Lately, I’ve noticed a lot of discourse on a wide array of topics, from Christian persecution in the Middle East to illegal immigration in the US, to simple conversations of the rights and wrongs in the mundane of our daily lives.
**What governments should do, how people should respond, even what people should pray.
**Yet, the majority of this commentary is without a single reference to scripture. You would think that with a topic so grave and with such authoritative commentary and passionate opinions, one would see along with these expressions, a mentioning of God’s word.
Lately, I’ve noticed amongst the plethora of commentary and assessments, people expressing their views, making reference to statistics, current events, history, and even the US constitution.
**We have come to value what the research says, what the constitution says, what the experts say, yet we do not consult with what scripture says.
Lately, I’ve noticed a church that speaks with the authority of man and yet does not give ear to the authority of scripture.
**We come to, as a church, accept the word of a pastor, an elder, or a leader, simply because of their position. We place our faith in the promises of politicians and social authorities simply because of their position. Yet, we do not measure their words with scripture. The Bereans in Acts 17:11 were counted as noble because they did not simply take Paul at his word, but, as it says, “searched the scriptures daily to see if what he was saying was true.”
Lately, what I’ve noticed is that by our actions and our words we have come to deny the authority of the infallible, inerrant, holy Word of God.
My question to you is this: How have we come to this? Why do we value our own opinion over the truth of scripture? I think we can find the answer and some understanding in scripture. It is after all, God’s word; which is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.
In Romans 3:10-18, Paul quotes from Psalms to confirm that all man is under sin and is depraved, even in the intentions and motivations of his heart. We are truly a fallen people.
“…as it is written: none is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive. The venom of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
In our flesh, we do not seek God. In our flesh, we walk as enemies of God. Our very fallen nature is in opposition to God. We do not seek him, we do not seek righteousness. We seek to save and preserve ourselves, to increase our comforts, our provision, and our happiness.
Later on, in Romans 8, Paul says that “the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
We see elsewhere in Galatians 5:17, “The desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”
We can put these into context by using Paul’s statement in Romans 7:21-25, “So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law in my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.”
Before we know Christ, before we are tied to Jesus through his amazing grace, we are simply vile creatures of the flesh. Prior to the work of Christ within us, we are not good; scripture says we cannot be good - we lack the ability. Until the spirit of the life of Christ Jesus frees us from the works of the flesh we do not seek righteousness, indeed we cannot.
And, though we are made free from the bondage of sin and death, we are not separated from it. Until we are united with Christ in eternity, we will walk this earth as men divided. With our minds and hearts we will serve Christ, but in our flesh we are slaves to sin. This is Paul’s lament in Romans 7.
Who will save us from our bodies of death? Paul then rejoices saying, in Christ Jesus. We can look to the hope of Christ, we can know that one day we will be forever parted from sin.
But until that day, we will know a war that is being waged within us. The same war that Paul references here, “in the members of his being”. It is for this very this reason, that we value our own opinions so, so greatly. Because we have been lured and enticed by our flesh, which is in opposition to God’s law, to seek our own selfish preservation. There is a war “to keep us from doing the things we want.”
Proverbs 21:2 says, “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart.”
Simply because something seems right in our own eyes, does not make it so. Simply because an opinion seems to be right to us, does not make it truthful or correct. We are a people that is easily persuaded my our own thinking and by our own interests. I’ve heard it said (even in the church), “you have to just follow your heart.” Yet, scripture says that our heart is “deceptive above all things.”
So, we have to understand that because we cannot trust what “seems right in our own eyes,” we have to learn to measure our “right thinking” by the only infallible source of measurement. Not our experiences. Not our preferences. Not what we’ve been taught and told. It is only by the word of God that we can measure what is righteous before the Lord.
Jesus said that we are to crucify the flesh daily. We have to understand that we will walk the entirety of life on earth tied to our flesh, our sin nature. We have got to be alert to the influence of our flesh in our lives. Our flesh does not seek to glorify God. It only seeks it’s own good.
We need to be aware of the fact we are a fallen people, and that apart from scripture, and more, apart from Christ, all attempts at goodness, every perception of goodness is evil. Why? Because our version of goodness will always be tainted by our flesh, which is completely, and unwaveringly, opposed to God and his righteous ways. Apart from Christ and his word, we are evil and no thought or motivation can carry an ounce of goodness, regardless of how “good” the secular world may credit it.
So, what do we do? How can we seek righteousness. First, we have to be reminded that there is no good apart from God and there is no righteousness apart from Christ.
So, we cling to Christ. We have to seek to learn his word, and learn to see his word as the final authority for our lives. We’ve got to give to holy scripture the reigns that steer our thinking and guide our hearts. We desperately need to allow Christ to conform our will to his, constantly assessing and examining our thinking according to scripture. We are told to “walk in the spirit” and to “live by the spirit,” to “be led by the spirit.” Yet, scripture tells us in John through the words of Christ, and also in Hebrews, and also through Paul’s letters, that the Holy Spirit’s primary function is to testify about Christ. The Spirit testifies to truth. Christ was the word incarnate. He said of himself, “I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life.”
John 1:14 says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
If we are to be led by the Spirit, we first have to understand that the Holy Spirit testifies to Christ. Then, we have to understand that Christ was the word incarnate. Christ was the sum of all scripture, he was the word become flesh. We cannot know Christ, we cannot know his will, apart from his word. God told Jeremiah, “I watch over my word to perform it.” He spoke through Isaiah, saying, “My word will not return to me void.” God’s word will accomplish was it was sent out to do. Christ was the divine example of this promise. God’s word went out from him in the form of flesh, dwelt among us, and completely and totally accomplished all that it was sent to do. We cannot separate Christ from his word. Jesus even said, “I will accomplish all that my father has sent me to accomplish.” Christ was, literally, the word of God in the form of flesh.
Now, what does it mean that the Spirit testifies of Christ? That the Holy Spirit testifies to the truth. To testify means to confirm something through evidence. The Holy Spirit cannot testify to us without something to confirm. He can’t confirm the truth within us if we do not know the truth.
We have to try our best to hear, to understand, and to do the word of God. Then, and only then, can the Holy Spirit confirm Christ within us. Paul said that the “gospel was the power of God unto salvation.” He also said, “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” We must hear, encounter the truth of the gospel, before the Holy Spirit can confirm its truth to us.
Most have heard the verse from 1 Thessalonians, “do not quench the spirit, don’t despise prophesy, prove all things, hold fast to that which is good.”
How do you quench the spirit? By despising prophesy, which is, simply put, proclaiming Christ (and his Word). We are told to prove all things. With what? God’s word. We are to hold fast, tightly, to that which is good. What is good? God’s word. There is none good but God. We quench the spirit by limiting his power in our lives by neglecting study and reliance upon God’s word.
To walk according to the Spirit begins in God’s word; it is not walking according to our perceptions or our seemingly good endeavors. Apart from the word of God, we cannot walk in the Spirit, because the job of the Spirit is to confirm and testify to Christ, who is the word of God. It is this confirmation that brings about all the other duties of the Holy Spirit. Confirmation of Christ through his word brings about conviction. It brings about peace. It brings wisdom and direction. It is through this confirmation that we see the Spirit as the “great counselor.” There is no perfect counsel apart from Christ. Remember, the word of God is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. Are these not also the traits we give to the Holy Spirit?
Jesus said in Matthew 28:18, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”
Simply following the rules logic, if Christ was the “word become flesh” and all authority is given to Christ, then we must attribute that same authority to scripture.
Jesus told the pharisees in John 5:39, “You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me.”
We have eternal life, not because of what scripture says, not because of mosaic law or tradition or history, but because of what scripture did. We have hope for eternity because of what Christ, the word incarnate, did on the cross. But, we cannot know Christ apart from his word. It’s for that reason that Jesus said, “it is they (scriptures) that bear witness about me.” We cannot establish a deep relationship with Jesus without walking the path of his word. It is his word and his Spirit that molds us, changes us, and sanctifies us.
In the 1500s, during the beginning of the protestant reformation, Martin Luther, who was facing excommunication for challenging papal authority and the practices of the catholic church, gave this statement in defense of his teachings:
“Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason - I do not accept authority of the popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other - my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me.”
What I want to focus on in this infamous quote is this: Luther shows that his conscience is something that is shaped by God’s word. By conscience, he means his categorization of right and wrong, good and evil, and his reasoning for his actions and his pursuits. The books he wrote, we wrote because his conscience was rooted in scripture. His criticism of the practices of indulgences and his criticisms of papal authority, was rooted in scripture. He didn’t write or speak, simply utilizing his cultural ideology or his personal opinions.
Martin Luther is often referred to as “the spark that set the church ablaze.” Luther, convinced of the authority of scripture and the church’s need for Christ, became a beacon of reform in the face of much adversity and in the midst of a “church” that called him a heretic. He understood that tradition and culture are two forces vastly different from Christ and his holy Word. “Every way of a man seems right in his own eyes” when we look through the lens of our traditions, our culture, and our experiences. Yet, there is a greater authority. It is the authority of scripture. It is the authority of Christ. And we’ve got to seek to make it supreme in our lives.
I’d like to end by quoting Philippians 3:12-14.
“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
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