WHAT DOES HEBREWS 12:14 MEAN?
Apr 5, 2019
READ TIME: 1-2 MINUTES
“Dave, what does Hebrews 12:14 mean, especially the part about without holiness no one will see the Lord?”
Many assume that this passage is warning readers that believing in Christ must be accompanied by a holy life; otherwise, a person’s faith is not genuine and that person will not go to Heaven to see the Lord.
However, the writer of Hebrews does not say, “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which you will not see the Lord.”
Rather, when he says, “without which no one will see the Lord,” it is better to interpret this as a reference to other people seeing the Lord in the believer’s life and witness.
Nothing in the passage indicates that the expression “see the Lord” means seeing Him only in Heaven. The immediate context deals with the effect of the believer’s walk on his relationship to other people: “Pursue peace with all people” (v. 14a); “lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled” (v. 15b).
Therefore, verse 14 is simply saying that when believers respond by faith to the loving discipline of God, this results in the spiritual fruit of peace, righteousness (v. 11), and holiness (v. 10), so that others may come to see the character of the Lord in the believer’s life and witness (v. 14). This is similar to the teaching of other passages such as James 2:14-26; 1 John 2:29; and 2 Peter 1:10.
SOURCE USED
Rokser, Dennis M. Shall Never Perish Forever. Grace Gospel Press.