October 13
The compatibility of the two aspects of the admonition Paul gives in Hebrews 12:14 may not be readily apparent. It says, “Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness, no one will see the Lord. Indeed, we should live in peace and yes, we must be holy to see God. But, what’s the connection?
Maybe it has something to do with what the beloved Apostle said in I John 4:20, “…How can a man hate his brother who he has seen and say he loves God who he has not seen?” This makes evident the fact that we build love upon love. If we truly love God, we will evidence that fact by loving our brother.
Correspondingly, when we love our brother because we love God, we will live at peace with him and, “The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus,” Philippians 4:7. When we are in Christ Jesus, we can be holy because He is holy.
To be holy is to assure that one day, at the end of this journey where we have built our lives upon the foundation of Jesus’ loving sacrifice for us by extending His love to others and abiding in His peace, we shall enter the realm of glory where we shall ever abide in heaven, where we shall see the radiant, loving face of God.
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