Answers from church history on today's questions
What Christian writers said, from about AD 391 to 1916.
38 passages · 23 writers · 7 centuries
Writers on Hebrews 12:14 read the holiness named there as sanctification: Fausset translates the word so, Manning and Spurgeon describe it as the Spirit's work in the soul, and Calvin says we see God only with eyes renewed after his image. Spurgeon says the holiness the text requires is not perfection but a thing of growth, and Chrysostom and de Sales take it to include chaste living and purity. Ryle says holiness is required because God commands it, Owen says God has decreed it, and Charnock and Spurgeon say God is holy and can be seen only by those made like him. Ryle calls heaven a holy place, and South says heaven would be no place of happiness to an impure, unsanctified person. Owen, Augustine, de Sales, and Moule connect the verse with the pure in heart seeing God, which Owen cites as Matthew 5:8.
13 passages · 11 writers · 300s to 1900s
Calvin says holiness is the bond of our union with God, and that no man shall see God except with eyes renewed after his image. Fausset translates the word as sanctification and says our part is to put on God's holiness, becoming holy as he is holy. Manning says it is a positive endowment of the soul, awakened and empowered by the Spirit of God. Spurgeon says the text deals with inward, personal holiness and not imputed holiness, and that this holiness is not perfection but a thing of growth. De Sales says the Apostle means purity by holiness, and Augustine says the heart is purified by faith working through love. Chrysostom says holiness here means chaste and orderly living, in marriage or in remaining pure. Moule says believers are to pursue sanctification, a dedication of themselves to the Holy One. Watson says we must not purchase peace with the loss of holiness, and Barnes says believers should make holiness their aim instead of revenge.
391–430 · Augustine of Hippo, Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament (Sermones 51-147) 3.16
“Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see God.” For by this is the heart purified; for that in it is that faith “which worketh by love.” Hence, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
c. 403–404 · John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Epistle to the Hebrews 30.3
What does he mean by “holiness” ? Chaste, and orderly living in marriage. If any person is unmarried (he says) let him remain pure, let him marry: or if he be married, let him not commit fornication, but let him live with his own wife: for this also is “holiness.”
c. 403–404 · John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Epistle to the Hebrews 30.3
Marriage is not “holiness,” but marriage preserves the holiness which [proceeds] from Faith, not permitting union with a harlot. For “marriage is honorable” ( c. xiii. 4 ), not holy. Marriage is pure: it does not however also give holiness, except by forbidding the defilement of that [holiness] which has been given by our Faith.
1549 · John Calvin, Commentary on Hebrews 12.14
As however peace cannot be maintained with the ungodly except on the condition of approving of their vices and wickedness, the Apostle immediately adds, that holiness is to be followed together with peace; as though he commended peace to us with this exception, that the friendship of the wicked is not to be allowed to defile or pollute us; for holiness has an especial regard to God. Though then the whole world were roused to a blazing war, yet holiness is not to be forsaken, for it is the bond of our union with God. In short, let us quietly cherish concord with men, but only, according to the proverb, as far as conscience allows. He declares, that without holiness no man shall see the Lord; for with no other eyes shall we see God than those which have been renewed after his image.
1608 · Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life 3.12
The Apostle says, “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:” by which holiness he means purity. Of a truth, my daughter, without purity no one can ever see God; nor can any hope to dwell in His tabernacle except he lead an uncorrupt life; and our Blessed Lord Himself has promised the special blessing of beholding Him to those that are pure in heart.
1660 · Thomas Watson, The Beatitudes 18
‘Follow peace and holiness’ (Hebrews 12:14). We must not purchase peace with the loss of holiness.
1754 · John Wesley, Explanatory Notes on Hebrews 12.14
Follow peace with all men - This second branch of the exhortation concerns our neighbours; the third, God. And holiness - The not following after all holiness, is the direct way to fall into sin of every kind.
1834 · Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible: Hebrews 12.14
We are to make war with sin, but not with people; with bad passions and corrupt desires, but not with our fellow-worms. And holiness - Instead of yielding to contending passions and to a spirit of war; instead of seeking revenge on your persecutors and foes, make it rather your aim to be holy. Let that be the object of your pursuit; the great purpose of your life. Men might in such cases counsel them to seek revenge; the spirit of religion would counsel them to strive to be holy. In such times they were in great danger of giving indulgence to evil passions, and hence, the special propriety of the exhortation to endeavor to be holy. Without which no man shall see the Lord - That is, shall see him in peace; or shall so see him as to dwell with him.
1850 · Henry Edward Manning, Sermons, Volume 4 1
When, then, St. Paul speaks of holiness, “without which no man shall see the Lord,” he means a positive endowment of the soul. Just as the intellect is developed and trained by the discipline of science, so as to awaken new faculties, powers, and perceptions, and to bring a new range of objects within its sphere of intelligence and of fruition, so is it with holiness, without which no man shall see God. Sanctity is a state and discipline of the soul, awakened, unfolded, and empowered by the Spirit of God, to know, love, and delight in Him.
1870 · Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Spurgeon's Sermons, Volume 16 (1870) 940
"Follow peace with all men, and holiness." The amplification of the term "holiness" is the solemn declaration, "without which no man shall see the Lord." Certain theologians are so averse to the preaching of practical holiness that they have tried to import into these words the idea of imputed righteousness. In imputed righteousness I glory, but it is not mentioned here. No, my Hearer, it is utterly impossible that the text should mean anything of the kind, because you will observe that we are to "follow" it, whatever it may be. Now, we do not follow imputed righteousness, for as soon as we put our trust in Christ we are justified through His righteousness. It is not a Grace to be followed, it is a benefit possessed already by every Christian. This text deals with inward, personal holiness, and nothing else. Imputed holiness is a gross misuse of terms. It is not Scriptural, and it is a thorough perversion of this passage to force such a sense upon it.
1871 · A. R. Fausset, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on Hebrews 12.14
holiness—a distinct Greek word from God's "holiness" (Heb 12:10). Translate here "sanctification." His is absolute holiness: our part is to put on His holiness, becoming "holy as He is holy," by sanctification. While "following peace with all men," we are not so to seek to please them, as to make God's will and our sanctification a secondary object; this latter must be our first aim.
1904 · Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Spurgeon's Sermons, Volume 50 (1904) 2902
First, then, Brothers and Sisters, you are anxious to know whether you have holiness or not. Now, if our text said that without perfection of holiness, no one could have any communion with Christ, it would shut every one of us out, for no one who knows his own heart ever pretends to be perfectly conformed to God's will! It does not say, "Perfection of holiness," but, "holiness." This holiness is a thing of growth. It may be in the soul as small as a grain of mustard seed and yet not developed. It may be in the heart as a wish and a desire, rather than anything that has been fully realized—a groan, a pant, a longing, a striving. As the Spirit of God waters it, it will grow till the mustard seed shall become a tree. Holiness in a regenerate heart, is but an infant. It is not matured—it is perfect in all its parts, but not perfect in its development.
1909 · Handley C. G. Moule, Messages from the Epistle to the Hebrews 11
The Writer lays it upon them (ver. 14) to "pursue peace with all," such peace as always tends, even in bad times, to reward the "sons of peace," while they so behave themselves as never on their own part to contribute a factor to avoidable strife, and while the influence of their meek consistency leavens in some measure the mass around them. With equal and concurrent care they are to "pursue sanctification." It is to be their strong ambition to develope and deepen incessantly that dedication of themselves to the Holy One which will give them at once the standard and the secret of holiness, by bringing them into immediate contact with Him who is at once their law and their life. They are to "live out," in the spirit of a resolute quest after fuller and yet fuller attainment, the fact that He has redeemed them to be "a people of His own possession"; remembering, with a solemn simplicity of conviction, that only "the pure in heart" shall ever be able to "see God."
25 passages · 15 writers · 1600s to 1900s
Ryle says we must be holy because the voice of God in Scripture commands it, and because without holiness on earth we shall never be prepared to enjoy heaven, which is a holy place. Owen says it is fixed by God's eternal decree that no one attains glory without holiness, and that God has appointed holiness as the way to eternal life. Owen also cites Matthew 5:8, that only the pure in heart shall see God. Charnock says likeness is the ground of communion with God, and Spurgeon says the holy God can only be seen by holy eyes. Goodwin says holiness makes us fit to live with the holy God for ever, since without it we cannot see him. Watson says there is no going to heaven without sanctification, since God is a holy God and will suffer no unholy creature to come near him. Tillotson says nothing unclean can enter heaven and that God has declared that without holiness no man shall see the Lord. South says that if an impure, unsanctified person could enter heaven, it would be no place of happiness to him. Maclaren says purity of heart is the condition of the vision of God in heaven, and that the future life is the necessary consequence of holiness. Newton says sanctification is not the ground of a good hope but its certain concomitant.
1647–1657 · Thomas Manton, Works, vol. V An Exposition, with Notes, upon the Epistle of Jude, Verse 1
Another reason why we must be sanctified is, because of the hopes to which we are called and the happiness which we expect. Now we cannot have it unless we be holy: Heb. xii, 14, ‘Without holiness no man shall see God.’ We are bidden in that verse to ‘follow peace,’ but chiefly ‘holiness;’ for it is not said that without peace no man shall see God. Peace may be often broken in the quarrel of truth and holiness, and so God’s children may be passively men of contention. Ay! but for all that they shall see God: but those that are not holy he cannot endure their presence, and therefore they shall never see his face, and enjoy him hereafter. Usually by a fond abuse we restrain the word saints to the saints departed. Ay! but we must be saints here, or else we shall never be saints hereafter. I mean true saints; for by another abuse the word saints is made matter of pretence in some, and matter of scorn by others; but to be saints indeed, that is all the evidence you have to show for your interest in your glorious hopes. What should others do with heaven that are not saints? How can they see God that have not a pure eye? A dusky glass cannot represent the image: the degree of vision is according to the degree of sanctification. And what should a carnal heart, that knoweth no other heaven but to eat, drink, and sleep, and wallow in sensual delights, do with ‘the inheritance of the saints in light?’ The apostle saith, we must be ‘made meet’ for such a state, Col. i. 12.
1655–1662 · William Gurnall, The Christian in Complete Armour Part 17. DIRECTION SIXTH. The Several Pieces of the Whole Armour of God. Second Piece—The
It is holiness that is, though not our plea, yet our evidence for heaven. ‘Without holiness no man shall see the Lord.’ Heaven is a city where righteousness dwells. Though God suffer the earth to bear for a while unholy men—which it doth not without sweating under their weight, and groaning to be rid of the load—yet sure he will never pester heaven with such a crew. Before Enoch was translated to heaven, he walked holily with God on earth; which made God desire his company so soon. O friends! do we like an empty profession? such a religion as will leave us short of heaven? or can we reasonably expect a dispensation above others, that we should commence glorified creatures in heaven, without keeping our acts, and performing the exercises of godliness which God hath laid upon those that will stand candidates for that place? Certainly, what God hath written in his word, as to this, shall stand. He will not make a blot in his decrees for any; which he should, did he alter the method of salvation in the least. Either, therefore, we must renounce our hopes of going thither, or resolve to walk in the path of holiness, that will lead us thither.
1673 · Richard Baxter, A Christian Directory Chapter Xxx.directions for the Sick
Opinions and customary forms in religion will not serve the turn; to be of this or that party, or church, or communion, will not save you. It is only the soul that is justified by Christ, and sanctified by his Spirit, and brought up to the love of God and holiness, that shall be saved. Whatever opinion or church you are of, without holiness you shall never see God to your comfort, as without faith it is impossible to please him, Heb. xii. 14; xi. 6; Rom. viii. 6, 7, 9.
1674 · John Owen, Pneumatologia, or a Discourse Concerning the Holy Spirit (Books I-V) 5.1
It ariseth from a respect unto our future everlasting enjoyment of him. This is our utmost end, which if we come short of (life itself is the greatest loss), better ten thousand times we had never been; for without it a continuance in everlasting miseries is inseparable from our state and condition. Now, this is never attainable by any unholy person. “Follow holiness,” saith our apostle, “without which no man shall see the Lord;” for it is the “pure in heart” only that “shall see God,” Matt. v. 8.
1674 · John Owen, Pneumatologia, or a Discourse Concerning the Holy Spirit (Books I-V) 5.2
First, That such is the nature of the unalterable decree of God in this matter, that no person living can ever attain the end of glory and happiness without the means of grace and holiness; the same eternal purpose respecteth both. I shall afterward show how the infallible and indissolvable connection of these things is established by the law of God. Our present argument is from hence, that it is fixed by God’s eternal decree. He hath ordained none to salvation, but he hath ordained them antecedently to be holy. Not the least infant that goes out of this world shall come to eternal rest unless it be sanctified, and so made habitually and radically holy. He chooseth none to salvation but through the sanctification of the Spirit. As, therefore, whatever else we have or may seem to have, it is contrary to the nature of God that we should come to the enjoyment of him if we are not holy, so it is contrary to his eternal and unchangeable decree also.
1674 · John Owen, A Vindication of Some Passages in a Discourse concerning Communion with God whole
God hath appointed that holiness shall be the means, the way to that eternal life, which, as in itself and originally [it] is his gift by Jesus Christ, so, with regard to his constitution of our obedience, as the means of attaining it, [it] is a reward, and God in bestowing of it a rewarder. Though it be neither the cause, matter, nor condition of our justification, yet it is the way appointed of God for us to walk in for the obtaining of salvation. And therefore, he that hath hope of eternal life purifies himself, as he is pure: and none shall ever come to that end who walketh not in that way; for without holiness it is impossible to see God.
1675–1680 · Stephen Charnock, Discourses upon the Existence and Attributes of God 11
Since it is our beauty and our life, without it what communion can an excellent God have with deformed creatures; a living God with dead creatures? “Without holiness none shall see God” (Heb. xii. 14). The creature must be stripped of his unrighteousness, or God of his purity, before they can come together. Likeness is the ground of communion, and of delight in it: the opposition between God and unholy souls is as great as that between “light and darkness” (1 John i. 6). Divine fruition is not so much by a union of presence as a union of nature. Heaven is not so much an outward as an inward life; the foundation of glory is laid in grace; a resemblance to God is our vital happiness, without which the vision of God would not be so much as a cloudy and shadowy happiness, but rather a torment than a felicity; unless we be of a like nature to God, we cannot have a pleasing fruition of him.
1692 · Thomas Watson, A Body of Divinity, Contained in Sermons upon the Westminster Assembly's Catechism 6.5
There is no going to heaven without sanctification. ‘Without holiness no man shall see the Lord.' Heb 12:14. God is a holy God, and he will suffer no unholy creature to come near him.
1706–1708 · Matthew Henry, Commentary on Leviticus 15.19-33
Let us all see how indispensably necessary real holiness is to our future happiness, and get our hearts purified by faith, that we may see God. Perhaps it is in allusion to these laws which forbade the unclean to approach the sanctuary that when it is asked, Who shall stand in God's holy place? it is answered, He that hath clean hands and a pure heart (Ps. xxxiv. 3, 4); for without holiness no man shall see the Lord.
1784–1785 · John Newton, Messiah: Expository Discourses on the Scripture Passages Contained in Handel's Oratorio, Volume II (Sermons XXVI-L) 39
How far our assurance is solid may be estimated by its effects. It will surely make us humble, spiritual, peaceful and patient. I pity those who talk confidently of their hope, as if they were out of the reach of doubts and fears, while their tempers are unsanctified and their hearts are visibly attached to the love of the present world. I fear they know but little of what they say. I am better pleased when persons of this character complain of doubts and darkness. It proves at least that they are not destitute of feeling, nor, as yet, lulled into a spirit of careless security. And there are professors, whom instead of endeavouring to comfort in their present state, I would rather wish to make still more suspicious of themselves than they are; till they are convinced of the impossibility of enjoying true peace while their hearts are divided between God and the world. For though sanctification is not the ground of a good hope, it is the certain concomitant [accompaniment] of it. If it be true that without holiness no man shall see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14) , it must likewise be true that without holiness no man can have a Scriptural and well-founded hope of seeing Him. (4.)
1820 · John Tillotson, Works, Volume 4: Sermons LV-LXXXIV 68
Nothing that is unclean can enter into heaven. He who is to receive us into those blessed mansions, hath declared it to be his immutable resolution and decree, that “without holiness no man shall see the Lord.” And therefore, as ever we hope to see God in that happy and blissful state, we must “cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, and perfect holiness in the fear of God;” that having rendered ourselves as like him as we can in this world, we may be capable of the blessed sight and enjoyment of him in the other.
1823 · Robert South, Sermons Preached Upon Several Occasions, Volume 4 20
Nay further, purity and holiness does not only fit us for heaven, so that without it we can have no entrance or admittance there; but it also so fits us, that if it were possible for us to enter into heaven void of it, heaven would be no place of happiness to us in that condition, but a place of trouble, torment, and vexation. As for instance, it is impossible for a beggar in his rags to be admitted to the society and converse of princes and noblemen; but put the case that he were, yet his beggarly condition would never suffer him to enjoy himself in that company, in which he could be nothing but a mock and a derision. In like manner, heaven bears no suitableness to an impure, unsanctified person.
1834 · Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible: Hebrews 12.14
Heaven and earth will pass away, but God will not admit one unrepenting and unpardoned sinner to heaven. It was the importance and the certainty of this principle which made the apostle insist on it here with so much earnestness. Amidst all their trials; when exposed to persecution; and when everything might tempt them to the indulgence of feelings which were the opposite of holiness, they were to make it their great object to be like God. For this they were to seek, to strive, to labor, to pray. This with us in all our trials should also be the great aim of life. How deeply affecting then is the inquiry whether we have that holiness which is indispensable to salvation! Let us not deceive ourselves. We may have many things else - many things which are in themselves desirable, but without this one thing we shall never see the Lord in peace. We may have wealth, genius, learning, beauty, accomplishments, houses, lands, books, friends - but without religion they will be all in vain. Never can we see God in peace without a holy heart; never can we be admitted into heaven without that religion which will identify us with the angels around the throne!
1861 · Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Spurgeon's Sermons, Volume 7 (1861) 385
We are chosen unto salvation, it is said, “through sanctification of the Spirit and the belief of the truth;” and, without this sanctification of the Spirit and the belief of the truth, there is no holiness; and, “without holiness, no man can see the Lord.” Without holiness, no man would be capable of serving God in heaven; without holiness, no man would be capable of beholding the glories of Jesus Christ there; without holiness, no man can serve God with power and success here; without holiness, no man can have fellowship with God, and so have fellowship with us, for truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his son Jesus Christ.
1870 · Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Spurgeon's Sermons, Volume 16 (1870) 940
You must pursue it with determination, with eagerness, with long-continued perseverance, as a hunter pursues his prey. You have not yet gained all the holiness which you may have and ought to have.
1870 · Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Spurgeon's Sermons, Volume 16 (1870) 940
ren, I judge you not, it is God's Word that judges, and I pray you regard its infallible utterance—"Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." In the Greek there are no less than three negatives in this passage, as though it said, "No never, no man shall see the Lord."
1870 · Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Spurgeon's Sermons, Volume 16 (1870) 940
I understand by this sentence, in the first place, that no person who is unholy can see or understand Christ the Lord, or God His Father. That is to say, he does not know who Christ is so as to have any real fellowship with Him. He may know His name, and know His history, and have some theoretical ideas of what the Redeemer did and is, but he cannot see with spiritual eyesight as holy men do. He cannot, in fact, discern the spiritual Character and teaching of the Lord. But perhaps the great meaning lies in this—without holiness no man can see the Lord in Heaven at last. He will see Him on the Throne of Judgment—but he cannot see Him as his Friend—he cannot see Him in that beatific vision which is appointed for the sanctified. He cannot see Him so as to find joy and delight in the sight of Him.
1872 · Thomas Goodwin, The Treasury of David, vol. 1 (Psalms 1-26) 4.q8
When God chooseth a man, he chooseth him for himself; for himself to converse with, to communicate himself unto him as a friend, a companion, and his delight. Now, it is holiness that makes us fit to live with the holy God for ever, since without it we cannot see him (Heb. xii. 14), which is God’s main aim, and more than our being his children; as one must be supposed a man, one of mankind, having a soul reasonable, ere we can suppose him capable of adoption, or to be another man’s heir. As therefore it was the main first design in God’s eye, before the consideration of our happiness, let it be so in ours.
1877 · J. C. Ryle, Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, and Roots 3
Why then is holiness so important? Why does the Apostle say, “Without it no man shall see the Lord”? Let me set out in order a few reasons. (a) For one thing, we must be holy, because the voice of God in Scripture plainly commands it. The Lord Jesus says to His people, “Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. v. 20.) “Be ye perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” (Matt. v. 48.) Paul tells the Thessalonians, “This is the will of God, even your sanctification.” (1 Thess. iv. 3.) And Peter says, “As He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;” because it is written, “Be ye holy, for I am holy.” (1 Peter i. 15, 16.)
1877 · J. C. Ryle, Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, and Roots 2
“Without holiness no man shall see the Lord”; without sanctification there is no salvation. (Heb. xii. 14.) Then what an enormous amount of so-called religion there is which is perfectly useless!
1877 · J. C. Ryle, Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, and Roots 3
Oh, for our own sakes, if there were no other reason, let us strive to be holy! He that follows Jesus most fully will always follow Him most comfortably. (h) Lastly, we must be holy, because without holiness on earth we shall never be prepared to enjoy heaven. Heaven is a holy place.
1905–1906 · Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture: Matthew (chapters 9 to 28) 25.10
For to talk about the next world as a place of retribution is but an imperfect statement of the case. It is not a place of retribution so much as of outcome, and the apostle gives a completer view when he says, ‘Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.’ That future life is not the reward of goodness so much as the necessary consequence of holiness. Holiness and blessedness are, in some measure, separated here; there they are two names for the one condition. ‘No man shall see the Lord,’ without that holiness.
1909 · Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture: Matthew (chapters 1 to 8) 5.1-16
Purity of heart is the condition of the vision of God in heaven. Without holiness, ‘no man shall see the Lord.’ The sight makes us pure, and purity makes us see. Thus heaven will be a state of ever-increasing, reciprocally acting sight and holiness.
1910 · Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Spurgeon's Sermons, Volume 56 (1910) 3206
The holy God can only be seen by holy eyes. He must make us like Himself before we can see Him.
1916 · Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Spurgeon's Sermons, Volume 62 (1916) 3519
Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord, but holiness grows not in any human heart by nature. Therefore, without the Spirit of God, who is the Author of holiness, no man could ever become an heir of immortality, or enter into the rest which remains for the people of God!
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