Holiness or Hell… and Grace?
It’s Holiness or hell. Don’t let the false prophets seduce you. They’ll be burning right with you if you don’t get away from them and into the true gospel of Jesus Christ.
It’s so crazy how people who claim to love God and think they are filled with the Holy Ghost just because they can speak in tongues, but they literally despise God’s heart and who He is – Holy.
Holiness, without which NO MAN shall see the Lord. In other words, you and your favorite gospel artist and preacher will be in hell together without a heart of obedience to the holiness of Jesus Christ.
Talent doesn’t fly in the kingdom of God, and when you value talent more than you value holiness, it just proves you really don’t know God at all.
Hell is going to have a lot of surprise guests. If you think I’m making this up, look at what Jesus said:
Matt 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
But What About Grace?
“I just had a question… What exactly do you mean by “holiness or hell”? I fully accept the fact that we should be holy as God is holy, but I struggle with constantly feeling like I have to earn God’s love or that every time I sin, God’s love for me and/or my salvation are now questionable at best. Or that if I’m not perfect and making perfect choices every single day, every single moment, it’s only a matter of time before God’s wrath will meet me…
It’s been really hard for me to reconcile when the word says we are saved through grace and not works and then read messages that say ‘holiness or hell’”
Real Grace Creates Holiness
I love you and thank you for your question.
A couple scriptures I was thinking about with this:
Hebrews 12:14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.
This means that without holiness, no one will see the Lord.
Matthew 7:23
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Jesus said this to people that called Him Lord and did miracles in His name.
Grace is the Antidote for Iniquity, not an Excuse for It.
I don’t claim to be perfect yet, but I know that I’m saved because the grace actually works on my heart. Grace is not just favor, its favor AND power. I know God loves me, that’s why He gives me grace, which results in the power to love Him more than sin.
The problem comes when we reject his grace and choose sin, and the things that lead to sin, which are iniquities. When we continually choose iniquity, it gets worse and worse for us. Grace leads us closer and closer to the God that loves us. Iniquity leads us farther and farther away from the God that loves us. So if we really love Him, which do we choose?
You don’t need to be scared of hell or doubt that God loves you at all. But if faced with the choice between holiness and iniquity, and we constantly choose iniquity, which leads to sin, we should be scared of our own choices and the judgement that we reap from them. Once you develop that fear, you’ll begin to make the right choices and the grace of God will work mightily in your life.
There’s lots of scriptures on this but I’m sure you’ll look them up. Just a quick parallel to help you know how I see this:
Iniquity is the invisible virus that leads to sin, the visible disease symptom, which leads to death. Grace is the antidote that leads to holiness, which leads to life with God.
So the issue is to discern the virus (iniquity), and stay away from it. Jesus Blood is the health plan that paid for the antidote (grace), and you cash it out by faith. But if you don’t cash out what Jesus gave you, and you choose to juggle a bunch of used needles and shake hands in agreement with sneezing diseased folk, you end up with the virus, the disease, and the death that comes with it.
If you hate the sickness symptoms (sins), shouldn’t you also hate the viruses that lead to it (iniquity)?
So many times Christians become fans of iniquity, thinking they won’t catch it (the virus) and fall into sin. When the doctor warns them to “stay away from that iniquity”, and “wash your hands”, they say “you’re too spiritual” “you’re too holy” “you’re too extreme” “Jesus gave me grace.” Then they catch the iniquity, the sin, and the death…
And what is an example of iniquity?
The Original Iniquity
Ezekiel 28 16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. 17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.
This is just one example of the original iniquity found in satan, which he passed on to Eve in Genesis 3. Iniquity is evidenced by Lust and Pride in:
Merchandising Ability
Intelligence
Brightness
Beauty
Talent
Decision making ability
Wisdom
Ability to make a product and sell it
Getting success.
Lust of the Eyes, Lust of the Flesh, and Pride of Life
This iniquity caused satan to fall from a place of worshipping God to a place of using wisdom for himself in disobedience to God. Satan also used it to get Eve to convince Adam to disobey God. He told Eve she would be wise in disobedience, and Eve lusted after the beauty and taste of the fruit.
The antidote for iniquity is God’s grace (favor AND power to obey), which leads to holiness (separation to God’s purposes away from lust and pride), obedience, humility and a dependence on God.
I hope that clears things up. God is patient, so you don’t have to fear His wrath. But His grace is powerful, and you should be constantly growing in it the more contact you have with Him. The Bible exhorts us to examine ourselves, to see whether we are really in the faith. Nothing is better or more pleasurable than God, so there’s no reason to fall short of His grace.
The more you contact God, the more He works His powerful grace in you. He is able to keep you from falling.
Jude 1:22 And of some have compassion, making a difference:23 And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, 25 To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.
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