Hello beloved creatures of God, I hope you’re fine by God’s grace.
Today in Salvation 101 we’ll talk about the necessity of holiness to enter Heaven.
If you’ve not read the previous posts I invite you to check them out here
Holiness is an important topic in The Bible. God commands us to be Holy because He is Holy. Throughout both the Old Testament and the New Testament, God stresses on the importance of living a holy life. However, many unbelievers and also self-professing Christians don’t like when we talk about holiness, they don’t like when we talk about sin, and they prefer living their lives just as they want. Some believe that God is totally okay with whatever they do, He won’t apply His standards of righteousness and they will just get away with anything and go to Heaven. This is so far from the truth. The Bible tells us that without holiness, no one shall see God.
Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
Hebrews 12:14 KJV
It’s not just enough to talk about living a holy life, if you want to spend eternity with God, you must live a holy life now. No one said it would be easy. It may imply losing some friendships, it may imply quitting your job, it may imply breaking some relationships, it may even imply getting mocked and insulted but it’s worth it because nothing is as valuable as eternal life.
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
Matthew 16:25 KJV
Living holy is impossible if you’re not yet born again, if you’ve not yet been recreated in your spirit in the image of Christ. The Bible tells us that once we become believers, God recreates us (our spirits) in the image of Christ, He removes our hearts of stones and gives us hearts of flesh and puts His Word in us. Amongst His promises, we also receive the baptism of The Holy Spirit. Which means we are fully equipped to live a holy and sinless life.
Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
II Peter 1:2-4 NKJV
Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God.
Ezekiel 11:19-20 NKJV
“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,”
Hebrews 10:16 NKJV
He also call us to not conform to the world but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. The degree to which you obey God and walk holy is proportional to the degree to which your mind is renewed according to The Word Of God. God doesn’t call us to be carnal Christians but to be holy Christians. You must aim at a perfect and sinless life. Jesus didn’t come to save you for you to remain in sin, He saved you from sin. The moment you start believing that, your life will change.
And 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 NKJV
Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
Matthew 5:48 NKJV
Many Christians at times wonder about why their life isn’t different from the life of a non-Christian. They struggle with the same sins with the only difference that the non-Christian enjoys it while the Christian is in shame (since he still has a functional conscience). The truth is, when you read Romans 6 and Romans 8 and understand that Jesus Christ indeed paid the total price for your freedom from sin, you stop struggling with those sinful habits and addictions. You shall know the truth and it shall set you free. I’m sharing from The Bible, and also from my experience and that of other believers. Renew your mind to the truth which is in The Word of God. If you’re already a believer, you’ve been equipped to live above sin.
If you’re not yet a believer it’s not too late, you can surrender your life to Jesus Christ now, but before you do so, let me tell you: in some churches they will tell you that you don’t need to abandon your sinful lifestyle to go to Heaven. Those are lies.
Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but 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.”
I Peter 1:13-16 NKJV
Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Galatians 5:19-21 NKJV
You have to abandon your sinful lifestyle. If it means breaking up with your friend/boyfriend/girlfriend do it, if it means moving out of that house do it, etc. Whatever it takes it’s better to abandon those things, people, places, immoral clothing styles which led you to sin. Abandon it now. It is better to do so now than to spend eternity in hell because you tried to get the best of both worlds.
If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.
Matthew 5:29-30 NKJV
If you want to spend eternity with God, you will have to choose holiness. Not just in your speech but particularly also in your lifestyle. So as you make a decision to commit or recommit your life to Jesus, bear in mind that it is also a decision to live a holy life and separate yourself from sin. If on this path you make a mistake and sin, ask for His forgiveness, confess it to Him and get back to living holy, but don’t ever think that you will remain in sin, enjoying it and that you’re setting yourself up for Heaven. Without holiness you can’t spend eternity with God, but by His grace and faith in His Name, He will lead you to live a holy life but you will have to obey.
The necessity of holiness in order to enter heaven: It will not do to depend on talking about this. They must live holy. The idea has so long prevailed that we “cannot be perfect here,” that many professors of religion do not so much as seriously aim at a sinless life. They cannot honestly say that they even so much as really meant to live without sin. They drift along before the tide, in a loose, sinful, unhappy, and abominable manner, at which, doubtless, the devil laughs, because it is, of all others, the surest way to hell.
Charles Finney
And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.
I John 3:3-9 NKJV
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
Romans 6:1-18 NKJV
Will you say the salvation prayer today just to escape from hell? Or will you say it with the real intention and strong desire to live a holy life which will give glory to God?
Today God is inviting you to choose between heaven and hell, between spending eternity with God or away from Him. It all starts with a decision. Will you honour Jesus’ love and sacrifice for you or will you reject Him? Remember that this may be your last time to choose Jesus and if you don’t choose Jesus know that you’re responsible for your condemnation and suffering in hell. You will have no excuse because you knew the truth.
Don’t even think of delaying your decision to “enjoy” one last dose of drugs of abuse or to get one “last” night of sexual immorality, or one “last” pleasure of the world or one “last” session of witchcraft or tarot cards or using a ouija board. It may be your last chance to decide, later on it may be too late. Your decision will influence your eternity.
Prayer to Surrender Your Life to Jesus Christ and to choose holiness
Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, I have sinned against You and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You love me so much that You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I make the decision today to turn from my sins and I invite You to come into my life, to set me free, to give me a new nature, to transform my life so that I live a holy life. I choose from this day forward to love You, to obey You. I want to live a holy life which glorifies God’s Name. I surrender myself completely to You Lord, spirit, soul and body. I choose today to trust and follow You as my Lord and Saviour. My life is Yours. I choose to obey You. Amen
Weekly Prayer Meeting
I would like to announce that every Saturday from 11:00-11:40 PM (GMT+1) I host a prayer meeting on Zoom (online) to pray for the salvation of our loved ones, our friends and acquaintances etc and to minister healing to the sick. You can join and invite others to join with you, believers as well as unbelievers. You can click on the link here to register for the event.
Looking for a Church?
I can recommend to you Dominion Life Church with General Overseer Apostle Curry Blake. In case there is no campus near you, you can watch online every Sunday at 3:00 PM (GMT +1) for first service and 4:00 PM (GMT +1) for second service
God bless you and contact me on social media for your prayer requests and also to share about your story/testimony with Jesus.
0 Comments