“Strive for
peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the
Lord.” (Hebrews 12:14)
Holiness and the
pursuit of peace are not optional. Both will remain imperfect in this life. God’s
people continue to sin and “fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23), and no
matter how greatly we desire and work for peace, actual peace requires agreement
between two parties, one of whom we cannot control (Rom. 12:18). Nevertheless,
we are called to work for peace and to pursue holiness, and if we do not, we
will not see the Lord. God’s people must be peacemakers, and they must endeavor
to be holy as the Lord is holy.
Holiness and peace
may often seem at odds with one another. How can we ever have peace if we
enforce standards to which some will never agree? But how can we have holiness
if we fail to enforce those standards revealed by God in His word? James
reminds us “the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable” (Jas. 3:17).
There is a logical order and priority. Holiness must come first, but we must
not neglect the pursuit of peace. We cannot compromise God’s standards in order
to have peace, but we cannot disregard the mandate to pursue peace in our
desire to be holy. God commands us to strive for both.
Working for holiness
and peace requires us to speak the truth in love (Eph. 4:15). We must speak the
truth, God’s truth, all of it, not turning aside to the right or left, not
adding to or taking from it. But we must speak it in love, with gentleness and
humility, with a teachable spirit, with an attitude of grace and a sincere
desire to edify others.
Too often one
virtue is compromised in the name of the other. People insist on love and peace
at the expense of truth and holiness, or they insist on truth and holiness at
the expense of love and peace. But these are not items on a menu from which we
are free to choose. They are divine mandates. Woe to us if we disregard or
neglect either. Holiness and peace are both the byproducts of divine grace. We
will not attain either without the inward and effectual work of God. So let us
pray and labor for both and trust the God of grace to provide. -JME
