CONTEXT IS KEY IN UNDERSTANDING SCRIPTURES PART 7. WITHOUT HOLINESS NO EYES CAN SEE GOD ?

CONTEXT IS KEY  IN UNDERSTANDING SCRIPTURES PART 7. WITHOUT HOLINESS NO EYES CAN SEE GOD ?

God is a holy God. In God we have life when we believe in Jesus . The life of Christ is a life of certainty and assurance. We must be assured of His love and His return for us. This assurance is seen when scriptures are rightly and contextually interpreted in Christ . The truth is in Christ . There are no contradictions in the Bible.  Many times we have contradictions because we refuse to read the entire context of the scriptures.  The Bible is a book set apart to show us Christ. We must learn to read the Bible and get the meaning from the Bible. We do not read our meaning into the Bible. It is a book older than everyone on earth now. We cannot afford to innovate into the scriptures. So far in this series, we have seen so many verses that unsettle the believer of his assurance in Christ. Let’s examine the context of one of such verses that is often misquoted to make the believer unassured of salvation.

Hebrews 12

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

Many times when we read this text, what comes to our mind is that the only way to be with Jesus at His return is to maintain holiness in conduct. If this is so in this text, it will contradict many other texts that show that the only way to be with Jesus at His return is to believe in Him and receive His life. John 3:16-18. Even in 1 Corinthians 3: 13-15, we see that every man’s work will be tested. Those that their works are burnt  will still be saved. This shows us that salvation and heaven is not a reward for good works but is a place where our good works are rewarded.

So let’s examine Hebrews 12:14 without reading our meaning into the text.

Hebrews 12

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

Notice it says , follow peace with ALL men not follow peace with God. “And holiness “is with the first statement “follow peace with all”. So it is peace and holiness with all men. Many times , in attempt to read our meaning into the text, we read it as follow peace and holiness with God. It is men you follow peace and holiness with. This is because with God, you have peace and holiness already as a gift. Same Hebrews 10:10 and 14 already tells us that we are sanctified (made holy) and perfected once and for all by the sacrifice of Jesus .

Hebrews 10:

 10  By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

 14  For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified

 We can see that holiness, sanctification  and perfection before God is by the offering of Jesus. Therefore, Hebrews 12:14 cannot be telling us to pursue holiness with God because without it we cannot see God.

What  then is the text saying ?

Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:

Follow peace with all men. Follow holiness with all men. In other words, be at peace with men and live a holy life, a life set apart unto God before men. Without this , THE MEN CANNOT SEE GOD. It is not that God cannot see man. God always and will always have something to do with men no matter their conducts.

God does not in any way endorse sin. This is because when we live a holy live, others see God and glorify God. We let our light so shine before men so they see our good works and glorify God. So God get glory when we conduct ourselves in Godly manner before others . From verse 1 of Hebrews 12, we already see that we may lay aside sin because of the cloud of witnesses which are the dead saints discussed in chapter 11. From verse 6 of Hebrews 12, we further see that God corrects and trains  us for our own good. After verse 14, the writer warns us not to disdain our inheritance in God just like Esau sold his birth right. From verse 18, he explains two mountains. We have not come to mount Sinai that burns off with wailings and deaths . We have come to mount Zion , unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect.

Hebrews 12:14 is not in any way saying that God cannot relate with men without holy Conducts neither is it saying that men with His life in  Christ cannot go to heaven at His return because of their Conducts.  Let’s look at a similar chapter of the scripture that teaches conduct and salvation.

Titus 3

4  But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared

5  Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

6  Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;

7  That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

8  This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.

From verse 4 to 6 we see that we are saved NOT BY WORKS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS  but ACCORDING to His mercy and kindness, He saved us by the actual rebirth of the Holy Ghost. This is salvation in simple terms. It is not by what any man can do. Verse 7 tells us that we are justified (made RIGHTEOUS AND  NOT GUILTY) BY HIS GRACE. Hence we have the expectation of eternal life. This life is based on the fact that we have been justified by His Grace. It is justification into life .

In the same context, verse 8 points out the relevance of good works. Though we are not saved by good works ,  we have to be careful and diligent to maintain good works. This is because it is profitable unto men. Just like we saw in Hebrews: 12:14, without holy and peaceful conducts, men will not see God in us.

In Ephesians 2 we also see similar discourse about salvation and good works .

Ephesians 2

 8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

 9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.

 10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them

We are saved by grace through faith. Salvation is by absolute trust in what Jesus has done. Notice verse 8, NOT OF YOURSELVES, it is the gift of God. So salvation is the gift of God. Salvation is not what any man can of works get. It is not of man’s work, least any man should boast. So no man can be saved by his efforts and works. In the same context of Ephesians 2, verse 10 tells us that we are His workmanship created unto good works. The word “workmanship’ means end product, His creature , what He made. The same Greek word “ poiēma” was translated as  “ that which was made “ in Romans 1:20. So in Christ we are His finished products made and created unto good works. We are not formed by good works but we are formed unto good works. So inherent in every believer is the ability to maintain good works so men can see it and glorify God. All we need do is to LET, ALLOW that nature be expressed in us as believers .

We have seen so far that Hebrews 12:14 doesn’t in any way makes the believer uncertain of His relationship with God or  uncertain of His being with Jesus at His return because of conducts. Rather, the text shows the importance of living holy and peaceful before men so they can see God in and through us.

Context is key in understanding the scriptures. Never find yourself concluding a text without actually reading the text. You have to read to take the meaning from the Bible . So far we have seen that Context is very important in Bible interpretation.

Don’t forget NO CONTRADICTIONS in the Bible. It is a book centered on revealing the truth in Christ. In the subsequent parts of this series, we will look at other seemingly contradictory verses in the Bible 

JOIN US in this campaign

PLEASE SHARE.

DO YOU HAVE QUESTIONS?

KINDLY ASK YOUR QUESTIONS Using the comment button below .

BY EMEKE MODESTY OBIAZIKWOR

www.emekemodesty.com

GOSPEL AND MIRACLE CAMPAIGN (GAMC) : Bringing people to the knowledge of Christ via the Gospel of Christ with the supernatural by Campaigning for the gospel of Jesus and setting people on fire to do the same .

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THIS CAMPAIGN

Kindly visit 

http://bit.ly/GAMCinfo

Email: gospelandmiraclecampaign@gmail.com