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There is a sweet melody in the word “holiness.” We associate it with everything that is heavenly. It is frequently used synonymously with sanctification, yet not always with all the forms of the word sanctification. On the whole there is a slight difference [pg 079] in the meaning of the two terms. Holiness is the consummation of the work of sanctification. By transposing a few words in Heb. 12:14 we would have it read, “Without holiness no man shall see the Lord.” Holiness is here a noun objective to the preposition without. In some translations this sentence would read, “Without sanctification no man shall see the Lord.” Sanctification is here a noun, the object of the preposition without. As nouns these words are used interchangeably.

In Jude, first verse, we have this sentence, “To them that are sanctified by God the Father.” The word “sanctified” is here used as a predicate adjective, and describes the people addressed. It would not alter the meaning of the text were we to translate it thus: “To them that are made holy by God the Father.” The word holy is here used as a predicate adjective, and describes the people addressed. In the sentence, “Sanctify them through thy truth” (John 17:17), the word “sanctify” is a verb, denoting action, of which we have no form of the word holiness. The word holiness can not be used as a verb. The word sanctification frequently expresses action; the word holiness never. They are synonymous when they express the pure state of man. Sanctification is the act that brings man into a holy state, which is also the sanctified state. Sanctification may be applied to the holy state, and also to the action that brings us into that state. Since the word sanctification contains [pg 080] action it is positive proof there is a cleansing in it.

Now we desire by a few Scriptural texts and a few suggestions to deepen the reader's conception of the state of holiness. Everything in the realm of Christianity, or the kingdom of God, from heaven to earth is holy. Let us here give you a brief Bible lesson, kindly asking you to carefully read each text.

1. God is holy. “In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.” Isa. 6:1–3.

If the reader here obtains a just conception of the holy character of God it will give him an understanding of the true nature of Christianity and the manner of life of a Christian. A gentleman once asked me if it was wrong or unbecoming to a Christian to attend the present day street carnivals. We replied in about these words: “If you gain a true conception of the holiness of the Almighty you will not need to ask me such a question.”

2. Heaven is holy. “Now know I that the Lord saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand.” Psa. 20:6.

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3. Christ is holy. “For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners.” Heb. 7:26.

4. The angels are holy. “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory.” Mat. 25:31.

5. God's commandments are holy. “Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” Rom. 7:12.

6. God's arm is holy. “The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.” Isa. 52:10.

7. God's mountains are holy. “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem.” Isa. 27:13.

8. God's hill is holy. “Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?” Psa. 15:1.

9. God's name is holy. “My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord; and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.” Psa. 145:21.

10. God's works are holy. “The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.” Psa. 145:17.

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11. God's people are holy. “For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.” Deut. 7:6. Read Eph. 1:4; Col. 1:22; 1 Pet. 1:15; 2 Pet. 3:11.

12. God's people are his holy temple. “If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” 1 Cor. 3:17.

13. God's church is a holy church. “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word; that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” Eph. 5:25–27.

14. The way to heaven is a holy way. “And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness; … the redeemed shall walk there.” Isa. 35:8, 9.

Let us repeat: God is holy; heaven is holy; the angels are holy; Christ is holy; the Spirit is holy; God's Word is holy; the way to heaven is holy. Reader, we want you to picture before you a holy heaven and the holy way that leads to heaven. Read this text: “Follow peace with all men, and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.” Heb. 12:14.

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Looking into the Word of the Lord we find that man was chosen to holiness. Eph. 1:4. That God calls him to holiness. 1 Thes. 4:7. That God designed that man should serve him in holiness. Luke 1:75. That God chastens man in order that he might be partaker of his holiness. Heb. 12:10. That God purposes that man shall be saved from his sin and bear fruit unto holiness. Rom. 6:22. That God commands him to be holy in all manner of conduct. 2 Pet. 3:11. God commands him to be holy because he is holy. 1 Pet. 1:15, 16. Looking unto God's great and holy plan in redeeming man, and the holiness of heaven, and God sitting on his holy throne, and Christ the Holy One at his right hand, and the holy angels shouting praises, how can you entertain a hope of ever entering that glorious land without holiness?