It is the will of God for you and I to be holy. (1 Thess. 4:3) And Peter makes it clear that we ought to be holy in ‘all our conduct’ since He (God) is holy (1 Pet. 1:14-16).

Oh, but you say someone told you that we could ‘never be holy enough for God’? That’s interesting, because our Bible seems to suggest otherwise.

What do you think Jesus came to do? He came to ‘save’ us and to transform us as we are conformed to His image and likeness, as we become a ‘new creation in Christ’ (John 3:17-18; Rom. 8:29; 2 Cor. 5:17). And He raised the bar pretty high, telling us in Matt. 5:48 that we were to ‘be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect’. But please don’t fool or discourage yourself by believing you can do this on your own ‘trying harder to be better’.

I should also add that this process of becoming ‘holy’, which we call ‘sanctification’... is supposed to take place BEFORE...He returns, given the fact that He is coming back for a bride/church that is ‘holy, spotless, and blameless’ (Eph. 5:26-27). You might take a second and go read 2 Cor. 7:1 and I John 3:2.

There’s an expression being tossed around quite a bit these days that talks about ‘deconstructing’...Christianity, or one’s faith, and/or the Bible itself. It seems there is a generation of younger people who were brought up in ‘church’ that are doing a lot of questioning about what they were raised in. The sad part about this is many are leaving the ‘faith’ altogether and pursuing other paths of spiritual enlightenment, as a result of that ‘deconstructing’. I don’t know what that word ‘deconstruct’ means to you or how you apply it... but I have to say there are a lot of man-made doctrines out there that really do need ‘deconstructing’. I would also go as far to suggest not only deconstructed, but demolished and tossed aside. Why is that, you ask? Well, because there are many Bible verses out there that just don’t seem to ‘fit’ with a lot of those doctrines, so they get discarded quickly.

Imagine trying to put together a new grill or piece of furniture from IKEA, and you come across a number of pieces that seem peculiar to you so instead of taking the time to figure out where they go or how they fit...you just toss them on some burn pile out back. Probably not the wisest move to make there. And yet, that is what has happened with God’s word for generations. I know I feel as if I was taken back to ‘Square One’ in my walk of faith 5 years ago, and it has been an enlightening journey thus far for me; and I am eternally grateful for God’s mercy and grace that led me here.

Friends, holiness matters. As does fruit. And this process of sanctification is not some holy option for super saints to pursue. It is God’s will for us all to be ‘sanctified’ (1 Thess. 4:3) Oh...and ‘doing the will of God’ matters also (Matt. 7:21).

I say ‘holiness matters’ because ‘without holiness, no one will see the Lord’ (Heb. 12:14). Jesus told us early on in His earthly ministry that it would be the ‘pure in heart who shall see God’ (Matt. 5:8). Which is probably why John wrote: “And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself...just as He is pure” (1 John 3:3). Yeah, that’s in your Bible as well.

Here’s an easier way to look at this in terms of defining holiness that you might consider: Holiness is having a pure heart. Funny how it always seems to go back to the heart when it comes to God and how He looks at us. (1 Sam. 16:7; 2 Chron. 16:9; Mark 7:6-7,18-23; Matt. 12:33-34; and Heb.3:10). And may I encourage you to look those up now because you are only cheating yourself if you don’t.

Has it ever dawned on you that this is the reason we use that expression how we ‘gave our heart to Jesus’...on such and such a date or time and place? The problem every last one of us have had is a defiled and sinful heart (Jer. 17:9-10). And Jesus came to change that, or at least the ones who came to Him with ...’ALL their heart’ (Matt. 22:37). And as ‘close’ as he was to inheriting the kingdom of heaven, that rich young ruler fell short and forfeited his chance to follow Jesus because there was something in his heart that he was unwilling to surrender to Jesus. Remember that story? (Matt. 19:16-22)

That’s another interesting word that pops up often in our NT- ‘inheriting’. It’s most often associated with inheriting ‘eternal life’ or ‘the kingdom’. I think we understand this idea of inheriting or being an ‘heir’, as it usually refers or applies to a son/child being the ‘heir’ or the recipient of an ‘inheritance’. Paul writes in several places making it known as to who will NOT...inherit the kingdom of God- Gal. 5:21; Eph. 5:5; 1 Cor. 6:9-10. You should probably go look those verses up now also.

There is a scripture I point out here regularly that explains why Jesus sent Paul to preach the gospel to the Gentiles, and it is pretty enlightening if you want to go read it now; it’s Acts 26:18. Lots in there to unpack but please make note as to who receives this ‘inheritance’. Does your Bible say it is the ones who are ‘sanctified by faith in Me’? (You might also jot down Acts 20:32)

I mean really, it does make sense that not ‘everyone’ will inherit the kingdom of heaven, since not everyone is a ‘child of God’, at least according to what scripture lays out for us, like Mark 3:35; Matt. 12:50; John 1:12; Rom. 8:14; John 8:44; 1 John 3:10; 5:18...to name a few.

Let me close out here today by saying it is possible there might be some of you who have been reading here now for any length of time, and have taken the time to actually look up all these Bible verses I give you...and it has given you some serious pause where you find yourself troubled within. I say ‘troubled’ because you read these verses and they seem as clear as day to you, and yet there seems to be some internal ‘conflict’ (or disconnect) when you take into consideration how you have always been taught to believe. And this has you wanting to ask more questions. Believe me...I understand. Please feel free to reach out to me via private message or whatever. I’d be happy to offer up any help I can... which will most likely involve pointing you back to the Bible and telling you what God has to say. After all, they are His words, not mine.