What about peace with all men?
 

Let's forget for a thread that holiness has become a list of rules and measurements and lets focus on the other half of Hebrews 12:14 that nobody is talking about:

"Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:"

In my experience much of the "conservative holiness movement" (those who believe in a strict standard of dress, long hair on women, etc.) have some of the nastiest spirits I have ever experienced. Do they not understand the first part of this scripture? What does it mean to "Follow peace with all men?" Will our names be blotted out if we ignore the first half of this charge or just the second part?

Is living peacefully with others still Biblical?

Jose

Re: What about peace with all men?
 

Jesus did say he came to bring a sword. And certainly, when you make a decision to follow Jesus, there comes division, and a dividing point. However, the division Jesus was speaking of was not within the church, but from those who had not yet decided to follow Him. So... division within ranks of believers was not something that Christ advocated at all. Indeed, following peace with ALL men, not just your brethren is something that all writers of the NT advocated.

Since holiness is really not about a dress code, but rather about the heart, following peace with all men would be a heart issue as well. And there is only one way to address heart issues - allowing the Lord Jesus to be king and Lord of all in our hearts, and surrendering our will and way to Him. When he is King of our hearts... we will be able to love others, who don't love us back, and we will have begun the journey of allowing ourselves to be transformed in the very image of Christ.

Re: What about peace with all men?
 

We cannot separate peace and holiness. We must not compromise the gospel or doctrine in order to keep the peace. The gospel is still the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ. It is still best represented by the words of Peter: "Repent, and be baptized everyone of you in the NAME of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

To the world (unconverted/unbelievers), one of the best scriptures to bear in mind is, "But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God." So, don't argue. Let's save our words and energies for those who are sincere and asking about our faith.

To those in the faith, let's bear this scripture in mind: "Now I beseech you, brethren, by the NAME of the Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no division among you; but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment." We should all be willing to sit down and divide scripture with scripture...sort of what we're doing now.