Because we belong to Christ, and because we should be following His example, we should strive daily to live holy lives. If we belong to Him, we ought to look like Him. If we are grateful for the mercy He's shown us, we ought to honor Him with the way we live our lives.
The way we interact with our fellow man says a lot about whether we are living as close to Christ as we should be. "Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord." (Hebrews 12:14) Not everyone is going to want to be at peace with us, but that doesn't remove our obligation to maintain a peaceful attitude toward them. This is why the Apostle Paul said in his letter to the Romans, "If it is possible, as much as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone." (Romans 12:18) The Lord knows there are people who would argue if somebody told them the sun came up this morning, so He realizes that we sometimes have to deal with people who don't want to get along with anybody. The best thing to do is to refuse to become embroiled in disputes. Agree to disagree. Walk away from a tense situation. Jesus knew what it was like to be opposed, yet we never saw Him shouting on the street corners or stomping His feet in a rage or shaking with anger and making threats. He simply told the truth of God and let the chips fall where they may. His listeners were free to accept or reject the truth, but He never allowed Himself to fall into an undignified argument.
We are taking the high road when we refuse to sink to the level of those who are angry and bitter and who want to start quarrels with everyone around them. Would we have been able to respect the attitude of Jesus if He had behaved just like those who made fun of Him? Will unbelievers respect our faith if we behave like people who don't know the Lord? It's going to be very difficult to get anyone to listen to our testimony about the Lord if we don't appear to be anything like Him. How can we tell somebody He's transformed our lives if we don't look like we've been transformed?
"See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many." (Hebrews 12:15) God has shown us indescribable grace through the Lord Jesus Christ. How then can we refuse to show grace to our brothers and sisters in Christ? Bitterness should not be allowed to spring up among believers. Strong friendships have broken up because of disagreements over how to best organize church functions or about who gets picked to teach certain classes or oversee certain charitable duties. Feelings get hurt and the next thing you know there are people who won't even speak to each other. This is not how God wants His children to behave. We have no right to hold grudges and to withhold grace from our brothers and sisters. We are instructed instead to, "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." (Ephesians 4:32)
The author now addresses the issue of sexual immorality in the church. If we are going to live holy lives, we must keep our bodies holy. I'm seeing a growing trend in the church of turning a blind eye to the fact that some members are living just like unbelievers when it comes to sex outside of marriage. There are couples who are openly living together without benefit of marriage. In other cases, engagements keep dragging on with each person still maintaining a separate residence for appearance's sake while enjoying all the physical benefits of marriage without actually ever taking their marriage vows. Unplanned pregnancies outside of marriage are now taking place among believers almost as often as they are taking place among unbelievers. More and more Christian couples are divorcing because one of them has been unfaithful. Divorce rates among Christians are about the same these days as they are among unbelievers. Living like this dishonors the Lord who shed His blood for us. The world ought not to be able to find anything sexually immoral to talk about when it comes to members of the Lord's church, so we are commanded: "See that no one is sexually immoral." (Hebrews 12:16a)
The writer of Hebrews moves on to the example of Esau who set a bad example of how to live a holy life. We must never treat our salvation as though it is something cheap or as if the grace we've received is something to be easily thrown aside when it suits us. This is how Esau regarded his birthright. The birthright involved far more than the biggest share of the inheritance from his father. The birthright placed upon him the responsibility of being the spiritual leader of the family. Esau lived in the days before the priesthood was established, so he would have had to perform the duties of high priest for his family. But he didn't have it in him. There was nothing in his heart that desired to know God. He didn't aspire to be close to God or to help his family be close to God. He was carnally minded instead of spiritually minded, so much so that he casually gave up his birthright for a bowl of soup. This is how little the awesome privilege meant to him of being offered the job of interceding with God on behalf of his people. We are cautioned not to "godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done." (Hebrews 12:16b-17)
In rejecting the birthright, Esau was rejecting God. Even though he felt sorry later, God did not offer him a second opportunity to be the spiritual leader of the family. Did God forgive Esau? I'm sure He did if Esau's repentance was spiritual sorrow and if it was not just sorrow over losing the material inheritance, but this doesn't mean that God was obligated to reinstate the birthright. Jacob, though he obtained the birthright by deceitful means, wanted to know the Lord. Something in his heart yearned for a relationship with the living God, and although he wasn't yet the kind of man who could set a spiritual example for the family, someday he would be. God knew He could mold and shape Jacob into the man who would become the father of the nation of Israel. In contrast, Esau's descendants (the Edomites, later also known as the Idumaeans) grew further and further away from the one true God. They became so spiritually and morally reprehensible that they openly opposed the descendants of Jacob at every opportunity, to the point that God vowed to make an end of them. (Ezekiel 35:15) Where are the Edomites/Idumaeans today? They cannot be found. But where are the Israelites? They are still a mighty nation. When we honor God, God honors us, and this is plainly shown to us by the difference in how God has dealt with the godless Edomites and with the faithful Israelites.
If we treat the grace of God lightly, we are going to miss out on great opportunities. During our study of the book of Hebrews we've taken a look at ordinary people who did extraordinary things. How did they do these marvelous things? By scorning the grace of God? Or by being grateful to Him and by remaining faithful to Him? When we live in opposition to God's word, we are treating His grace as if it's a disposable commodity. He is not obligated to bless children who are living in disobedience to Him; in fact, as we studied yesterday, God disciplines those who are His. Do we want to be in a position to be disciplined or in a position to be blessed? Let's take heed, then, how we go about our daily lives. Of course we all mess up from time to time, but God knows our hearts. He knows when we are genuinely sorry for losing our tempers or for having impure thoughts or for looking too much like the world and not looking enough like Christ. If we are truly grateful for His grace, we will be quick to repent as soon as we realize we've made a mistake. And when we do that, we have this promise: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)
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