Is the Christian Holy Now or Waiting to Become Holy in Heaven?
The question is valid because if we are not holy now then salvation is happening in stages. However, if salvation is a definite work of God in the believer’s life than holiness should be complete as well. If you truly desire the answer I believe all you have to do is read 1 Peter 1:14-15, 22-23, “14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” “22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.”
As a result, according to the Scripture the only way a person “can be holy in all they do” is if they are “purified” by having been “born again.” Your holiness does not depend on your good works, but rather on the work of Jesus at the cross. So declare out loud, “I am holy because I was born again by a holy God through His Holy Spirit!”
Seriously, think about it- we are not born again dirty and then meant to spend the rest of our lives trying to be more holy. We are born again holy and meant to live the rest of our lives in holiness! Need more proof? Read how the author of Hebrews brings the point out crystal clear in Hebrews 10:14 (NASB)*, “For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.” Amazing isn’t it? The cross of Jesus actually perfected (completely saved) and sanctified (made holy) God’s people!
SO BE HOLY! Stop arguing with God and living a debase life, less than your identity- OBEY GOD with a JOYFUL GRACE FILLED HEART!
*Side Note: The NET, NASB, and KJV have Hebrews 10:14 right by placing the verb, “sanctified” as a completed action and not as the NIV makes it, “being made holy” as a continuing action. Why? Read the Expositor’s Commentary on this verse, “…the idea of sanctification as a continuing process does not seem to appear in Hebrews… Those Christ saves are set apart for the service of God and that forever. The writer, then, is contemplating a great salvation, brought about by one magnificent offering that cannot and need not be repeated– an offering that is eternal in its efficacy and that makes perfect the people it sanctifies.”