Hebrews 12:11-17 ESV
“For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.”
A Running Theme
I have been seeing a running theme in pretty much all the
Scriptures I have read with regard to Jesus Christ and his birth (not in
reference to the Scripture above), and that is that Jesus is to be Lord and
King of our lives. He is to reign as Sovereign, as Lord, and as King over
everyone who professes him as Lord and as Savior. And this is to be the focus
as we read about his birth and as we consider why he came to the earth. Yes, he
came into this world as a baby, but he is to be KING of our hearts and lives.
Well, this is what this passage of Scripture above is focusing
on, too. Jesus did not come into this world just to live and to die in order to
remove the punishment of our sin so we can go to heaven when we die. He came to
die so that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his
righteousness. He came to die so we would now live for him and no longer for
ourselves. And he came into this world to shed his blood for us (to buy us back
for God) so we will now honor God with our bodies.
[1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:15; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20;
Romans 6:1-23]
Failing to Obtain the Grace of God
Now, we who are followers of Christ will all go through
trials and tribulations to test our faith, and sometimes, too, in order for the
Lord to teach us self-discipline and to train us in righteousness and holiness,
and sometimes to rebuke and to correct us when we go astray in order to bring
us back to him in surrender to his will. And this discipline is for our good to
keep us on course and to keep us focused on Jesus Christ and not on ourselves.
And it is that we might share in his holiness and not walk in sin.
So, if we are failing to walk with the Lord in obedience and
in surrender to his will, and if we have fallen back into sin, and if we are
not drawing on his strength and power to overcome the enemy of our souls and to
resist the devil and to flee temptation to sin, then this is an encouragement
to get back on track, and to strengthen what is weak, and to rely on the Lord
and his strength, and to now make straight (upright, righteous, holy) paths for
our feet (for our walks of faith), and to now walk in his righteousness.
Now many people have this mistaken idea of God’s grace that it
just saves us from the punishment of our sin so when we die we get to go to
heaven. But God’s grace, which is bringing us salvation, trains and instructs
us to renounce (say ‘No!’ to) ungodliness and fleshly lusts and to live
self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return.
And God’s grace frees us from our slavery (addiction) to sin and he empowers us
to live godly, holy, and obedient lives (Titus 2:11-14; Romans 6:1-23).
So, when this talks here about those who fail to obtain the
grace of God, it is because they did not believe in Jesus with God-given faith,
which involves us dying with Christ to sin and to self and us living to God and
to his righteousness. But they accepted a false grace which teaches that all
one has to do is to profess faith in Jesus and now all his sins are forgiven
and now heaven is guaranteed him regardless of how he lives, and regardless of
whether or not he forsakes his sins and follows Jesus in obedience.
But as already mentioned, God’s true grace delivers us out
of our addiction to sin so we can now walk in holiness and righteousness, and
in obedience to our Lord, in the power of God and in his strength, and
according to his purpose for our lives. But many people who profess faith in
Jesus Christ are rejecting his plan of salvation for our lives. They are
rejecting walks of purity and of righteousness, and they have granted
themselves permission to keep on in their sinful practices, in direct defiance
to the Lord.
For they are the self-indulgent who are lovers of pleasure
rather than lovers of God. They are the addicted to sin who are refusing the
Lord and his righteousness in order to pacify the sinful cravings of their
flesh. So they are pushing Jesus away rather than inviting him into their lives
to be Lord and King. They are rejecting his true grace and his power to resist
the devil and to flee temptation, and they are regularly yielding to temptation
because they love their sin and not God.
And many of them are so captivated by sin that they are also
spurning any help from other Christians who are there to help them to have
victory over sin and to walk in holiness and righteousness, for sometimes they
will say that is what they want, but then later it is obvious that is not what
they truly want, for sin is what they want more than anything else. And many of
the addicted to sin are those who are engaged in sexual immorality and/or in
substance abuse, and/or spousal or child abuse, too.
So, even though they profess Jesus as Lord and Savior of
their lives, they are failing to obtain the grace of God because they refuse
and reject the grace of God when they choose their sinful lifestyles over God
and over walks of faith and obedience to Jesus Christ. For the Scriptures teach
that if sin is what we practice, and if righteousness, holiness, and obedience
to Christ are not what we practice, that salvation from sin is not ours to
have, and we will not inherit the kingdom of heaven.
And oftentimes those who are in this position are those who
are holding on to bitterness, unforgiveness, hatred, pride, their sinful idols
and their secret sins, and they are refusing to let go of them. And so they
will never be free, even if they claim that they want to be free, and even if
they say that they desire God and his salvation. For shedding tears or having
emotional experiences is not what saves us from our sins and gives us eternal
life. We must die with Christ to sin and now walk in obedience to his commands.
There’s a Song in the Air
Author: Josiah G. Holland (1872)
There's a song in the air!
There's a star in the sky!
There's a mother's deep prayer
and a baby's low cry!
And the star rains its fire
while the beautiful sing,
for the manger of Bethlehem
cradles a King!
There's a tumult of joy
o'er the wonderful birth,
for the virgin's sweet boy
is the Lord of the earth.
Ay! the star rains its fire
while the beautiful sing,
for the manger of Bethlehem
cradles a King!
In the light of that star
lie the ages impearled;
and that song from afar
has swept over the world.
Every hearth is aflame,
and the beautiful sing
in the homes of the nations
that Jesus is King!
We rejoice in the light,
and we echo the song
that comes down through the night
from the heavenly throng.
Ay! we shout to the lovely
evangel they bring,
and we greet in his cradle
our Savior and King!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4wFYrCjCXM
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