THE PURSUIT OF PEACE ANDPURITY

"Follow peace withall men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Lookingdiligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitternessspringing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled…" (Heb 12:14-15).

The book of Hebrews was written at a time when the Church wasunder intense persecution under the Roman Emperor Nero. Nero had wanted torebuild Rome, and apparently, in A.D. 64, hepaid an arsonist to start a fire, which eventually burned a third of Rome. But when the peoplebegan to suspect Nero, he promptly shifted the blame to the Christiancommunity. The Christians were hated by the Jews who were looking for apolitical Messiah and were jealous of the ministry of the Lord. They were alsohated by the Romans because they refused to worship the emperor and theyconducted their worship behind close doors. Rumours had it that they werecannibalistic because they were eating the flesh of Christ and drinking hisblood. Christianity was immediately pronounced religio illicita—an illegalreligion and many Christians. Some we made to don animal skins and torn apartby wild dogs. Other were covered with tar, impaled on stakes and set aflame toillumine Nero’s garden as engaged in some spectator sports.

Understandably many Jewish Christians were discouraged. Theyunderstood that they were the true successors of Old Testament Judaism. But nowJudaism was religio licita—alegal religion, whereas Christianity had become religio illicita. Many weretempted to return to Judaism. It was for this reason that the Epistle to theHebrews was written. The author explains to his readers that the New Covenantwas far superior to the Old Covenant. The Old Covenant saw Christ in shadowsand types. The New Covenant saw Christ coming in the flesh, living and dyingand then being exalted to the right hand of the throne of God. And so he warnsthem that if anyone reverts to Judaism, he would be reverting to a paganreligion—for if anyone denies Christ, the Old Testament sacrifices andceremonies immediately becomes meaningless for him, and the sacrifices of sucha person would be no different from the sacrifices of idolatrous pagans whosacrifice to their hungry and impotent gods. This warning against apostasy isthe theme of the whole book. It is summarised in the last 2 verses of Hebrews10: "Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soulshall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back untoperdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul."

It is important for us to bear this background in mind when everwe study the book of Hebrews for it would help us to understand many of theotherwise apparently obscure verses such as Hebrew 12:14-15.

In Hebrews 12, the apostle was encouraging his readers topersevere in their faith despite the trials and chastisement that would comeupon them. It is one of the most sublime treatise on chastisement and sufferingin the Word of God. The apostle concludes with the exhortation: "Whereforelift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; And make straightpaths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but letit rather be healed" (Heb 12:12-13). We may very loosely paraphrase thisgraphic statement thus: "Be resolute and determined in the faith. Do nothalt between two opinions lest those who are weaker in the faith be stumbled,rather strengthen them." With this in mind, it is clear that when theapostle say: "Follow peace with allmen," he does not mean tocall us to dwell in peace with all men as in Romans 12:18. Rather, the"all men" (‘men’being interpretatively inserted by the KJV translators) speaks of all who arelame or weak in their faith. This idea is expressed in Romans 14:19—"Letus therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewithone may edify another" (Rom 14:19). In Romans 14, Paul is discussing theissue of matters of indifference. There were some in the church who were stillnot rid of Jewish festivals and dietary restrictions. But as those were days oftransition, from the Old to the New Covenant administration, Paul urged thosewho were stronger in the faith and have left those Jewish shadows not tocondemn those who were weaker. Instead, they should learn to accommodate themeven to the extend of not eating meat if meat would stumble their weakerbrethren (Rom 14:21).

By calling his readers to "follow peace with all," theapostle is, therefore, urging them not to give occasion to stumble the weakerbrethren. We do not know exactly what occasions of stumbling the apostle had inmind. Perhaps he had in mind that they might stumble the weaker brethren withthe result of unwholesome quarrels in the church by their dogmatic insistenceon certain principles or practices. For example, in the matters of the Jewishdietary laws any dogmatic insistence whether to observe or not to observe islikely to cause divisions in the church. The apostle is therefore emphatic:"follow peace with all." In the Greek, the word translated follow isnot the same word that would mean "follow along" (akoloutheô, ¢kolouqšw) as in say, Matt4:20. Rather, the word here and in Rom 14:9 is the word diôkô (dièkw), which means"pursue earnestly" or "make every effort." We are tocontinually (Greek present tense) make every effort to pursue peace in thechurch in the face of those who may, by our actions, be caused to "fail ofthe grace of God" (v. 15). This does not mean, of course, that a genuinebeliever can ever fall from grace. But a professing believer who is yet to beconverted, and is seeking the truth can certainly be stumbled and caused to"fail of the grace of God."

How does this translate to application in the modern church? Ibelieve it can be applied in a situation in which the members of a reformingchurch, such as PCC, in which there are members who are either weaker in theirconvictions on certain issues or have yet to be convinced about certaindoctrinal verity in the Confession of faith of the church. In PCC, for example,some of us are strongly convinced about exclusive psalmody, while others haveno qualms about singing uninspired hymns; some of us are fully convinced thatinfant baptism is divinely commanded, while a few have some reservation aboutthe doctrine; some of us believe that Premillennialism is heretical, while someothers are still searching or unconcerned about eschatology; again, some of usare convinced that the King James Version is the only faithful Englishtranslation, while others may prefer the New King James in private devotion.What do we do in such a situation? One sure way of stumbling one another andbreaking up the church is to quarrel with each other over these issues. Anotherway is to look down on those who have weaker conviction or talk disparaginglyabout them to others. Yet another way is to do anything often enough which maybe misconstrued as being insensitive to the feelings of those who differ fromus such as speaking often about our convictions in the company of those ofweaker conviction. Brethren, be aware of how our actions can affect othersaround us. Let us be very caring and sensitive. Despite our differences, let usbe gentle to one another, and in so doing demonstrate love one to another. Letus make every effort to pursue peace and unity of love in the church. Let uslearn to be peacemakers, for the Lord said: "Blessed are the peacemakers:for they shall be called the children of God" (Matt 5:9).

We must, however, not end here. The apostle says: "Followpeace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see theLord." We are not only to pursue peace, but we are also to pursueholiness. Holiness refers to sanctification and purity. The Lord said "Beye holy as I am holy" (Lev 20:7; 1 Pet 1:15-16). But how can we be holy?Since the context is about the Christian walk or race, we may aptly think ofpursuing holiness by walking in the "way of holiness"(Isa 35:8),which is otherwise known as the "old paths" (Jer 6:16); "thepath of the just" (Prov 4:18); and the strait gate and narrow way (Matt7:14). In other words, the pursuit of holiness requires us to live by theprecepts of God without compromise. In the context of the Hebrew Christian, thepursuit of holiness meant that they should persevere on in their faith withoutwavering or compromise despite the persecution that they might encounter.

Pursue peace and pursue holiness at the same time, not neglectingthe other. This balance is extremely difficult, but it is an important balance.It is significant that the 7^th beatitudeof the Lord is on pursuit of peace, while the 6^th is on the pursuit of purity:"Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God" (Matt 5:8).Could it be that the author of Hebrews had in mind this couplet of beatitudeswhen he exhorts his readers to "Follow peace with all men, and holiness,without which no man shall see the Lord"?

While some of us may be guilty of neglecting peace in our ardentpursuit of holiness, others may be guilty of compromising holiness for themaintenance of peace. How do we achieve the biblical balance? Let me suggest afew guidelines:

First ofall, let us resolve in our minds to seek always to please God above man (Gal1:10). The pursuit of peace does not mean compromise on Scriptural truth. Thereis no peace without truth. The Lord condemned the false prophets and priestswho tried to cover up or ignore the severity of sin by making light of them:"They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly,saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace" (Jer 6:14). Think of usingtiger balm to treat snake bite and you will appreciate what the Lord is sayingthrough Jeremiah.

Secondly, bear in mind that we are all sinners saved by grace who have yetto shed our corruptible nature. We are all pursuing sanctification though someare further ahead of others. Let us therefore be very patient with one anotherrealising that in certain areas, there may just be a possibility that we arewrong in our conviction. There are areas of doctrines in which a total,uncompromising commitment is required because Christianity would be no moreChristianity if we capitulate on these points. Such is the case with thedoctrine of the deity of Christ and justification by grace through faith, butthere are certainly areas such as eschatology in which we must allow for thepossibility that we are wrong. Remember how Luther charged Zwingli for being ofa different spirit because he did not hold to consubstantiation. We believeboth Luther and Zwingli were wrong in their views of the Lord’s Supper, butZwingli at least was not guilty of condemning his brother-in-Christ falselybecause he had a different conviction.

Thirdly, The Apostle Paul urges us: "in lowliness of mind let eachesteem other better than themselves" (Phil 1:3). This does not mean thatwe must give up our doctrinal convictions by thinking that it is always wrong,but that we must give regards to another persons conviction and to considertheir fidelity to Christ according to their knowledge and faith in the Lord.Rather that condemning or judging our brethren for their failures, let us learnto be very strict with ourselves, but charitable with all others. Remember howpatient the Lord was with his imperfect and often immature disciples? Should wenot emulate the Lord’s humility and patience if we think we know the mind ofChrist?

Fourthly, and conversely, let us be mindful that it is usually safer toerr on the stricter side. Thus, if we do not have the same strict conviction orscruples as our brethren, we may yet profitably subject ourselves to the samerestrictions for the sake of unity with our stricter brethren. One man singonly psalms while another sing uninspired hymns too. The former should not lookaskance on the latter, and the latter should not ridicule the former’s stanceeven if he may for some reason believe that his brother in the Lord is beingunnecessarily strict.

May the Lord grant us the grace and wisdom to pursue after peaceand holiness in our church that we may all mature in faith and love and grow asa body of Christ. Let us do so lest the weak be stumbled by our compromises ora root of bitterness begins to spring up (Heb 12:15) dues to the insensitive oroff-balanced remarks and deeds of members in the congregation.