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Sunday, March 22, 2015

Insecurity

A couple of days ago the post here focused on 1 Corinthians 10:12, that if we think we stand we are about to fall.  Let’s expand that a bit…
Insecurity
Isaiah 55:8 – 11 tells us that we are not ever going to understand everything about God.  We can’t he is infinite and eternal, us, not so much.  He created us.  He created everything around us.  All of our scientific enquiry is attempting to understand what He spoke into existence.  The notion that we are going to understand what He has done is at a significant level, absurd.

He has chosen to reveal Himself to us.  He did it in two ways.  First through inspiring men to write about Him in languages that have vocabulary and grammar that contain rational propositions that we can study.

Second, He gave us His Son.  He came and lived among us and demonstrated what God’s nature and character was like.  We did not like what we saw, so we killed Him.

Fast forward a couple of thousand years.

We still have what He inspired men to write.  But we also have His Spirit, whose job it is to reveal that we really do need Him, and to lead us into understanding the truth He left us.

But there may be a problem or two.

As we begin to embrace what He has revealed about Himself in the Word He left, through His Spirit He poured out, at times we may think we have got it.  We may be pretty sure we understand something, so well in fact that we begin to build our faith on that understanding.  That puts us in a rather precarious position.

We have already said here that His thoughts are above ours.  That being the case it is certain that I will never completely understand even the things I think I know.  As Paul says in Philippians 3:15, I have to keep pushing.

In the past months I have seen or been told of several examples of people who stood on their understanding.  When what they held to be true was challenged, they either reacted emotionally and distanced themselves from those who may have been questioning their positions, or else they became overpowering evangelists for their position.

Neither behavior seems to be a proper reaction.  In Romans 12:3 – 13 we read that God has given us gifts.  Those gifts are meant to build each other up.  The tacit message is that we need each other.  We need each other’s insight to understand more fully what the Lord has revealed about Himself.

When what we think we know is challenged, our reaction should be, perhaps, rather than to defend or restate our position, to ask for the Biblical basis of the position that has seemingly countered what we think is true.  If that information cannot be given, we are outside the boundaries of the intent of this post and we may deal with that another time.

If it is given, our response should probably be to look intently at the evidence given to see if there is something we can learn.

I would submit that to respond any other way is to respond in insecurity.  Our security should not be based on what we understand about our Lord, but on Him.  Stipulating that He is infinite, our understanding of Him will be necessarily limited and thus continually in need of adjustment.

He does not change.  In that is our security.

Our understanding of Him should continually grow, we cannot ever be satisfied.  As John the Baptiser said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”  (John 3:30)

9 comments:

  1. Gods revealed will CAN be known. Satan is the one who said, DID GOD SAY? Phil 3:15 is a good verse promoting the love of forbearance, which is the glue that holds God's people together, though some parties yet remain in darkness on sundry truths. There are various degrees of light given to God's sheep in regards to the truth; that does not mean the ones with greater light need to doubt the knowledge God gave them, but they are blessed if they exercise mature love and forbearance with the less enlightened.

    Deuteronomy 29:29 The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

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    1. How does one know when one's light is greater than another's?

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    2. Mr. C...hope you don't mind me calling you that. I do not mean to insult. But if I recollect that was the name used on Happy Days, an old sit com with the Fonz as the star...LOL Well, that laughter should help us to break up the ice somewhat. Peace brother. I am not here to win an argument or show off intellectual prowess. We are simply seeking the truth together, and Jesus our Lord said he is the truth,....so we are keen on finding him, cuz he is everything to us. Amen? Amen!

      God put it on my heart to add to my comment a balancing thought, and it is one I think you would appreciate, because you show a humble frame and that is VERY refreshing to me, and to any one who appreciates virtue. Pride causes divisions...intellectual pride is a horrible destroyer of peace among God's people. To save space, I will just give you a link to the balancing thought. Please read it carefully. It's deep and rich! I'm confident you will like it and so savor it. Its a post I put up on G+ some time ago, and it is a quote from a godly Presbyterian minister named Thomas Lye. If the old English is hard to fully understand, please do not feel shy to ask me. I promise to honor you.

      https://plus.google.com/111037290464317278079/posts/CHBmgneDwbk

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    3. To speak to your question...
      Genesis 3 (KJV)
      3 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
      The devils work is to cloud the truth...to put it in question...to make us think we are proud if we think we know any truth. He loves the tossing sea of relativism. But God gave us some absolutes, which are a sure foundation...like a rock The 10 commandments were given to us to obey. Who has an excuse to commit murder by asserting they did not fully understand what God said, Thou shalt not kill?

      Logically, you and I know 2+2=4, and we are not proud for knowing it! The same applies to, Thou Shalt not Kill. That is simple logic. In fact, it is more needful, more requisite, more proper...that you and I KNOW Thou shalt not kill, than we KNOW 2+2=4. That has to be a logical conclusion. Why? Our Creator is much more concerned with you and I not killing each other than adding 2 and 2. So he has made sure, by design, that we do have the capacity to KNOW the truth.

      From God's word...How can a stronger brother know he is stronger (1 Cor 8; Rom 14)? Paul spoke of Christians on milk in Corinth, that should have been on meat. That was in reference to knowledge.

      Knowledge of the truth is an attainable and real virtue. It is one of the essentials.

      2 Peter 1:5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;

      2 Peter 3:18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

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    4. When Christians differ, the way to solve the dilemma, is not to check our brains off at the door (I mean no offence by the pointedness I use...its only to emphasize God gave us brains and knowledge). The solution is LOVE. Love bears all things, is not proud. Phil 3:15 is love in action. Its forbearance. Forebearance teaches the stronger brother to hold back as Moses who had to veil his face, because his brethren could not handle the light God had given him. Some are only able to feed on milk; and the stronger brethren have to recognize that. They need to know when a weaker brother is ready for meat and when to give it to them. I know this is true, though I confess I am not by any means perfected in the application of it. I realize too, the fact is often the case that a person who thinks they know more truth, really knows less truth. So how do you deal with that. Phil 3:15 again will resolve this. The brother who THINKS he is given more light, will by love be led NOT to force his so called superior knowledge on the 'weaker' brother. It is also the case that truth divides, and even Jesus said that it would.

      Luke 12:51 Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division:

      1 Corinthians 11:19 For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.

      But I fear...actually know...Christians are all too quick to scatter and divide and set up new denominations under pretense of 1 Cor 11:19. The way to avoid this is to FOCUS on the MAIN THINGS! That God is one, yet three persons. Jesus is God who became man and was born of a virgin. That he rose again from the dead. Etc. When Christians differ on lesser truths, such as make up on women, or say even baptism, we need not toss out what God has shown us. In fact we are told to but the truth and sell it not. But we need to follow the lead of the Spirit in each case. Personally, I believe infants should be baptized, but I LOVE Charles Spurgeon and John Bunyan...and I would never cut them off, though I an convinced they have been given less light on baptism. This should not be seen as pride, even though I regard both of these two men as greater and more godly men than me...by far. Rather, its a simple fact, that all of God's saint had a thorn in the flesh. Samson was weak with women. Gideon made an idol. David did many things wrong including adultery and murder...the list goes on to show the greatest of saint all had some issues.

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    6. BTW...I did not see your reply until I returned here. So there is not notification sent to me if you reply to this. Maybe I will look into it from my end, and perhaps you may somehow notify me if you do. Thank you.

      I just saw there is a little box to check to be notified. That will have been checked then only on this remark.

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