Hebrews 12

Wesley: follow peace with all—this branch concerns neighbors; holiness concerns God. Not following after all holiness is the direct way to fall into sin of every kind.

Arminians detect a double pursuit: peace and holiness, both to be followed. Without holiness none see the Lord—a warning for hearers who must pursue sanctification, not a bare slogan over the already secure.

Calvin: men naturally shun peace by studying their own interest; strive with all care, forgetting offenses. Yet peace with the ungodly must not approve vice—holiness together with peace. Without holiness none see the Lord; we see God with eyes renewed after His image.

Peace is pursued; holiness is the bond of union with God. Seeing the Lord requires the holiness He works in His people.

Wesley: looking diligently lest any—if he do not lift drooping hands—fall from the grace of God. Root of bitterness—envy, anger, suspicion—destroys peace; any corruption in doctrine or practice may pollute many.

Wesleyans hear a congregational watch: grace can be failed of; bitterness can spring and defile. The warning is pastoral and true for those still in the race—see to it, lest any fall.

Calvin: attention is required because as soon as Satan sees us secure he circumvents us. Under grace he includes whole vocation. Inferring freewill cooperation from the precept is frivolous; the Lord who warns also moves hearts. Cut down bitter roots lest they choke good seed; hypocrites mixed with the good must not be allowed to grow unchecked.

Failing of grace is a church danger under vigilance language; diligence itself is God’s gift. Bitterness defiles many—discipline the pest.

Wesley: Esau was profane for so slighting the blessing along with the birthright. One morsel traded away a sacred privilege.

Listen here for Esau as a warning example for hearers who might trade holiness for appetite. Sexual immorality and profaneness are the opposite of the holiness of v. 14. Use the present time; do not sell what God has set before you.

Calvin: fornicator names a particular defilement; profane is the general contrary of holiness. Esau valued one meal above the birthright and lost the blessing. Profane are those in whom worldly love so reigns that they forget heaven—ambition, money, gluttony, pleasures crowding out Christ’s kingdom.

Birthright language evokes the honor of the firstborn called to eternal life. Selling it for a meal exposes a heart that never prized God’s gift.

Wesley: he was rejected—could not obtain it. No place for repentance—no room for such repentance as would regain what he lost. He sought the blessing diligently with tears—too late. Let us use the present time.

Arminians catch a sober urgency: afterward may be too late. Tears without timely turning do not reopen what was sold. The pastoral point is present obedience, not despair of all who weep.

Calvin: he laughed when full, then too late found his loss. Rejected means denied his request. No place of repentance—he gained nothing by late repentance; these tears were not sincere conversion to God but terror of a man past hope seeking the blessing, not knocking at God’s door by faith. The Apostle warns despisers of grace to take heed lest the same befall them.

Esau’s tears prove that remorse without faith does not regain the birthright. The warning stands; God’s severity on profane mockers is true.