Hebrews 12:14 “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:”
In this context, to “Follow peace” is to aggressively pursue it, relying upon our God-given faith, employing all the strength and wisdom that our Lord will grant us. To the best of our ability, we are to create and maintain an environment that yields and maintains “peace”! This “peace” must be with “holiness”; that is, while following after “peace”, we must not compromise “holiness”; that is, do not join with the wicked in order to have “peace” with them. The word “holiness” refers to our holy motives, attitudes, and behaviors. Fundamentally, to live with “holiness” is to live our lives in both the letter and spirit of God’s Commandments for Christian behavior. Those who live with “holiness” are those who perpetually display “the fruit of the Spirit” which “is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance” (Galatians 5:22-23). In order to “Follow peace”, we must control our carnal tongue and our natural quest for supremacy and revenge. Most especially in religious matters, we are to preach and teach the Word of God and reason with folks who are interested in reasoning with us; but, when we disagree, we are to disagree peacefully. If a person is hard in their position, simply leave them alone and pray for them; and certainly do not be vindictive toward them or seek to do them harm. If others become mean spirited toward us, simply separate from them. Mean and wicked and immoral people to not want “peace”, they seem to thrive on disturbance and turmoil – when faced with such folks, it is best to “come out from among them, and be ye separate” (II Corinthians 6:17). We are to “mark them” who preach and teach false doctrines “which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them” (Romans 16:17)! There is nothing more pleasing than to gather in fellowship with those who love us and want us and have the same understanding of God and godliness that we do!