Holiness is the great hope of all true believers. At conversion the battle against sin was won in principle in their hearts. They saw that God’s commandments lead to life. They longed to be free from their former master, sin. They saw this as one of the greatest blessings of salvation. Not only were they justified before God from that moment, but they looked forward to being perfectly transformed until there was no sin remaining in them. They began a struggle with sin that they would never give up. Without holiness no one will see the Lord. They did not embark on this struggle with any doubt as to its outcome; they were fully assured of victory. Throughout their lifetimes, the devil tried to persuade them to give up the fight arguing that it was hopeless, but the saints triumphed through the promise of God and by the Spirit mortified the flesh. They hated what was evil and clung to what was good. They saw holiness as the great prize at the end of their pilgrimage. At times their sinful nature exerted itself and they yielded to it, but in the end the buoyancy of their spiritual nature prevailed again and they showed what was the dominant law of their hearts. Now they stand without fault before the throne of God. This prize of holiness has been given to them, but not without their showing how much they desired it. Unless we desire holiness we will not receive this great prize. No one who shirks the tremendous struggle to overcome the flesh can really say that they desire holiness. The proof of our desire is our willingness to engage in this great struggle. If holiness is not our personal hope, then we must question whether we are converted. Those who persevere to the end will receive a treasure more precious than gold. They will stand before God and even his all searching eye will find no fault with them. No longer will they have to come before the Lord and in shame confess their sin. They will not be tempted to shrink back from the Lord, overcome again by fear. Perfect love will have driven out fear forever. They will know that they are holy because the Lord wants them to be holy. He himself has made them so and how can he find fault with his own workmanship? Now they stand in the closest proximity to God and dare to come where they could never have come when they were mortal.