We, as the people of God, have an end-goal, which is total holiness. We have promises from God and because of that, as well as our reverence for Him, we need on to move on to that hight calling of holiness by cleansing ourselves of all unrighteousness. There is no better way to increase the holiness of the Church as a whole, than for the increase in each individual’s holiness. It is the responsibility of each individual believer to turn away from wickedness in response to the washing of the water of the Word of God. This washing provides the grace unto destroying all uncleanness. No sin, however small it seems to be, must remain undealt with. However, our lives do not only consist out of getting rid of sin, but also continually growing and getting better. There are two forms of holiness: the positional holiness which we obtain when we get saved, and the holiness that we pursue. We firstly pursue holiness because we love God, but because we love our neighbour as well, we also need to encourage each other unto holiness. Our hearts must be good soil to receive the Word to see it grow in our lives. To experience this growth, we must work on the state of our hearts, tilling the ground, watering it by stirring up the fountain within. For the seed of the word to be fruitful and perfected in us, it needs teaching, guidance, correction support. That is what the parable about a harvest of 30, 40, and one hundred percentage is actually referring to. Cultivate holiness by reading and loving the Word. Although it is God’s will for us to be holy it requires action and choices from us to fulfil this good purpose in us. By choosing to abide in Christ, we are not only lifted up out of the dust (like the vine), but also pruned unto greater fruitfulness or holiness. We need to ask for the gift of grace to keep killing everything unholy in our lives, and our fruitfulness will fill us with God’s joy. Bearing fruit has everything to do with loving one another. Holiness is not the way to Christ, but He is the way to holiness.
