"Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the LORD." Hebrews 12:14

After the author of Hebrews finished writing about the relationship between God's discipline and us, he turned his attention to the purpose of the Christian's life. The discipline of God has a most honorable purpose; that is, we are commanded to haholiness. This should become our heritage, a most important part of our existence.

When we are dealing with stocks and shares, our purpose ve a part in His is to have a part of something that is profitable, to have part in other's wealth. Someone came to Dr Tong and lamented that he has lost a lot of money in the stock market due to the present uncertainties. Dr Tong said that he could not help this person because he has never bought any shares in his life time, and knows next to nothing about shares and the stock market. But he has shares in heaven that will never, ever be devalued. These came about due to the goodness of our God, whose every intention for men is good. He wants to give us His shares, His posessions to all of us for all eternity.

Many of us have anxieties in life because we never did realise that we are hungry for temporal things that have no eternal value. This was why our LORD Jesus said that we are not to store treasures on earth where it could be destroyed or taken away by robbers, the moth or simply rust away. The true measure of a person is therefore not his wealth, but his spirituality, his character and his morality. These are things that no one can take away, and are things that would influence generations to come. Jesus Christ said that He came to give us life, and life abundant (John 10:10). He also said that we are to seek His kingdom and His righteousness, and all we need shall be added unto us. It is adding, not simply giving, meaning we will have more than we need. This is only possible if our possessions are related to the nature of God.

Very few people are remembered in history because of their wealth. We remember great men and women of wisdom, of character; people who can be role models and who spoke words of great wisdom. Their legacy continues to influence the world. When a Christian does things that are in accordance to the Word of God, for His kingdom and His truth, the work would have eternal value since the Bible says that the things of this world and its desires will pass away; only those who do the will of God will last forever (1 John 2:17).

1 Peter 1:4 tells us that God has kept an inheritance for us in heaven. We are not having a part of God's own essence, because it is not possible for the creature to have a qualitative similarity with the creator. What God wants is for us to have a part of His divine nature, in that because He is holy, He is just, He is good, He is compassionate, He is glorious; we are to be holy, just, good, compassionate and have a part in His glory. In this manner, we share in His nature. When a Christian can do that, he will indeed be able to lead a life abundant. When we realise this, the sufferings and difficulties we are encountering today would seem so insignificant, and we will understand truly why we are so blessed. Romans 8 declared that at our best, we are crowned with the glory of God. The Christian therefore is a representative of God on earth, and we are to display the mark of that representation in holiness, justice, goodness.

This is why the Bible says that the LORD looks upon the death of a saint as precious (Psalm 116:15). When we are alive, we ought to live with God's holy nature in us, and when we die, we return to the God whom we have emulated in our life to enjoy eternal glory with Him. Christ demonstrated this holiness while He was on earth. Dr Tong emphasized once again that one can fake practically anything or any behaviour in life, but holiness cannot be imitated. This is how we can tell the true God from false God, the true guru from false gurus. Holiness is what God is all about, and only He can define holiness since He is the only Holy one. Even if you were to find the best literary detective in the world to investigate all that Christ has said, you would not be able to point out a single deception in the words of Christ. He is indeed the Holy One of God, the only representative of God on earth. As saints of the universal church of Jesus Christ, we all have a part in that holiness. So we need to continually be tried, trained and molded to be more like Him.

As an illustration, Dr Tong compared Jesus Christ with Joseph Smith of the Mormon church, and pointed out the many discrepancies of the Mormon faith. The life of Jesus Christ was beyond reproach by anyone, at any time, anywhere. He is the only Saviour of the world, the only holy one of God. The purpose of God's discipline would be for us to be like Jesus Christ, partaking in His holy nature. When we are holy, we are not to be arrogant and live apart from the rest of humanity. This is a mistake many people make, thinking that holiness means being set apart from the rest. Therefore, the author of Hebrews pointed out that we are to live in peace with all men. While we live on earth a life that is heavenly, we need to also live in harmony with the rest of the people around us. This, said Dr Tong, is an extremely difficult task, because everyone is different in make-up and emotional composition.

In earlier sermons, Dr Tong mentioned that there are five aspects of reconciliation in Christianity. Firstly, Christ enables us to be reconciled with God. Secondly, we can reconcile with ourselves. This is very important, for most of the problem of humanity comes from a person not being able to accept himself. This is why people commit suicide, simply because they cannot forgive themselves. When we can reconcile with ourselves, we will produce the third reconciliation, in that we will be able to reconcile with others. We will respect others as we respect ourselves, knowing that there is a 'self' in every human being. After that, we will move one step further, and help others reconcile with other people; like the peacemakers mentioned by the gospel of Matthew chapter 5. The fifith reconciliation would then come in, when we enable others to reconcile with God. These five reconciliations are progressive, and came about first because of the reconciliation with God, enabled by Jesus Christ.

However, it is really difficult for us to have peace with all around us. In church, we like to be with those people who are like-minded with us, and have fellowship with them rather than with all the people. But a person who is truly spiritual, who is truly holy in his heart, who has no deceit in his heart, would see others as lovable, as if they are all fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters or children. A person who is truly spiritual would not be blinded by physical attributes. He would not based his judgement of others on the colour of their skin, their culture or language. He would understand that all are made in the image of God, and would give thanks for people who are better than he is, and give glory to God. Dr Tong gave an illustration of the mother of the great philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer. Schopenhauer's mother was a noted novelist, but she hated her son's talent and worked against him all her life. So clearly, one can even hate his own children or spouse when one cannot get over some things in life.

Dr Tong said that his mother taught him not to be bothered by what others say about him. If they are wrong and he gets angry, then he has made a mistake and will become wrong as well. If he takes revenge, then his wrong would be doubled. Even the emperor cannot stop people from criticising him; and since one cannot possibly be the emperor, one should simply accept that others have the right to express their opinion without getting angry. The Koreans have a saying that before one curses others, the words of cursing would first rest upon the cursor's own lips.

But we need to be clear that being at peace with all men is coupled with holiness. One cannot simply go and have peace with all men regardless of what that means. We should always remember that we need to stay pure and holy in the midst of the corruption of the world, and not compromise. Herein lies the difficulty for Christians. It is difficult both in and out of the church. But we can get the best example and encouragement from Jesus Christ. Christ was friend to the sinners, but he never sinned. Jesus healed the sick and untouchables.

In the incident of the adulterous woman, Jesus Christ told the people that those who have no sin may stone her. The people left one by one, starting from the old. And Jesus Christ did not judge her as well, and forgave her instead. Dr Tong said that we should all see the irony of this incident. It was the sinners who wanted to judge; but the sinless one forgave. The most frightening thing is that throughout history, it is the religious leaders who would commit the most grevious sins in the name of God. People like Osama bin Ladin killed thousands within a single day, and they never feel that they need to repent, because they are doing all these in the name of God. The sinners judge sinners; while the sinless one forgives sin. Jesus Christ never had a single enemy. He could accept the greatest sinner, but would reject the smallest sin. We need to follow His example, to be both holy, and at peace with all men.

Disclaimer: This summary does NOT represent the official position of STEMI (Stephen Tong Evangelistic Ministry International), and is the personal opinion of the author, expressed without prejudice. Expressed opinions are meant for academic discussions only.