Hebrews 2:15-17 - See that no one is sexually immoral

12:15

Two further instructions are given in this verse. The first is to “see to it that no one falls short of the grace of God”. We need to have a deep appreciation of the grace of God. It does not simply mean that we are forgiven, though it does mean that. But God’s grace towards us also means that He is at work to make us ever more Christlike. If someone thinks that the gospel just means being forgiven, then they have fallen short of the grace of God.  “and that no bitter root grows up ...”. This is not referring to bitterness in the sense of a bitter or resentful spirit. Rather it is referring back to Deut 29:18 where it gives a severe warning against turning away from God to worship idols, and calls worshipping idols a “bitter poison”. Turning away from God causes much trouble and defiles many.

12:16,17

Two more dangers are given here. The first is sexual immorality. Often the church is accused of being obsessed with sex. There are two things that can be said about this. The first is that it is the world that is obsessed with sex! The second is that sexual immorality of all kinds causes tremendous harm. The reason the world accuses the church of being obsessed with sex is that it does not like being reminded of God’s moral standards.

Then Esau is mentioned. Now the Bible makes no mention of sexual immorality on Esau’s part. There may be a link in that sexual sin can sometimes be taking a “single meal”, choosing to go for transitory pleasure, rather than eternal life. Esau was unable to repent after realising what he had done. “He was rejected”. This puts things in an extremely serious context. We need to have an eternal perspective.