Hi Bic. The command is “Be ye holy for I am holy. (1 Peter 1:13-16). God’s holiness amounts to 100% sinlessness. He is completely and utterly separated from sin, and that is why we cannot possibly see Him in our present and temporal earthly bodies. We need to be changed and given bodies like that of Jesus, i.e. completely sinless. Only then can we see God in heaven and be with Him forevermore. “Be ye holy” does not mean that we are already holy (sinless) (1 John 1:8-10). The word “ginomai” conveys the meaning of progressively becoming holy. We are not yet there but we shall be when Jesus returns at the Pre-trib Rapture.

That is my personal opinion.
I’m right?

Irma,

Analogies are always a good way to describe spiritual truths, such as the one you used. Nonetheless, many Christians make the mistake to use Israel’s wandering in the desert and their subsequent failure to enter the Promised Land because of their unbelief as an example to prove that many saints are not going to make it when the Rapture eventually occurs. Like most of the Israelite, they say, many saints are going to remain behind at the Rapture and will have to bear the brunt of the Antichrist’s wrath during the Great Tribulation. The fact, however, is that the saints who are going to be beheaded during the Great Tribulation are not some of the carnally minded saints who now make up the Bride of Christ and who allegedly are going to remain behind because they never sought to achieve a second work of grace (or blessing), as Malan claims; they are gentiles and Jews who are going to be saved during the tribulation.

Please bear in mind that the majority of the Israelite did not enter the Promised Land because of carnality but because of unbelief (Hebrews 3:19; Hebrews 4:6; Hebrews 4:11). Malan’s argument involves carnality due to the lack of a second work of grace (or blessing) and not unbelief. Therefore, the analogy cannot be applied to the present day saints who now make up the Bride of Christ because they are not in unbelief. Yes, some of them do not believe in the Rapture per se but it does not nullify their belief in Jesus Christ as their Saviour. They are going to be raptured whether they believe in the Pre-Trib Rapture or not.

If a repentant sinner becomes a completely new creation at his/her new birth (2 Corinthians 5: 17) then every single saint is on par with God’s standard of holiness (encapsulated wholly, completely and perfectly in the new creation). In God’s view all of us are brand new creatures in Christ Jesus – nothing more and nothing less. I’m not saying that saints are already perfect in holiness and sanctification. Far from it. I’m saying that God sees his saints in Christ Jesus and as such He already sees them as perfectly holy beings in Christ when He returns at the Rapture. In the very same way God already sees us in Christ in heaven where we are seated with Him at the right hand of God, despite the fact that we are still here on earth. (Ephesians 2:3-6). But what about Hebrews 12:14 which says that no one will see God without holiness (hagiasmos). Does that mean a saint’s degree of holiness, now in this life, determines whether he or she may see God or not and whether he/she is going to be raptured or not? Perish the thought. God’s perfect holiness demands nothing less than that we too be perfectly holy so that we may be granted the privilege to see Him. Are any of us already perfectly holy? I don’t think so. There is not a single saint on earth who can boast that he/she is already perfectly holy and therefore perfectly ready to see God. Saints will only be perfectly holy and hence perfectly ready to see God when their corruptible bodies are changed to incorruptible bodies (like unto the body of Jesus’ resurrected body). This will occur at the Pre-Trib Rapture (1 Corinthians 15:51-55).

How then should we interpret Hebrews 12:14? It simply means that all the saints who are now engaged in a battle between the flesh and the spirit (Galatians 5:17) in order to live a holy (separated) life unto God shall be made perfectly holy when at last they shall see God in their perfectly holy and incorruptible bodies like unto that of Jesus. Henceforth, the verse rather conveys the fact that all sinners shall be perfectly holy (God’s ultimate standard) when they shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye at the Rapture and not that they should strive or seek for a second work of grace so that they may be holy enough this side of the grave in order to see God or to be raptured. The level of one’s victory over carnality lies not in the seeking after a second blessing (second work of grace) but in our daily obedience to Christ by denying ourselves, taking up our cross (dying to ourselves) and to follow Him. Are we all on par with God’s standard in this regard? I don’t think so because many saints either neglect the command to deny themselves, take up their cross and follow Jesus or they have been taught incorrectly that taking up your cross pertains to a saint’s suffering, hardships and persecution. The cross has nothing to do with these latter things. It means one thing and one thing only – to die to one’s carnal nature.

If it were true that many saints are going to miss out on the Rapture because they missed the “second-blessing-boat” or forfeited a second work of grace, 1 Corinthians 3:11-16 would have been a complete misnomer. Note carefully that Paul is speaking to saints in whom the Holy Spirit dwells (verse 16). And yet there are some among those in whom the Holy Spirit dwells whose carnal disposition (building with wood, hay, stubble) will have an effect on their rewards but will not impede their being raptured in any way. As a matter of fact, the saints who built on the foundation (Jesus Christ) using wood, hay and stubble (all carnally imbued materials) will appear together with the rest who built on the foundation with gold, silver and precious stones (all Holy Spirit imbued materials) at the Bema Throne judgment which takes place in heaven after the Pre-Trib Rapture. So, it proves beyond any doubt that the carnally disposed saints are also going to be raptured despite Malan’s claim that they are going to remain behind because they never sought and attained a second work of grace. Furthermore, verse 16 which plainly says that the Holy Spirit dwells in both the spiritually mature and the spiritually immature (carnally minded Christians who build with wood, hay and stubble on the foundation) proves that both the mature and immature must of necessity be raptured. How do we know? Well, Paul provides the answer in 2 Thessalonians 2:6 “And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.” There is only One Person who can withhold and restrain the Antichrist from being revealed and that is the Holy Spirit. If the Holy Spirit dwells in both the spiritually mature and the spiritually immature (carnally minded) Christians as we’ve seen from 1 Corinthians 3:11-16, then both these groups (shall we call them the “gold, silver and precious stones” group and the “wood, hay and stubble group”) MUST of necessity be raptured. If the latter group were to remain behind because the door will allegedly be shut on them by virtue of their lack of a second work of grace, then the Holy Spirit will have to be taken out of the way only partially. That’s impossible.

Irma

That is a fantastic analogy, however just to be clear, sanctification begins at the moment of conversion and although it might appear like a second work it is not, just because the change in the person takes longer or slower from one person to the next does not mean we need to seek after this ‘experience’ called a second work of grace that will somehow make you ‘perfect’.

But thanks for your comment, I like it a lot:)