Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.
Hebrews 12:14
Recommended Reading: Revelation 21:27; 22:14-15
It is said that modern governments run on paper—records of statutes, decisions, orders, personal appointments, and more. But ancient governments ran the same way, using clay tablets and scrolls instead of paper and computers. Even God is portrayed as having a book in which the names of His people and their acts are recorded—and sometimes blotted out (Exodus 32:32-33; Psalm 51:1). The “Book of Life” is mentioned eight times in the New Testament.
The Book of Life contains the names of those who will enter God’s eternal Kingdom. None who would defile the eternal Kingdom by their unholy acts will enter in (Revelation 21:27; 22:14-15). Thus the writer to the Hebrews exhorted his readers to “pursue … holiness, without which no one will see the Lord”—“see the Lord” being a reference to entering eternal life. Thankfully, our inheriting eternal life doesn’t depend on our human holiness but on the righteousness of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21).
If you want to see the Lord for all eternity, receive the gift of righteousness through faith in Christ.
Everything in Scripture has in view the promotion of holiness.
A. W. Pink
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