Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord

Hebrews 12:14-17 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

¹⁴ Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. ¹⁵ See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; ¹⁶ that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. ¹⁷ For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.

These four short verses contain enough wisdom and instruction for our lives to changes us significantly, if we will make them a priority, a matter of our heart not simply our mind. It says first:  “pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.” Peace and sanctification then, are things which need to be pursued. They will not come to us nor will they just happen in our lives. Of course the beginning of our pursuit of peace and sanctification is when we come to Christ, when we accept the redemptive, reconciliatory work of the cross in our lives. Romans 5:10-11 says:  For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. ¹¹ And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.        Philippians 4:7 says: the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

So in Christ, we have both, peace with God and the peace of God. That is a gift from God which comes through His grace along with salvation. Peace with men on the other hand is something we must pursue throughout our lives. The sanctification, without which no one will see the Lord, is the second part of this statement of what we are to pursue. A critical part of our sanctification, our becoming Christ like, which also will allow us to pursue peace with all men, is to live lives of true forgiveness. Not the forgiveness of normal human experience. There are many things which tend to distort and degrade human forgiveness. Human forgiveness is often conditional. We tend to wait until we see the full extent of the hurt or damage done to us before we determine whether or not we can fully forgive. We also too often make our forgiveness of some one’s actions conditional on their repentance, their sorrow for the hurt that they have caused. We also have a tendency to base our forgiveness on our need to point out to the other party how they have hurt or offended us.

True Godly forgiveness has none of those conditions or qualifications. The forgiveness of God is unconditional.  God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8) God doesn’t wait for us to make everything right in our lives. Christ also died for sins once for all  (1 Peter 3:18) The forgiveness of sin is for all people for all time, the only condition is that we accept Christ’s sacrifice for us. Jesus did not feel it necessary to name our sins. On the cross, while He paid the price for our sin He said: "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." (Luke 23:34) In order for us to be able to truly forgive, to pursue sanctification and peace with all men, we too need to accept the fact that people will hurt and offend us. Those who will hurt and offend us include both our closest friends and family and our enemies and adversaries. We need to:  Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. (Ephesians 4:32) That’s not easy. It is not the normal, natural human response to hurts and offense. But it is critical to our pursuit of sanctification and peace with all men.

The text continues: “ See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled.” When we hold onto unforgiveness we nurture a seed of bitterness within ourselves. That seed, if allowed to exist sends forth deep and twisting roots, roots that entangle both ourselves and everyone and everything we touch, by it many are defiled.  In our own strength, ability and human love we will all fall short.  We love, because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19) We can only extend grace to others because of the grace of God.  

The text began by saying that without peace and sanctification no one would see God. Verses 16-17 says: “ that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. ¹⁷ For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.”  Seeing God, abiding with Him is part of the birthright we have in and through Christ. Esau sold his birthright for a single meal. He missed out on the benefits, the privileges and promises of his birthright in order to satisfy a temporary desire. There are many things the world will offer us in exchange for the birthright we have in Christ. Jesus says: “your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:32-33)  

The kingdom of God, His righteousness, peace with all men, sanctification, the grace of God, all these things are our first and lifelong pursuit, our birthright and our eternal promise.

Thank You Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit through Your grace, the finished work of the cross and the indwelling power of the Spirit, I have these things. I am reconciled and restored, able to see and fellowship with You. Empower me to live in such a way, to let  Your light shine before men in such a way that they may see Your good works, and glorify You, my Father who is in heaven.      Amen.