Hebrews
12:14 NIV
Make
every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no
one will see the Lord.
🙋🙋 Good morning. May I ask:
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Why is it stated here that without holiness no one can see God?
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Won't all the elects go to heaven to be with God?
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👨⚕️👨⚕️
Hebrews
12:14 KJT
Follow
peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.
1.
Preliminaries:
a.
Please note the differences in the translations. Can you spot them? List them.
b.
Is "see the Lord" the same as your "go to heaven to be with
God" or are they different? Why?
c.
You asked: Won't all the elects go to heaven to be with God?
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Yes, all the elect shall finally be effectually called and made perfectly fit
for eternal glory; they shall enter heaven to be with God after their
resurrection to glory when Christ come again.
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John 6:39 "And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all
which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at
the last day."
-
“The last day”, the day of general resurrection and great judgment, and
ushering in of the eternal state of blessedness.
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"I should lose nothing": i.e. every elect given to Christ shall be
with God in heaven after the resurrection to glory.
-
"I should lose NOTHING"; no, not one.
2.
Let us make some observations on the text
a.
"follow" (dioko) is the right translation, " make every
effort" is an interpretation and an application. Translators must do the
translators’ job; leave the interpretation and application to the students of
God's word and pastors/teachhers
-
"To follow" requires making every effort and much more.
b.
The verb “follow” (present, active, imperative, second person plural) applies
equally to both "follow peace with all men" and "holiness;"
i.e. follow peace with all men, and follow holiness.
-
“to follow” - to run after swiftly in order to catch a thing. Check
BlueLetterBible.
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“Follow holiness” is a duty the Lord commands (present, active, imperative) His
children.
-
Who does He command???
c.
"Follow peace with all men" - "all men": not exhaustively,
i.e. everyone, but all sorts of men; even the enemies, the poor, the ignorant,
the weak, the antagonists, those who consider you as heretics, etc.
-
Romans 12:18— "If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably
with all men."
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What’s the opposite? Hostile, divisive, my way or the highway, cut-cut-cut,
etc.
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Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children
of God.
d.
"without WHICH..." the pronoun "which" refers to the
immediate antecedent, "holiness". Some say it refers to both.
-
“Follow holiness” (present, active, imperative, second person plural) is a duty
the Lord commands; it is a condition that must be met to be able to see Him.
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Thus, seeing the Lord is conditioned upon the human effort of pursuing
practical holiness.
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Thus, seeing the Lord can only be understood in the sphere of TEMPORAL
salvation, and NOT seeing the Lord in the sense of eternal salvation.
-
Seeing the Lord in the eternal sense is assuredly and immutably secured and guaranteed by the finished work of Christ
ALONE.
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Anything that requires human effort is in the realm of temporal salvation; it
is “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, Phi 2:12.
3.
To whom are these words addressed?
a.
Read from the beginning of the chapter… see what each verse describes.
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These words are addressed to God's children, the elect whom God has effectually
called to grace and salvation in Jesus Christ.
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"... God dealeth with you as with sons." v7
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“… but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness."
b.
Only such are capable of following holiness, i.e. to follow, to pursue in order
to catch a thing, to run into pursuit of practical holiness; to press on in a
race swiftly in pursuit of practical holiness.
c.
All the elect, without exception are effectually called and made perfectly fit
for eternal glory; they shall enter heaven to be with God after their
resurrection to glory when Christ come again.
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Every one of them shall most certainly see the Lord in this ETERNAL sense.
d.
Every child of God (by the effectual call), whether outwardly called by the
gospel or not, shall be resurrected/ transformed unto eternal glory at the last
day. A child of God is there by the sovereign divine act of the effectual call;
the gospel ministry instructs and informs him and makes him wise concerning his
eternal salvation by the grace of God.
-
Divine effectual call relates to eternal salvation; gospel call relates to
temporal salvation. The grace of God teaches “us that, denying ungodliness and
worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present
world.” Titus 2:12. This is “follow holiness.”
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Every child of God, whether outwardly called by the gospel or not, shall be
resurrected/ transformed unto eternal glory; every one of them shall most
certainly see the Lord in this eternal sense.
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John 14:3 "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and
receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."
4.
Then what's the sense of: without holiness, no man shall see the Lord?
a.
So, in what sense without holiness not one child of God's SHALL see (future
indicative) the Lord?
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The command is addressed to God’s children;
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“Follow holiness” is a duty performed by God’s children.
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The non-performance of it SHALL prevent them from seeing the Lord.
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"shall see" is future indicative; it's not something in the present
like communion and fellowship;
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is it the future in the present life, or the future during the intermediate
state?
Some
questions
Q.
In what sense SHALL God's children not see the Lord without their “follow
holiness?”
Q.
If one SHALL not see the Lord, then where SHALL he be?
Q.
If one SHALL not see the Lord, then WHEN shall this be, what period of time in
the future shall this be?
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in this life?
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after death and.before the resurrection to glory?
Q.
Does the distinction between the temporal and eternal salvation help you in understanding
the passage?
Q.
Does your understanding of the distinction between temporal intermediate state
of paradise/hell and eternal state of heaven/lake of fire assist you in rightly
dividing the word of truth?
Q.
What is the holiness commanded to be followed?
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Some naive and simplistic responses:
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ALL God’s children, without exception, follow holiness, all shall see the Lord.
Then the command and warning are irrelevant and redundant to God’s children.
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Those who follow not holiness CANNOT possibly be God’s children.
- The
warning is addressed to those dead in trespasses and sins. God commands them to
follow holiness!
