“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.” (Hebrews 12:14-17 ESV)
If we read this first sentence as one whole thought, I believe that we will see that this is not saying that we should be at peace with all people in the sense of absence of conflict. For holiness means to be unlike, different from the world, because we are being conformed by God to his likeness of character. And this word “peace” means “to join, tie together into a whole,” “properly wholeness, i.e. when all essential parts are joined together.” (interlinear) And we are to be joined to Christ and to his body, but not to the world.
But as much as we can be at peace with all people to where we are not fighting with anyone, we should strive for peace. We should not be troublemakers and those who just enjoy stirring up conflict. Yet, as servants of the Lord, we must be his witnesses in taking the truth of the gospel to the people. And when we speak the truth in love to people we are going to have people who will try to fight against us and who will reject us and persecute us, and some of these people may profess faith in Jesus Christ.
And then notice with me what this says about holiness, “without which no one will see the Lord.” Do you see what this is saying? If we are not living holy lives, in practice, to the glory of God, in walks of obedience to his commands, we will not see the Lord. We will not inherit eternal life with God regardless of what we confess with our lips. For Jesus Christ died on that cross so that we will die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, and so that we will no longer make sin our habit.
So we cannot be worldly people, and not godly, in practice, and still have the hope of salvation from sin and eternal life with God. If we are there, living that way, and if we continue to live worldly lives in disobedience to our Lord, and in walks of sin, and if we do not repent of our sins, and turn, and now follow Jesus in obedience, the Scriptures teach clearly that we will not inherit eternal life with God. For it is not enough to just give lip service to the Lord, but we must walk in accord with his will and purpose for our lives.
And this is why the church is given warning after warning all throughout the New Testament against walking in sin, and against worldly living, and against disobedience to our Lord’s commandments under the New Covenant. For when it says to “see to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God…,” it is letting the church know that a mere profession of faith in Jesus Christ is not going to land them in heaven. They must die to sin daily and walk in obedience to the Lord, or they will not have eternal life with God.
For God’s grace to us is not just forgiveness of all sins and the guarantee of heaven when we die. God’s grace sent Jesus Christ to that cross to put our sins to death with him so that, by faith in him, we will be crucified with Christ in death to sin, and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. And God’s grace is training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives.
[1 Peter 2:24; Romans 6:1-23; Luke 9:23-26; Titus 2:11-14; Acts 26:18]
And then we have a warning here that we are to see to it that no “root of bitterness” springs up within us and by it we become defiled. For the Bible teaches us that “out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.” And these stem from what is stored up in the heart in the way of bitterness, hatred, anger, resentment, pride, selfishness, unforgiveness, and revenge, etc. For what is stored up in our hearts comes out in our actions and words and attitudes.
[Luke 6:45; Matthew 15:17-20]
So what this is saying is that what we have stuffed in our hearts impacts how we treat God and how we treat other people. For example, if someone was hurt by a family member early on his life, he may become angry with that family member and hold on to that anger throughout his life. If the family member was female, for example, he may end up hating all women, yet he may be a smooth-talker and a charmer at the same time. But deep down he devalues women and so sexual immorality is what he goes to.
And that is why we have the example of Cain and Abel. Abel’s offering to God was acceptable to God but Cain’s was not, and so he hated his brother because his brother’s deeds were righteous and his were not. And then we have the example here of Esau who sold his birthright for a single meal. He sold his inheritance to feed his flesh, and that is what many professing Christians are doing today, living in sin, and not in walks of obedience to the Lord, and thus they have sold their inheritance to feed their own flesh.
So we need to take these biblical warnings to us seriously and not just assume that we are a “shoe in” (a guaranteed winner) to go to heaven when we die just because we profess faith in the Lord Jesus, and/or just because we attend gatherings of what are called “churches” religiously on Sunday mornings. For true worship of God is not something we do religiously once a week for an hour or two. True worship of God is 24/7 and it involves surrender of our lives to the Lord in holy living, by the grace of God.
[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2]
Songs in the Night
An Original Work / December 18, 2013
“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25 NIV ‘84
Lord, I praise You forevermore.
You, my Savior, I now adore.
Hope in heaven awaiting me,
Because You died at Calvary.
I have been forgiven,
And I’m bound for heaven.
Jesus set me free from
All my sin, I say.
I will praise Him always!
Lord, I love You for all You’ve done:
Overcame death, my vict’ry won!
Jesus saved me, and now I’m free!
I rejoice in His love for me.
I will walk in vict’ry!
My sin is but hist’ry!
I am free to please Him
With my life today.
I will love Him always!
Lord, I thank You for giving me
A new life bought at Calvary.
Loving Jesus, I meet with Him.
Tender mercies now flow within.
Lord, I am so thankful;
Through my Lord, I’m able
To sit at His table;
Fellowship with Him.
I will thank Him always!
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