Holiness Is Necessary
“Without holiness no man shall see the Lord.” Nothing under heaven can be more sure than this; “for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” And “though heaven and earth pass away, yet His word shall not pass away. “As well therefore might God fall from heaven, as His Word fall to the ground. (Heb. 12:14; Mic. 4:4; Matt. 5:18).
No one who is not saved from sin here can be saved from hell hereafter. No one can see the kingdom of God above, unless the kingdom of God be in him below.
Whoever will reign with Christ in heaven, must have Christ reigning in him on earth. And yet as sure as this is, and as clearly as it is taught in every part of the Holy Scripture, among all the truths of God, there is probably none which is less received by men.
Yes, professing Christians invariably invent one way or another to get to heaven without holiness. In the place of holiness, some have substituted penances, pilgrimages, and praying to saints and angels. Thousands of professing Christians have no doubt but that, by a diligent use of these things -without any holiness at all- they shall see the Lord in glory.
However, Protestants will not be satisfied in that manner. They are convinced that whoever leans on such things leans on the staff of a broken reed. Yet, thousands of such Protestants also think that they too will see God without holiness. How? Why, by doing no harm, generally doing good, going to the church, and receiving the sacraments. And many thousands are content with this, believing they are on the high road to heaven. Yet, that is not much better than the hopes of the first group. John Wesley
