Jul
06
2012
Holiness
“. . . the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” Hebrews 12:14
“No unclean thing, nothing that defileth or is defiled, shall ever be brought into the glorious presence of this holy God. There is no imagination wherewith mankind is besotted more foolish, none so pernicious, as this, that persons not purified, not sanctified, not made holy in this life should afterward be taken into that state of blessedness which consists in the enjoyment of God. There can be no thought more reproachful to his glory, nor more inconsistent with the nature of the things themselves, for neither can such persons enjoy him, nor would God himself be a reward unto them. They can have nothing whereby they should adhere unto him as their chiefest good, nor can they see anything in him that should give them rest and satisfaction, nor can there be any medium whereby God should communicate himself unto them, supposing them to continue thus unholy, as all must do who depart out of this life in that condition. Holiness, indeed, is perfected in heaven, but the beginning of it is invariably and unalterably confined to this world, and where this fails, no hand shall be put into that work in eternity.”
John Owen, Works (Edinburgh, 1981), III:574-575.
3 Comments
Dad, I love this quote. I give it to my Pentateuch students when we do Leviticus. There’s a wonderful saved-by-grace, necessary-holiness dynamic in Exodus-Leviticus: Israel sure can’t earn their salvation, but they cannot have fellowship with God without holiness. Thank you for this.
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It is so interesting that so many of us think it possible to enjoy heaven without having Christ, and him having us. For truly, “it will be no reward” to be before God without his purity and spotless righteousness exchanged for our sin through his Cross and the precious gift of faith.