would Peter write: “Be holy in ALL your conduct.” (1 Pet. 1:15)
Why did Paul write “...cleanse yourselves from ALL filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God”? (2 Cor. 7:1). Why would he tell us that things like even ‘foolish talking and coarse joking (filthy language) should not even be named among us”? (Eph. 5:3-4)
This church or ‘bride’ that Jesus is coming back for that is ‘not having spot or wrinkle and will be holy and without blemish’...what might that look like to you? (Eph. 5:27)
Why write such a serious warning of: “and without holiness/sanctification no one will see the Lord”, if God really did not mean that? (Heb. 12:14)
What was John alluding to when he penned- “And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” ? (1 John 3:3)
Oh...you say someone told you that we are made pure because we have faith in Jesus? So Peter must have not got that memo since he suggested one “purifies their souls in obeying the truth through the Spirt” as was evident by their ‘sincere love of the brethren with a... pure heart’. (1 Pet. 1:22). I have a pretty strong hunch that ‘obeying the truth’ involves a little bit more than just ‘calling on the name of the Lord’. (Heb. 12:1-2)
And what exactly did Jesus mean when He said it would be the “pure in heart who see God”? (Matt.5:8). It seems to me that it’s the ‘wise virgins’ who wake up and get about the business of ‘getting ready’ by ‘doing the will of God’. (Matt. 25:5-10; 7:21)
Or how about that statement by Jesus that some would suggest was clearly mistranslated when He said we were to be “perfect just as the Father in heaven is perfect.” (Matt. 5:48) Of course we could never be ‘perfect’, so we write smart sounding books warning folks of the danger in teaching things like ‘sinless perfection’. And yet, what did Jesus tell the rich young ruler who came to Him seeking eternal life?
It seems like this young leader had so much going for Him...and was ‘nearly in’ when Jesus pointed out one remaining issue: “You lack just one thing...if you want to be perfect...go do ...” (Mark 10:21;Matt. 19:21). I hope you know by now how that scenario played out. Someone said years ago that this young man ‘walked an aisle and went forward’ ...but in the end, did not get ‘saved’.
Oh, but you were told that “God is not like that”, were you? And who told you that? (Gen. 3:11) I only bring this up because I fear all those ‘many’ folks in Matt. 7:21-23 might have been told the same thing. (Rom.11:22)
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