“Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: 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; lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.”
Hebrews 12:14-17
If you want to conquer pornography and masturbation, run in the right direction. What you run from, and what you run towards, has eternal consequences for your soul. Those who flee fornication avoid sexual immorality. Those who don’t, don’t. Those who pursue holiness see God. Those who don’t, don’t.
In the Letter to the Hebrews, the writer, inspired by the Holy Spirit, commands you to pursue holiness. The word pursue in the Greek is diókó. It means to aggressively chase, much as a hunter pursues a catch. It is used in the positive, as in to earnestly pursue. And it is used in the negative, as in to zealously hunt down. In both cases, the word means to pursue with all haste, to chase after, to earnestly desire to overtake or apprehend a desired object or goal.
Biblical holiness is the state of being sanctified, consecrated and set apart. It’s the state of having been transformed into God’s likeness. Holiness isn’t something you are simply to think about on the occasional Sunday. It’s not a concept that you are to merely understand. Holiness isn’t an abstract concept that you are to associate only with so-called saints. Holiness is practical. Holiness is a standard that you are to pursue. You are to aggressively chase after holiness. You are to pursue holiness with all haste and zealously hunt it down. You and I are to be holy because God is holy. When you run towards God, you run, by definition, away from porn and masturbation.
This command appears in the New Testament because this world offers you an alternative to holiness. You have the choice between sexual immorality and sexual purity. You have the option of looking at porn or looking away. You have the choice of pleasuring yourself or pleasuring your wife. You have a choice of two directions to run. If you want to see God, run in the right direction. Pursue holiness.
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