Hebrews 12:14: Without Holiness No One Will See The Lord meaning

In Hebrews 12:14 it is reflected that without holiness no one will see the Lord , but what holiness are we talking about? Can we be holy the way God is? What does it mean to be holy and how can we achieve holiness for God? Discover the answers to all these questions throughout this article.

What does it mean to be holy?

People generally mistake holiness for perfection, but they are certainly not the same. The word holy means set apart for God, and we attain holiness the moment we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. This he reiterates in John 3:16 when he says “so that whoever believes in Jesus may not perish any more have eternal life.”

Does God contradict himself in the bible? Well no, God does not lie. If we dedicate ourselves to seeing all the verses that speak about the holiness and sacrifice of Christ we will be able to realize that what the Lord meant when expressing that “Without holiness no one will see the Lord” was that “without Jesus no one will see the Lord ”.

In fact, he shows it when he says that Jesus is the truth, the way and the life, and no one can come to the father except through him. Later he also confirms it by saying in Galatians 2:21 that if justice comes from the law, Christ’s sacrifice was in vain. That is, why did Christ die if we are saved is it because of our works?

God could not have subjected his son to something so strong just to get attention. He had a purpose in all of this, and that purpose was the salvation of humanity. We can be holy, but we are not perfect like God, it is almost impossible to achieve perfection because there is always something that makes us sin even without realizing it.

The bible says that we were created in the image and likeness of God “IN EVERYTHING EXCEPT IN SIN.”

Almost no one takes into account this last but very important detail of the verse. God is without spot of sin, we are not. For this reason he had to send his only son as a sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins, because by law NOBODY could be saved, we are too imperfect for this.

Without holiness no one will see the Lord: we must walk with God

After having understood the concept of holiness, it is also necessary to understand that although it is impossible to achieve perfection, we must always seek it by doing things that are pleasing in the eyes of God.

The fact that we are holy or set apart for God after accepting Jesus Christ does not mean that we have the right to deliberately sin. Why?

We must not confuse freedom with debauchery either, and if we go around doing things left and right and making fun of God based on the fact that Christ has already saved us then we are walking wrong, because God cannot be mocked.

The Lord knows our hearts and knows if our repentance is real or not, He also knows if we serve Him out of love or hypocrisy.

How to live in obedience to God?

As I said before, it is impossible to achieve perfection, because the only perfect and sinless being is God. However, we must try to walk as he wants us to. This would be the equivalent of trying to achieve perfection. Here are some tips to help you lead a life set apart for God:

1. Honor God

If we want to be holy, we must honor and revere God. Without reverence for the Father, we cannot live in holiness. Christian people should have a reverent fear of God, and do the things that please him. This implies always seeking him in prayer and in his word, which is the true daily milk.

A relationship with the Father is essential for those who want to walk towards perfection. As we are his children and members of his family, we must resemble him. We should follow it. If we are not part of his family, if we are not his children, we cannot be saints, therefore it is important to confess Jesus Christ as Savior.

2. Show love

In 1 Corinthians 13 he tells us about the love God wants us to have. Love is the foundation on which everything else is built. This chapter of the bible teaches that without love, the work we do is not profitable for us. Therefore, love is essential to holy living.

The love that flows from Christians should be pure, without hypocrisy, a healing balm that soothes the tired, angry and exhausted soul. Holy men and women are to have forgiving hearts filled with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience ( Colossians 3: 12-13 ).

Those who are holy and walk righteously before the Lord must be on guard against harboring unforgiveness, anger, and resentment in their hearts. We should be quick to forgive and spread the love of Christ wherever we go. If we are to be holy as He is holy, that means we have to show love and forgiveness even when the recipient does not deserve our love or forgiveness.

3. Honor your parents

Jesus Christ was the Word of God in the flesh ( John 1:14 ), and he even honored his parents by continuing “in subjection to them” ( Luke 2:51 ). Christians should honor their parents as much as possible, without following any immoral, illegal, or sinful behavior that they may display.

Honoring our parents means loving and helping them as much as we can. Honoring our parents means bearing witness to Jesus Christ and remembering that we would not be on earth without them. Loving our parents and forgiving them, despite their shortcomings, is a great way to please God.

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4. Serve others

Jesus Christ served others. And since Jesus served people, so can we. We can serve anyone by using our gifts , talents, and resources to share the good news of the Gospel of Jesus, feed the hungry, and provide shelter for the homeless.

We can serve other believers by edifying, exhorting, and comforting them along their Christian journey. We serve the Lord by obeying His Word and glorifying Him on earth.

5. Stop sinning as much as possible

Our bodies are the temples of God ( 1 Corinthians 6:19 ). We need to keep our temples holy because the Spirit of God abides in them. Christian women should dress modestly, so as not to draw attention to themselves. We want to draw people to God, not ourselves.

Although the world tells us otherwise, Christians must defend the truth of God’s Word and stay away from the lusts of the world. Romans 12: 1 teaches us to present our “bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God,” because that is our reasonable service.

The Bible also tells us to “avoid fornication” ( 1 Corinthians 7: 2 ). An interesting point about sin is that the Bible tells us to avoid the very appearance of evil ( 1 Thessalonians 5:22 ). So we must not only avoid sin, we are calling on holiness to avoid the appearance of evil.

6. Give a good testimonial

Those who desire to live in holiness will be those who desire their conduct wherever they want them to go ( 2 Peter 3:11 ). Therefore, being holy includes our conduct or behavior in the places we visit most frequently: stores and our jobs.

We must respect our managers and co-workers. We must also show respect for those in the market. We should not be seen in stores that use foul language, of sinful behavior (such as stealing).

7. Don’t be a false Christian

There will be many people who will stand before Christ on the Day of Judgment, but many will hear the most shocking of their lives. Because many believe that they know the Lord, but Jesus does not know them, and that has tragic consequences. Some think they are living in Christ, but in reality they are not doing the things He specifically commanded (ie, Matthew 25: 35-36 ).

As a result, Jesus says: I declare to you; I never met them; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness ”( Matthew 7:23 ). Jesus doesn’t care if you say you know him. What is of eternal importance is that He knows you. They trusted their works to be saved ( Ephesians 2:10 ), rather than Christ to save them by grace alone.

8. Get away from your old nature

Not only does our old sin nature disappear overnight or the day we are saved, but the new creation in Christ and our old nature struggle. After we receive a new nature as children of God, the old man still likes to come knock on our door and feel at home. It is a battle that we will all fight, until we reach the grave.

9. Don’t resist the Holy Spirit

Sanctification is by the Holy Spirit is part of our conversion ( 1 Padro 1: 2 ). In this way, known as ultimate sanctification, the Spirit separates us in Christ so that we can be saved. The Spirit also works in us so that we can be obedient to Christ, a process known as progressive sanctification.

In this last sanctifying role, the Spirit: (A) exposes our sin so we can recognize it and turn away from it, (B) illuminates the Scriptures so we can understand its meaning, and (C) helps us see the glory of Christ. The Spirit is always willing to do this for us, so we must not “resist” ( Acts 7:51 ) or “quench” ( 1 Thess 5:19 ) the Spirit.

10. Pursue Jesus, not moralism

As we become holy, we will naturally become more moral. But that is not the main objective. Our search is for Jesus, not for moralism. “Holiness is not ultimately about living up to a moral standard”; “It is about living in Christ and living out of our real and vital union with him.”

 

The meaning of without holiness no one will see the Lord is very simple; Jesus Christ makes us saints through the acceptance of his sacrifice, and without him no one can be saved, nor that he is the most perfect person in the world “which is also impossible.” To be set apart for God, we must repent of our sins and trust Christ.

Once that happens, we become new creations in Christ and our nature changes. Now we want to live holier lives and avoid those things we used to do before we were saved. Now, we could fall into sin, but it is not like it was before, where we would plunge into sin and drink the waters.

Today we still sin, but we do not deliberately continue to sin, because the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sins and we confess them to God, and we repent of them. The new creation confesses and repents, while the old man even denied that there is such a thing as sin, but the one who admits that he is a sinner and confesses his faults before God will be forgiven.