The Pursuit of Peace and Holiness

"Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord..."

Hebrews 12:14

I have been meditating on this verse lately, and the wisdom and simplicity of it is marvellous.  The writer of Hebrews exhorts the pursuit of peace with all people, yet never at the expense of holiness.  There is a peace the world holds as an ideal not hardly realised, a coexistence which requires accommodation and compromise.  Genuine peace can never be obtained without resolved conflict, but the world's way of peace is to avoid conflict at all costs.  This pseudo-peace is far removed from the peace Jesus Christ offers those who trust in Him.  Jesus said in John 14:27, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."  The peace Jesus gives is not contingent on external circumstances but is secured in the hearts of all who look to Jesus Christ as LORD and Saviour.

The temptation for Christians in our pursuit of peace is to compromise in God's righteous standard of holiness, to find middle ground where there can be none.  Jesus spoke to His disciples in Luke 16:13:  "No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."  I believe Jesus said these words to His disciples because there is a tendency in all people towards divided loyalty.  We imagine as servants of all we can effectively serve two masters, but this cannot be.  There is no peace within us when we are caught between two opinions, not convinced in our minds about what is right.  This current age of subjectivity, political correctness, and sensitivity exacerbates this because it is seen as wrong to offend - even if for good reason.

We are commanded to pursue peace with all and holiness because without it no one will see the LORD.  God is holy, and nothing that is sinful or defiles can enter into His presence.  By the grace of God we can be deemed holy through the Gospel when we repent and trust in Jesus.  Our sins are atoned for by the precious shed blood of Jesus on Calvary, we are washed clean and forgiven, and the righteousness of Jesus is imputed to us by grace through faith.  Born-again Christians are thus made holy.  At the same time, however, we must take to heart passages like 1 Peter 1:13-16:  "Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; ¹⁴ as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; ¹⁵ but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, ¹⁶ because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy."  God has declared us holy, but we are also told to be holy - to live in agreement with God's holiness.  We are called to obedience to God and not to be conformed or shaped by this sin-steeped world.

We were once cut off from God due to our sinful rebellion, but by God's grace we can raise cleansed, holy hands to our Saviour in praise.  The Bible Knowledge Commentary made an interesting observation concerning the Hebrews passage:  "Since no sin can stand in God's presence, Christians must—and will be—sinless when they see the Lord (cf. 1 John 3:2). That realisation offers motivation for pursuing holiness here and now. But the author may also have had in mind the thought that one's perception of God even now is conditioned by his real measure of holiness (cf. Matt. 5:8)."  Many have, in their personal pursuit of holiness, arrogantly and without compassion disposed of relationships with others.  They have seen the pursuit of peace - with even brothers and sisters in Christ - as an unnecessary effort to stand up for self or teach other people a lesson.  If behaving in an unloving manner is the lesson, it is a lesson what not to do.  The log in our own eye has a way of blinding us from our own pride (Matt. 7:1-5).  How important is it for us to maintain a godly balance in our pursuit of peace and holiness:  there is no holiness without peace with God, and their is no peace with others when we deviate from God's holiness.