Holiness is one Christian quality that is not a once of or momentary requirement but a lifestyle. One may be holy at one moment but not the next, simply because it must be maintained. Sadly, there is no moment a Christian ought not to be holy. Should a Christian die when he or she is unholy at that particular moment, that believer will miss Heaven – none negotiable. It sounds harsh but true and many so called believers have lost their eternity in Heaven to compromising on holiness standards.
If holiness is such a requirement, what then does the Bible say about its benefits? I want to quote Revelation 3:5, a verse that points at holiness as an ultimatum.
‘The person who conquers in this way will wear white clothes, and I will never erase his name from the Book of Life. I will acknowledge his name in the presence of my Father and his angels’. ISV
Anyone who achieves holiness is regarded as victorious. Top of the benefits is that Jesus Christ commits never to remove the name of that particular person from the book of life. Second benefit is that Jesus will confess the name of such a person before God the Father and His angels.
Let’s have a look at each of the two benefits:
- Jesus Christ commits not to remove the name of the Holy in the book of life. Having your name in the book of life is one thing but having it not removed is another. Jesus told His disciples not to rejoice that spirits are subject to them but that their names are written in the book of life.
It therefore means that there are Heavenly beings that are responsible for removing names that are unworthy and keeping those that are worthy in the book of life. A name that has turned from evil and keeps holiness gets written in the book of life. One name can be erased and rewritten based on the position of the believer.
This is the ultimate, ‘And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire’ – Revelation 20:15. A name not in the book of life at the time described by this verse, the person whose name is missing goes to eternal fire.
- Jesus will confess the name of the holy person before God and His angels. Being introduced by Jesus Christ to God and His angels should be a great delight to the believer. I can imagine the joy, the peace and the delight of having Jesus introduce me to God. It’s a tough condition to get to that point but I can’t wait for that time.
Every living person has a right and a chance to achieve this wonderful gift of being introduced to God.
I image the positional relationship of praying to God because He is the Father of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ yet God does not have a personal relationship with me. It will only be when Jesus introduces me to Him that I would have a personal kind of relationship with God. This is my personal understanding which may not be Biblically endorsed. I may be wrong.
There are many verses that confirm the fact that holiness is the only key to Heaven. I started this blog based on Hebrews 12:14. I’m also working hard at saving my own soul through living a holy life yet I also want to share the importance of holiness since I’m mandated by Jesus to preach the same to people.
May God make His Word true to you and help you to achieve the goal of holiness.
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