Be at Peace with Hebrews 12:14-15

“Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.  See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled” (Hebrews 12:14-15; NIV).

While recently studying these two verses of the Bible, I was challenged by new insights, some of which I share here.

Looking at the context from the beginning of this chapter, the sanctification of our souls is a much more dominent theme than I noticed in the past.  Faith is defined in the previous chapter eleven.  This chapter twelve lays out specifics of how faith is lived out.  

First, Jesus is the “founder” AND “perfector” of our faith (see Hebrews 12:2, ESV).  The Passion Translation expresses it as, “Jesus who birthed faith within us and who leads us forward into faith’s perfection” (TPT), i.e. completion.  There is a beginning and completing to faith in Christ.  Believing in Jesus at a conversion experience begins a process of completing faith’s work the remainder of our lives.  

Secondly, verses 4 - 11 speak of growing as children grow in their Father’s (parents’) care.  Growth involves change and stretching of what is, into what it needs to become.  The growth process requires discipline.  A commitment to this kind of change brings about joy and peace.  

Now to verses 14 - 15 quoted above.  Sanctification is explicitly mentioned  “without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14).  Without completion of faith in Jesus through the sanctification process (change and growth through discipline toward holiness) we have no faith at all.  This ongoing change is to be pursued, intentionally sought, and not merely expected to happen on its own.  Moreover, this process is intrinsically linked back to our conversion to faith in Christ, and forward to establishing the conditions for our inner peace.   

The phrase “pursue peace with all men” is obviously an exhortation to relate to people on friendly terms whenever possible.  But a deeper meaning struck me as I did a word study on the use of the word “peace” in the Bible.    

Peace is not merely the absence of conflict.  It is not merely a feeling of self-satisfaction, contentment, security, or harmony with external worldly circumstances.  The Webster’s 1828 dictionary explains the definition of peace as, “ a state of quiet or tranquility; freedom from disturbance or agitation.”  The Bible uses the term “peace” most often as a way to describe our inner (heart) condition before Almighty God.  Authors in the Lexham Theological Wordbook point out, “In the biblical writings, peace is the wholeness that comes as a result of alignment with God’s creative and redemptive purposes. …  Peace occurs not only in interpersonal relationships, but also in ethnic and political relationships. Peace also carries a cosmic connotation, in which all aspects of creation, both human and non-human, should exist in harmony with each other. Peace is thus the ideal of creation that God’s redemptive activity seeks to restore. ….  The flourishing existence of creation described in Gen 1–2 shapes how peace is understood throughout the rest of the Bible. Peace involves well-being. ….   ultimately peace comes as a result of Jesus’ work and thus is a gift given by God. Ephesians describes Christ creating a new humanity by healing the divisions between Jews and Gentiles and making peace (eirēnē) between them (Eph 2:14–15)—and by being “our peace (eirēnē)” ”  (Lookadoo, J. (2014). Peace. D. Mangum, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, & R. Hurst (Eds.), Lexham Theological Wordbook. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press).

God’s purposes and plans for peace are far greater than our personal experiences, however, our inner life is very important to God.  So important that he commands complete surrender of our ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving in exchange for his.  The Psalmist reflects, “Those who love Your law have great peace, and nothing causes them to stumble” (Psalm 119:165).  God’s ways are superior to human ways.  We are wise to accept this truth, “How blessed is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding.  Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace” (Proverbs 3:13,17).  

Jesus himself had some things to say about peace. Jesus didn’t come into the world to chase away conflict (see Matthew 10:24).  He came to deliver us from enslavement to conflict.  First, the conflict that exists within our own soul, and the conflict that puts us at war (sometimes literally) with people around us.  Without Christ, conflict is inevitable within, but with and through Christ conflict is, was, and will be inihilated.  Since the first sin of mankind, conflict within, and conflict without (our environment), is built in the default nature of every human belng.  Putting our faith and trust in Jesus means we are yielding to his power to remove the grip of unrest in lost parts of our souls.  

At the root of conflict is bitterness.  Bitterness is created by the seeds of failed expectations, disappointments, regret, hurt, or offense.  Roots of bitterness are specifically mentioned in these verses in Hebrews as destructive anti-growth agents.  Bitter roots are weeds that will “defile” (reduce the productivity of the garden of our hearts).  Bitter roots can take the form of ill-willed thoughts, envy, jealousy, malice, slander, and the like.  The critical, condemning  thoughts and opinions turn into blame, resentment, hatred and even sometimes revenge.  Our tendency to want to rule our own fate causes our failure to trust God to work all circumstances for good.  God’s justice demands that only He can sit on the throne as Judge.  Our demands to think and act as Judge, create conflict.  The rebellion against God at the core of this conflict is why the “Prince of Peace,” Messiah Jesus, came to this earth (see Isaiah 9:6).         

This goes to the heart of the gospel message.  Luke records Jesus as saying, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).  Until recently, like most Christians,  I thought of “lost” souls coming to faith in Jesus in a conversion experience as the full extent of interpreting the meaning of this statement in Luke 19.  

However, God is challenging me with a deeper understanding.   The inner peace stolen by the enemy of our soul with the entry of sin into the world, is part of the loss that Jesus came to redeem.  Through the sanctification process, the seeking and saving of the losses in our lives continues.   Faith in Jesus makes us whole.  All the broken parts of our soul still touched by the losses, are being brought together into the  wholeness God intends for us from the beginning.  Sanctification is God’s divine plan.  Being made whole through holiness (set apart on the inside) yields the fruit of increasingly greater degrees of outwardly “holy” behavior.  Being completely at peace with that plan in our inner most being only begins at conversion.  

I grew up in the Christian Church thinking the “salvation of souls” refers merely to the conversion of souls.  However, the term “salvation” includes sanctification as well.  It includes Jesus completing the faith he has begun.  It includes the discipline of growing the faith into maturity.  It  includes the inner peace Hebrews calls “peacable fruit of righteousness”  (see Hebrews 12:11).

The “harvest” of souls includes all of the above.  Let’s be clear that believing in Jesus is not just a decision of the mind to repent (turn around) from one way of life to another.  It is a radical surrender to a process of heart transformation as well.  For a Christian seeking the sanctification of our soul is not an option.  A result of responding to God and allowing him to change our hearts from the inside out, will yield greater degrees of inner peace.  Inner peace can be a gauge for measuring our progress.  The more we surrender to God, the more peace we will have in our soul.  

Inner change is difficult, but we can be at peace with the uncertainty change brings, when we are trusting God through our faith in Jesus.  An inner peace and assurance of what Jesus has accomplished for us, AND what he continues to empower us to do, is foundational for facing  the challenges of life.  It’s all about his power, not ours.

In summary, I offer my translation of the Hebrews 12:14-15 verses quoted at the beginning.   “Pursue inner peace through reconciliation with God, for yourself, and seek this condition for every person you know.  Practice surrendering your heart to God for the purpose of a holy being,  until the day you see Jesus face to face.  Make sure you are living the fullest of God’s purposes for your life by rooting out any bitterness that remains--ie. admitting your critical judgments, surrendering all judgments to God, and releasing all demands for justice so your relationships (with God, others, and self) can be made whole.”

For help in ilving out more specifics of the sanctification journey, check out some of my other blog articles (ie. http://authoredhersh.blogspot.com/2018/02/ ).  Be blessed!  Be at peace.

by Ed Hersh, Blue Rock BnB Healing Ministry

Inherent Goodness!

Are people born good?  Or bad? Or some of each?  Are some people born with more good or bad than others?  Truthful answers to these questions are extremely important for healthy living.

I’ve read many books by Brene Brown and one recently brought up the subject of inherent goodness which I wish to address here.  Brene Brown describes herself as a researcher and story teller, and has become a popular TED Talks speaker on topics of shame and vulnerability.  I have benefited from her discoveries and have been recommending her books and material to clients I see in my counseling and speaking.  Shame is a huge problem in stealing our self-worth and robbing our ability to experience love and belonging in relationships.  Dr. Brown does a great job in helping people identify sources of shame and encouraging vulnerability to expose secrets so that shame no longer has a place to hide (and destroy our relationships).

However, in her recent audio book called Rising Strong as Spiritual Practice, Brene Brown expresses  views on spirituality that conflict with the Truth of the Bible.   

In order to talk about inherent goodness we must be clear on some basic assumptions.  The term “good” used in describing self-worth and value as a human being, must be distinguished from “good” in a sense of a person’s moral character (as compared to bad/ evil character).   Another element of defining “good” is how we see God in relation to mankind, and whether we are comparing man to God or man to man.  Man’s inherent goodness lies with man’s inherent value as a creation of God.  Everything God creates is good.  Mankind was created good (see the story in Genesis).  But after the creation, the “inherent” part of goodness changed dramatically because of some very bad choices on man’s part.  

In the book Brene says people possess 3 inherent (inborn) qualities: lovability, creativity, and divinity.  She makes a good point that our beliefs about who we are as people, directly affect our relationships with other people. Beliefs rooted in shame will damage our relationships.   If we believe we are unlovable, we will treat either ourselves or others without proper love and respect.  If we believe we are not creative, we hold that belief as a result of either others not affirming and valuing our work, or our self-perceived standards of perfection (perfectionism) are way too high.  But divinity does not fit in the same category as lovability and creativity.  Divinity is not part of human nature.  In fact a belief that people are inherent “holy,” (as Brene states)  is about as far from the truth and as unholy as it gets.   People are human beings.  God is a divine being.  God’s divinity sets him apart as “holy.”  From the beginning, God created man with lovability and creativity, but divinity is reserved for God himself.  In fact, the origin of shame is rooted in man trying to make himself divine, and man rebelling against God’s supreme authority.  Evil entered the world through this shameful rebellion.  But worse yet, the problem of shame became a legacy  inherent evil passed down to every generation of human beings (see the story in Genesis 3).  

God created a world in which only He is the Judge of good and evil (tree of “life” as it is called in Genesis).   At mankind’s creation, God forbade man from partaking in judgment between good and evil.  Part of what made God holy (set apart from man) is this ability to judge between good and evil.  As the “all good” Creator, God can judge between good and evil without being touched by evil.  But man does not have this ability.  When man demanded to have this ability (eating from the tree of the “knowledge of good and evil” as it is called in Genesis), man committed the first sin.  Our attempt to be Judge (instead of allowing God to be Judge), made us forever contemptable to God’s holy and righteous supreme authority. Jesus Christ offers our only hope of escape from this mess WE created of HIS good creation.  

  It is evil to demand to take God’s rightful place as supreme Judge, whether in thoughts, attitudes, words, or deeds.  Mankind brought shame into the world with the original selfish act of defying God’s command (not to take part in demanding to be the Judge).   When Adam and Eve claimed to have the right to decide for themselves good from evil, this challenge of God’s supreme authority (holiness), created the original sin.  This rebellion against the goodness of God’s nature, created the inherent evil born into the nature of all persons born into the human race.  Every human since that time is born into the slavery of shame.  Our only hope of redemption from this evil is to believe in what Jesus Christ has done to save us from our wretched condition (see John 3; Romans 3;  Isaiah 53:1-6; 61:1-3).  

Mankind was created inherently good, but the corruption of sin now extends to every person making us inherently evil.  Because we are created in the “image of God,” and since God is all good, we still bear resemblences of good.  But sin killed our spirit. A dead spirit can’t be good.  That’s why we need Jesus who makes our spirit alive.  If  we know Jesus, the Jesus in us makes us good, but  without Jesus, our best efforts will never be enough to make us a “good” person (by God’s definition).  Even if we seem good enough by man’s definition, in reality, we’re no better or worse off than any other person (as far as our right standing with God).  Again, only Jesus makes that difference.  So, we ARE good enough to be a human, but being the best human we can be, doesn’t make us divine.  All humans are born equal in this regard.  

If we believe we are holy, we not only devalue the holiness of God, but we deny our need for the salvation of Jesus Christ.  A belief that man is inherently good, is in direct conflict with a Christian world-view.  Because of man’s sin and shame, Father God sent Jesus,  his one and only son,  to die, resurrect, and ascend back to the Father to save all who believe (from their sin and shame).  Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).   The Bible clearly teaches, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved”  (Acts 4:12).  Jesus is our exclusive redeemer from the sin and shame problem introduced by the first humans on earth.  

That may not be a politically correct assertion, but it is the Truth.  A person who lives their life by this Truth finds the best (and only eternally lasting) freedom from shame that exists.  What one believes DOES matter.  Truth matters.  If what one believes does not line up with the truth, there are eternal consequences. The danger with believing in the inherent goodness of people is that it prevents people from believing the truth that they need a Savior for shame-free living.  Relying only on  people is not the complete answer.  Vulnerability with people may be a significant step, but vulnerability with God (and relying on what Jesus has already accomplished) is the ultimate solution.  

What I have discovered in my own life is that being honest with God is often a first step to being completely honest with other people.  God is way more trustworthy than any human being.  Coming to Father God with my fears, unloving thoughts, lonely feelings, and whatever else shame trys to trap me in, is heard and already acted on in my favor by what Jesus has done.  May I encourage the reader to read the gospel of John to deepen your understanding of the relationship Jesus had with Father God, and how Jesus brings us into that same relationship as sons and daughters of God.  Whether a person is a new follower of Jesus or a seasoned Christian, there is always more of the burden of shame Jesus can carry for us  (see Matthew 11:28,29).

Brene Brown’s insights on shame may empower us to be more honest (vulnerable) about our shame condition.  However, her views about how spirituality enters into the mix (at least the views expressed in the above mentioned book) need to be sorted out as misguiding.  I am not writing to shame Brene Brown as a person.  However, I believe she is guilty of misrepresenting true spirituality (from the world-view of a Jesus-follower).  My aim is to alert people (especially Jesus-followers) to the extreme dangers of falsely believing that people are born good (without a need for Jesus to clean out the inherent bad/ evil).   I encourage the reader to read some of my other articles that share more detail on allowing God to transform your life from the inside out. 

by Ed Hersh, Blue Rock BnB Healing Ministry