HEB 12 vs 14 : BIBLE VERSES EXPLANATION 1

WITHOUT HOLINESS, NO ONE SHALL SEE THE LORD.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

Heb. 12:14
"Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord"

Let me start this way.
I believe that Believers must walk in holiness. Those who know me know that I do not downplay the importance of good conduct as Believers. However, we must understand that whatever we are going to tell the Believer must begin from what Christ has done for Him and what He has become because of that. We must put the realities of our redemption before our responsibilities as Believers.

It is clear in scripture that the author and the finisher of man's salvation is Christ Jesus. The work of salvation is His responsibility. He does all the saving. What saved Noah's family was not good conduct, it was their faith in what God has said. It was God Himself who shut the door of the ark, showing us how He will take personal and ABSOLUTE responsibility for the salvation of man. [Genesis 7:16]. Faith and unbelief are the determinants of a man's eternity.

That said.

The above verse is usually the nuclear weapon that legalists use to discredit the eternal salvation of the man in Christ. And truth is, I once believed that too. But if we will carefully look at this scripture, we'd see that to say that without holiness, no man shall see the Lord[after the resurrection] can't be true.

For starters, the writer of Hebrews has already made some bold assertions before this chapter concerning the eternal salvation of the Believer.

He already pointed out that faith and unbelief is what determines our eternal rest.

"So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief" Hebrews 3:19

"For we who have believed do enter into rest..." Hebrews 4:2

He also asserted that Jesus procured ETERNAL salvation for us.

"And being made perfect, HE BECAME THE AUTHOR OF ETERNAL SALVATION unto all of them that obey him"

What obedience does he refer to here? The obedience of faith!

"Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ...to bring about the obedience of faith" Romans 16:25&26.

Studying the book of Hebrews, it is beyond argument that to obey/disobey is used for faith/unbelief.

Hence obedience here refers to a man's response to the gospel.

The writer of Hebrews continue:

"But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come...entered into the Holy Place, having OBTAINED ETERNAL REDEMPTION FOR US" Hebrews 9:11&12

Then, he also mentions that salvation is something that is solely Jesus' responsibility.

"Wherefore He [Jesus] is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them" Hebrews 7:25.

So you see, it just doesn't add up that a man who has said all these will in one single verse discredit his message by saying that without holiness no one will see the Lord [that is, enter heaven]. That would be tantamount to shooting himself in the leg.

Haven known these, we must then seek to understand what this verse is REALLY saying. Observe that NOTHING in the entire chapter 12 says anything about Heaven or the resurrection. See how he begins this verse 14:

"Follow peace with all men..."

This means, he is talking about our conduct with our fellow men. So whatever we are going to make of this verse must be within the context of our relationship with men, not heaven. So what does this mean by saying..."and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord"?

The "no man" used here refers to the "all men" used earlier in the verse. So this verse can be constructed thus:

"Follow peace with people, and holiness, without which THEY shall not see the Lord".

See the Lord where?
See the Lord IN US!

The verse is saying, walk in holiness so that men may see the Lord IN YOU. People define God by how they see us live. Hence, to live wrongly is to misrepresent our Father to the world.

This agrees with what Jesus has earlier said:

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven" Matthew 5:16

"But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you; THAT YE MAY BE CHILDREN OF YOUR FATHER WHICH IS IN HEAVEN" Matthew 5:44&45

Peter charged us likewise:

"Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshy lusts, which war against the soul; having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: That whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation" 1Peter 2:11&12

So you see, the call to walk in holiness is simply a call to represent God well ON THE EARTH. Men ought to see God's character in us. That's the whole essence of the doctrine of holiness. It's not so we can qualify to enter Heaven but so we can reveal our Father to the world in sound character and conduct.

We are saved unto good works [Ephesians 2:10, hence, to walk in holiness is not an advise, it is a command. It's a command to be true to who we REALLY are. We are a HOLY PEOPLE [1Pet. 2:9]. Christ is our holiness and righteousness [1Cor. 1:30]. So to not walk in holiness is to be living a lie. We are holy by NATURE not by CONDUCT. Our conduct simply flows from the reality of our holy nature.

This is what the writer of Hebrews is saying. Follow peace with men and walk in holiness that they may see the Lord in you.

I hope you've BEEN BLESSED. SEE YOU NEXT POST