13 Sep 2012
I John 3:3
I John 3:3: “And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.”
I keep seeing this idea all throughout the Bible – that people who believe in Jesus and have the hope of everlasting life will seek holiness. What I see in churches, though, is different: people tell me that it makes no difference how you live because all believers go to Heaven, so they can be as sinful or corrupt as they please and it doesn’t matter. The church today does not see everlasting life as an incentive to be holy: they see it as an incentive to be worldly, selfish, and sinful.
But that is not how it should be, and that is not at all what the Bible commands. I suspect that those who spent their time seeking after the lusts of the flesh will not be happy when Jesus returns. I think they will find that their decision to be disobedient and self-centered is not going to turn out well for them, and I suspect they will bitterly regret it. But the moment they see Jesus it will be far too late for them to change. Once your time on Earth has ended you can no longer change it.
This verse is quite clear: the hope of everlasting life should motivate us to seek holiness – to hate even the garment spotted with the flesh. Holiness and righteousness should be on our mind, not the latest fads or whatever material goods the world is trying to push. We are immortals; we will see the destruction of this world and live beyond it. All of these material things will be destroyed; they pull us away from God, they distract us, and there is no profit in them. What God wants us to do is seek holiness, love, and obedience: those things are worth seeking after, and they will never be destroyed.