14 Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. 16 See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. 17 Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears.
v14 is not talking about being holy in order to be saved. Here the writer is speaking to those who are saved, and is challenging them to live out their faith so that others can see Christ in us. We are to love men (peace with all men, if it is possible, as far as it depends on you) and to love God (be holy). When we do that, others can see Christ in us. But if we fail to that, they cannot. And so we need to be diligent - not to earn our salvation, but to reveal Christ in us to those around us. You may be the only Jesus Christ that some people will ever see. That`s incredible responsibility right there.
See to it that no one misses the grace of God
We need to vigilant about looking out for those around us. If you questions the salvation of someone in your church, you need to find out. Wow. This is a tough one for us. But MacArthur puts it bluntly and puts it well....
Listen, you owe that to the purity of this church and the purity of the body, but, most of all, you owe it to that guy to confront him with the claims of Jesus Christ on a personal basis. There are...there are gonna be a lotta people spend forever in hell who spent their life in the church. That's sad. Now, he says, "You oughta take the oversight, No. 1, lest any man fail of the grace of God." The word fail means to come too late. It means to fall back when you add the term apato the front of it, and, literally, will just say that, "Lest anybody be falling back.".....
Now he says, "Hey, people, take the oversight. Don't let that happen. Don't let that guy go." You say, "Well, I don't wanna say anything. I...I...I." That's the stupidest remark you could ever make. Ridiculous you don't wanna say anything. "Don't wanna offend." Offend, offend, go offend...Wow, the cross itself is an offense. I mean let's do a little offending, and if a guy's gonna go to hell just because we're afraid to offend him, that's...that's the worst offense imaginable.
and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many
MacArthur explains this as a person who has superficially identified with Christianity - he knows the truth but he turns and walks away from it into apostasy. And that root of bitterness will affect and corrupt those around him.
v16 and 17 use Esau as an example of an apostate. He knew the truth. He sold the birthright (the blessing of God, the Messianic line, the promise of God) for some stew. He rejected the truth. And later he wanted it back but he couldn`t, even though he cried, because he couldn`t come back to repentence.
And this is a warning to us, that there are people among us who are on the verge of becoming "Esau".
Beloved, what is he saying to us? He's saying, "Hey, look around, look around. There may be somebody who is on the edge who may make a rejection like Esau, and it'll be permanent. Don't let it happen. Christian...get your second wind. I urge you to continuance, diligence, vigilance, because somebody's watching. Maybe somebody who's at the crucial point of decision....Be the example that brings 'em to Christ, not the stumbling block that turns them away.
I want to be the example that brings people to Christ, not the stumbling block that turns them away.
Tomorrow's scripture focus: Hebrews 12:18-21
1 comment:
Ouch. Tough stuff!
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