Hebrews Chapter Twelve, Grace Or Bitterness

 

Hebrews 12:15 looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;

 

This verse teaches the practical implications of peace and holiness. Peace within the church is, once again, doctrinal and moral congruity and purity. Orthodoxy reigns, as it must, so Christians may know which direction to march and what our orders are. Moral purity will follow, because God will reveal through sound doctrine what moral purity looks like, and what it does not.

Those who dissent are to be excommunicated for the peace of the church and its welfare, and for the sake of their own soul, so that the saints do not indulge a sinner in his vices and enable him, becoming complicit with his sin. Holiness is the devoted separateness each saint yearns for, having our thoughts and hearts bent on Christ, and not on pursuing the world’s pleasures to our hurt and possible destruction. John writes, “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds,” 2 John 10, 11. Paul contributes, “Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition, knowing such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned,” Titus 3:10, 11.

 

The root of bitterness speaks of where one derives their nourishment. We are to be rooted in Christ, the True Branch, John 15:4. The people now described have their root in “bitterness,” universally translated in the KJV, NASB, RSV, HCSB, ESV, and NIV. While bitterness is a trait the ungodly manifest, professing saints ought not to make ourselves like the world we have been called out from. The root can also be defined as the source or origin of bitterness, with the writer further cautioning that such a source will cause trouble, and this trouble will result with many saints being defiled.

 

When a holy object in the OT was defiled, it was because it came into contact with something profane, becoming profane itself, Haggai 2:13, Leviticus 22:4-6. The implication here is that the Hebrew Christians were exposed to, and in danger of, being defiled by an influence within the church contrary to the peace and holiness God the Holy Spirit commands us to live in. In this instance, the faltering Christian would qualify for what the author wrote as “fall[ing] short of the grace of God.” The idea presented is not one of forfeiture of salvation, or loss of its retention; neither of which are Biblical concepts. The notion is a failure to meet a standard, and that standard is living a life rooted in God’s grace, resulting in the peace and holiness that is naturally produced. Rather, the danger is the root of bitterness, whose source comes from outside God’s will and person, presented within the church and whose end is the defilement of all that partake in it.

 

How can such an end be averted? Sound doctrine. A believer ought to be “holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict,” Titus 1:9. Later, Paul writes to Titus, reminding him, “But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine,” Titus 2:1. When teaching Timothy, Paul instructs him that the Law was made for sinners, going on to define their nature before adding, “and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine,” 1 Timothy 1:9, 10. Note how Paul describes the moral deficiencies in this group (of which we were all once part of), and prescribes the antidote in sound doctrine. Moral purity ALWAYS follows doctrinal purity in Scripture, because doctrinal purity defines the attributes of what moral purity looks like.

 

Moral deviance (more easily known as sin) is not, then, a purely moral issue in the church; it is a doctrinal issue. It has nothing to do with feelings, circumstance, or popular opinion. It has to do with objectivity and right or wrong, with the risk of its exposure defiling God’s saints. God issues a stern warning about such profligate or Devil-may-care behavior within the church when we read, “If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are,” 1 Corinthians 3:17. The Reader’s Greek-English Lexicon gives the synonym “stain” for the word defile in our present verse. In 1 Corinthians 3:17, the term “defiles” means “destroy or corrupt.” The NASB uses that translation in 1 Corinthians, with the apostle cautioning that destroying God’s temple visits the destroyer with a similar judgment. The connotation is that the believer destroys the temple by defiling it, resulting in their works being burned. An influence outside of Christ and His followers reaches a saint, and their decisions become carnal, resulting in forfeiture of reward, because they have become defiled. The saint’s life is no longer focused on Christ’s gospel and God’s glory, to do good works for the benefit of men. We must all beware of such people, because as the apostle warns about moral laxity in the church, “Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?” 1 Corinthians 5:6.