Psalm 119:33-35
“Teach me, O
Lord, the way of your statutes;
and I will keep it to the end.
Give me
understanding, that I may keep your law
and observe it with my whole heart.
Lead me in the
path of your commandments,
for I delight in it.”
If we want the Lord
to teach us his Word, we need to be students of the Word of God, and we need to
allow the Holy Spirit to be our teacher.
We need to put aside
all the dogmas of men who may not have the mind of Christ, and we need to read
the Word of God with fresh minds, open to hear what the Spirit wants to say to
us, even if it disagrees with something we have always been taught in the
church or by a pastor.
We need to not go into
the Scriptures just to try to prove our point, or to find something to support
our beliefs, or to try to prove our arguments. If we take Scriptures out of
context, we may well be able to support lots of unbiblical beliefs. But then we
would not be seekers of truth.
If we want to be
seekers of truth, and we honestly want the Spirit of God to teach us the ways
of God, then we have to be willing to have the Spirit of God show us where we
have been taught wrongly, and we need to be willing to forsake whatever
teaching we had accepted previously that was false, and then we must embrace
the truth as the Spirit reveals it to us.
If you, like me,
have been in the gatherings of the church your whole life, or most of your life,
you have been taught many things by many different people – pastors, youth workers,
Sunday School teachers, small group or Bible study leaders, etc. Even if you
were brought up in a fundamental evangelical church, you may have been taught
some things wrongly.
When I began to read
and to teach the Scriptures book by book, chapter by chapter, and verse by
verse, which is what I primarily did for 13 years straight (2004-2017), I had
to unlearn several things which I learned incorrectly over my lifetime.
Many times I would
read a Scripture passage and the Holy Spirit would help me to see truth I had
never seen before. Then, I had a choice to make. I could hold on to what I had
always been taught, or I could allow the Holy Spirit to give me greater
understanding into his truth, and to show me what His word really teaches,
which sometimes contradicted things I had always been taught, but which, it turned
out, were not biblically supported.
Psalm 119:36-38
“Incline my heart
to your testimonies,
and not to selfish gain!
Turn my eyes from
looking at worthless things;
and give me life in your ways.
Confirm to your
servant your promise,
that you may be feared.”
Again, we have been
taught and we are being taught many things by human teachers who don’t all have
the mind of Christ. In fact, few of them do these days, at least here in America.
So, we need the
discernment of the Holy Spirit to sift through all the junk that is being
proclaimed in the name of Jesus, and we need to have ears to hear only what is
truth.
Much of what is
being proclaimed from American pulpits is not the true gospel of Jesus Christ,
as taught by Jesus, and as taught by his apostles. Much of it is a half-truth
gospel, which is a lie. For it is not the whole counsel of God. It is a lie based
on cherry picked Scriptures taken out of context and made to say what itching
ears want to hear.
This half-truth
gospel deals with the gospel message very superficially and lightly, making it
much less than what it is. It just kind of skims the surface, but it doesn’t
really get to the heart of the gospel message. But that is intentional, for the
intention is to deceive naïve minds and hearts.
And, that is because
its foundation is not Jesus Christ, but the flesh of man. It is based in the
teachings of men, not in the teachings of Scripture, not in their context,
anyway, so not in truth. And, its purpose is to appeal to the flesh of man by
telling them that they don’t have to submit to Christ or repent of their sins
or walk in obedience to Christ and to his commands.
Yet, it isn’t always
that blatant. They may superficially use the term “repent” as part of the
gospel presentation, though most do not, but it is nothing more than a term
meaning a decision to believe in Jesus, which is a change of mind. But a true
change of mind and true belief in Jesus results in true repentance, submission
to Christ as Lord, and obedience to his commands.
True belief in Jesus
results in leaving our sinful lifestyles behind us and us now walking according
to the Spirit of God, and not according to our flesh. It understands that our
salvation is conditional upon us living for the Lord and following him in his
truth and in his ways.
[Rom 6:1-23; Rom
8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Jn 1:5-9; Lu 9:23-26; 1 Jn 2:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8]
But this isn’t just
about guarding against false doctrine which is disguised as truth. This is
about not being content with just the feel-good stuff in the Scriptures, which
are often misapplied. This is about not JUST reading the Scriptures which don’t
convict us of sin and only ones that make us feel warm and cozy. We need to
hear it all, at least all the New Testament.
And, we need to not
be superficial in our approach to Scripture, just reading it or expounding it so
that we sound knowledgeable, or to impress others, or perhaps even as a
cover-up for sinful lifestyles.
For, if it is for
show only, we are wasting our time. If our faith is outward only, we are also wasting
our time. If our support of Scripture or of those teaching it is performance
only, then we are, again, wasting our time and efforts.
Psalm 119:39-40
“Turn away the
reproach that I dread,
for your rules are good.
Behold, I long
for your precepts;
in your righteousness give me life!”
It is not enough
just to know the Scriptures, even the deep things of God. The whole purpose of
us studying the Word of God should be so that we might apply its truths to our
lives. We must not only know what the Scriptures teach, but we must walk in
them, in our daily practice.
We are not to be
hearers of the word only who, though the word convicts us of sin, walk away and
forget what we have been shown. But we are to be doers of the word of God who
follow our Lord wherever he leads us, and who walk in obedience to his
commands, as a matter of life course.
For, in obedience to
our Lord’s commands we find life and purpose. But this is not speaking of
following a set of rules and performing in our flesh to try to gain approval
from God. This is about allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us into truth and to
empower us to then walk in that truth for the glory of God.
Psalm 19
Song lyrics taken from
Psalm 19 KJV
The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul:
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart:
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever:
The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine
gold:
Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
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