8/29/22

Beautiful, but deadly by Gary Rose

 

When I went to the garbage can the other day to put it on the curb for next day’s pickup, I noticed a spider web entwined in the plastic handle. Looking closer, I saw a small spider that had an hourglass on its abdomen, which was a clear indication of a black widow spider. I terminated it- at once. A Black widow’s bite can cause serious damage ( or even kill you ). Spiders are quite common in Florida, and some of them can reach five or more inches in size. Yet, when they make their webs, it is a beautiful thing to behold, beautiful but deadly.


As I thought about the above picture, I realized that something that may seem beautiful, may in reality be awful or even deadly. In a word -sin. The Bible says…


James 1 ( World English Bible )

12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who love him.

13 Let no man say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God can’t be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one.

14 But each one is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed.

15 Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin; and the sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death.


Sin, in all its various forms, can cause us to do things that we ordinarily would never do. And, as verse 15 above teaches, can eventually lead to death ( physically and/or spiritually ). Just because something appears beautiful or appealing, does not mean it is good for you.


REMEMBER: Do not follow your own desires, please God and LIVE!

One more thing – Stay away from SPIDERS!


Did Jesus Disagree With Moses on Divorce? by Dave Miller, Ph.D.

 

https://apologeticspress.org/did-jesus-disagree-with-moses-on-divorce-5975/

Did Jesus Disagree With Moses on Divorce?

Dave Miller, Ph.D.
Reason & Revelation America's Culture War Divorce Divorce Doctrinal Matters
From Issue: R&R – July 2021

Over the centuries, critics of the Bible have devoted their energies to attempting to pinpoint contradictions and discrepancies in an effort to discredit its claim to inspiration. On one occasion in the life of Jesus on Earth, the Pharisees confronted Him and demanded to know if the Law permitted a man to divorce his wife “for just any reason?” Jesus immediately directed their attention to two Old Testament verses that provided the proper answer: Genesis 1:27 and Genesis 2:24—which provided a negative answer as evidenced by Jesus’ own divine commentary on the two verses: “So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate” (Matthew 19:6). Observe carefully: humans have no right to separate what God Himself has joined together, unless He gives His approval to do so. Hence, wholesale, carte blanche divorce is not sanctioned by God. This view of divorce coincides with God’s true attitude toward divorce in His forthright declaration through the prophet Malachi: “For the LORD God of Israel says that He hates divorce” (2:16).

Before Jesus could complete His response as to whether there are any exceptions to the general rule forbidding divorce, His questioners, no doubt stung by the stringency of Jesus’ answer, sought to justify their rejection of such a narrow viewpoint by calling attention to the Mosaic injunction in Deuteronomy 24: “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?” Their words constitute an allusion to Deuteronomy 24. Read carefully the passage as it occurs in the Pentateuch:

When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, when she has departed from his house, and goes and becomes another man’s wife, if the latter husband detests her and writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her as his wife, then her former husband who divorced her must not take her back to be his wife after she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance (Deuteronomy 24:1-4).

If this Old Testament passage provides a suitable answer to the Pharisees’ question, Jesus undoubtedly would have alluded to it. Instead, His response to their quibble clearly demonstrates that this passage does not provide the proper answer to their question concerning the propriety of divorce. He discounted the passage by offering a rebuttal to its applicability to the question at hand.

Moses Did Not Command Divorce

First, the Mosaic legislation, which included an acknowledgment that divorce was occurring in Israelite society, was a reflection of the hard hearts that existed at the time. No doubt, Egypt’s influence on the first two generations of Israelites included a relaxed view of divorce, establishing a practice that was underway even before God gave His covenant at Sinai. This acknowledgment in no way provided divine sanction for or approval of divorce. The Law neither commanded divorce nor established divorce as a right. After all, who would argue that God would overlook, sanction, or save those who possess hard hearts? Will anyone be in heaven that possesses a hard heart? To ask is to answer. Hence, Jesus’ pronouncement that the Mosaic provision pertained to “hard hearts” underscores the fact that it was not intended as a divine sanction of divorce—let alone a command (eneteilato) to do so. Such a command would, in fact, have been in direct conflict with God’s original intention as reflected in Jesus’ response on the occasion.

Meaning of “permitted”?

But if Moses did not “command” divorce, why did Jesus assert that Moses “allowed” it? What did He mean by His use of the term “allowed” (ESV/RSV), “suffered” (KJV/ASV), or “permitted” (NKJV/NASB)? The underlying word provided by Matthew is epetrepsen. This Greek word means “to allow someone to do something, allow, permit,”1 “to give over, to leave to the entire trust or management of any one; hence, to permit, allow, suffer.”2 The English words “allow” and “permit” do not necessarily imply permission or approval. For example, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines “allow” as “1a: permit; 1b: to fail to restrain or prevent.” For the latter definition, this example of usage is given: “allow the dog to roam.”3 You may not want your dog to roam the neighborhood, yet do nothing to prevent it. The Cambridge Dictionary defines “allow” as “to give permission for someone to do something, or to not prevent something from happening.”4 And the American Heritage Dictionary gives as the first meaning of “allow”: “To let do or happen; permit.”5 The word does not include the idea of sanction, authorization, or approval—let alone forgiveness. God allowed divorce in the sense that He tolerated it—like He does the wicked behavior of the world’s population throughout history. He “puts up with it.” He allows it to go on—without implying endorsement. As Greek expositor Alexander Bruce clarified—“permitted, not enjoined.”6

This understanding is confirmed by two additional Greek terms that are similarly used. In Paul’s address to the idolatrous Athenian philosophers, he courageously declared: “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30). The Greek verb rendered “overlooked” (huperorao) is defined as “to overlook, disregard; to bear with,”7 “to indulgently take no notice of, overlook, disregard.”8 Paul was certainly not telling the Athenians that in the past God endorsed idolatry or did not reckon it as sin. Indeed, all those who entered eternity prior to Christianity in an idolatrous state will be eternally lost. Rather, Paul intended to impress his pagan audience with the fact that God had put up with a great deal of inexcusable polytheism through the centuries. But with the coming of Christianity, all who continued to worship false gods were under divine mandate to forsake their idolatry and turn to Christ.

The KJV translated the Greek word in this verse as “winked at”: “And the times of this ignorance God winked at.” What did “winked at” mean in 1611? Interestingly enough, William Shakespeare provides the answer. In his famous play Romeo & Juliet, the prince of Verona, Escalus, delivers a stinging rebuke to the grieving families who have gathered in the wake of the tragic deaths of their two children—deaths spawned by their two warring factions:

Where be these enemies? Capulet! Montague!
See, what a scourge is laid upon your hate,
That heaven finds means to kill your joys with love.
And I for winking at your discords too
Have lost a brace of kinsmen: all are punish’d.9

Escalus had, in fact, on more than one occasion, intervened with stern rebukes to urge the warring factions to cease and desist their hostilities—but to no avail. Hence, he “winked” at their discords in the sense that he allowed, tolerated, and permitted them to continue without forcibly preventing them. He certainly did not endorse, approve, or forgive their discordant activities throughout the period in which they occurred. But he did not stop or physically restrain them. He had hoped that his repeated verbal admonitions would have been heeded.

A second Greek term that reinforces the proper meaning of Jesus’ use of the word “allowed/permitted” is the synonym which occurs three times in Paul’s dark portrait of the Gentile world in his letter to the Romans:

  • “God also gave them up to uncleanness” (1:24).
  • “God gave them up to vile passions” (1:26)
  • “God gave them over to a debased mind” (1:28).

The Greek term rendered “gave them up/over” (paradidomi) means “to give over, hand over, deliver up, turn over” and includes the idea to “abandon” as in “he abandoned them to impurity.”10 In addition to the three occurrences in Romans 1, the same word occurs in Stephen’s great speech before the High Priest and Jewish council, in which he described the generation that exited Egypt and constructed a golden calf to worship: “Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven” (Acts 7:42). A variety of English translation renderings make clear the meaning:

  • NRSV: “But God turned away from them and handed them over to worship the host of heaven”
  • NCV/ICB/EXB: “But God turned against them and did not try to stop them from worshiping the sun, moon, and stars.”
  • NIRV: “But God turned away from them. He let them go on worshiping the sun, moon and stars.”
  • NOG: ““So God turned away from them and let them worship the sun, moon, and stars.”
  • ERV: “But God turned against them and let them continue worshiping the army of false gods in the sky.”
  • DARBY/NASB1995: “But God turned and delivered them up to serve the host of heaven.”

Once again, it is plain to see that Jesus, Paul, and Stephen all referred to the same point, i.e., that God can tolerate and allow people to “go their own way” without His allowance implying endorsement, approval, or forgiveness.

“From the Beginning”

Second, observe that Jesus next redirected His questioners’ attention back to the two verses given in His initial response to their question—verses that pertain to the very “beginning” of the human race when God articulated His intention regarding marriage. His remark (“from the beginning it was not so”—vs. 8) presses the fact that God’s will for marriage is ultimately seen at the Creation when God articulated the guiding principle that answers the Pharisees’ question. Genesis 1:27 and Genesis 2:24 are intended to be normative injunctions enjoined upon all people for all time. Greek scholar Marvin Vincent presses this very point when he observes that the use of the perfect tense in Matthew 19:8 indicates a past action that continues to be active: “Notwithstanding Moses’ permission, the case has not been so from the beginning until now. The original ordinance has never been abrogated nor superseded, but continues in force.”11 In other words, the sole exception—the only ground for legitimate divorce—from the Garden of Eden to our present day, has always been fornication.12 This firm reality explains why even God divorced His spiritual spouse—Israel—on the sole grounds of adultery (Jeremiah 3:6-8).

The Meaning of Moses’ Directive

Third, careful analysis of the text of Deuteronomy 24 yields additional insights that clarify the Lord’s outright rejection of the passage as prototypical. Observe that the verses in question are lodged in a context of a particular type of legal material found in the Law of Moses known as casuistic law. This format for conveying legal obligations is couched in what logicians refer to as a “hypothetical syllogistic” arrangement—“If…then….”—in which the “if” portion of the statement is known as the “antecedent” while the “then” segment is the “consequent.” Grammarians identify the two segments as the “protasis” and the “apodosis.”

A protasis may have multiple conditions, joined together in English by the conjunction “and.” In Hebrew grammar, the conjunction is a single letter (the waw) which is prefixed to the subsequent word. Context must determine what conditions are part of the protasis, and at what point in the series the apodosis commences. In the case of Deuteronomy, however, it is evident that the protasis continues through verse 3 and the protasis (“then…”) commences with verse 4. Here are the conditions of the protasis:

  1. When a man takes a wife and marries her
  2. and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness in her
  3. and he writes her a certificate of divorce, and puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house
  4. and she has departed from his house
  5. and goes and becomes another man’s wife
  6. and if the latter husband detests her
  7. and he writes her a certificate of divorce, and puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her as his wife…

Each occurrence of “and” as bolded above is a waw in the Hebrew text. The apodosis now commences:13

Then her former husband who divorced her must not take her back to be his wife after she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.

Observe carefully that the seven conditions of verses 1-3 are hypothetical, that is, they envision what some person or persons might do. They are not commands. They are not instructions on how to achieve a divorce. They assume that the perpetrator of the actions has made up his mind to divorce his wife regardless of God’s will on the matter—the “hard heart” of which Jesus spoke. Such is typically the case with the conditions of a protasis. For example, consider a similar construction in Exodus 21:29—

If the ox tended to thrust with its horn in times past, and it has been made known to his owner, and he has not kept it confined, so that it has killed a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned and its owner also shall be put to death.

The four conditions of the protasis are not actions that are approved by God. They merely reflect circumstances that could potentially occur among people in a farm society. The apodosis is designed to provide God’s attempt to manage the unpleasant situation by providing after-the-fact assistance—not indicate God’s sanction of the events that led up to the dilemma at hand. Far from providing authority for divorce, Deuteronomy 24 was intended to be a limitation on divorce—an attempt to minimize and lessen its frequency. In the process, it served as a measure designed to address the mistreatment of women: “It prevented the husband from later claiming rights over this ex-wife.”14

Having disposed of the Pharisees’ quibble concerning Deuteronomy 24, Jesus brought His response to its logical climax by applying God’s original marriage law to the specific matter of divorce: “And (kai—“but”) I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery” (vs. 9). In sharp contrast to the apparent widespread practice of divorce among the Jews of Jesus’ day, Jesus insisted that the original will of God, going all the way back to the beginning of the human race, was for a man and woman to remain married to each other for life. He forthrightly declared that the only way for that first marriage to terminate in a divorce that God approves is for one of the spouses (the innocent party) to divorce the other (the fornicator), solely on the ground of sexual infidelity. Jesus clarified for all people for all time Deity’s will concerning divorce: the one and only ground for divorce is illicit sexual intercourse. Hence, Jesus’ answer to the Pharisees’ original question (“Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?”) was “no.”

 Endnotes

1 Fredrick Danker (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago), third edition, p. 385, italics in orig.

2 Wesley J. Perschbacher, ed. (1990), The New Analytical Greek Lexicon (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson), p. 167.

3 The Merriam Webster Dictionary online, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/allow.

4 Cambridge Dictionary online, https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/allow.

5 American Heritage Dictionary, https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=allow.

6 Alexander Bruce (no date), The Synoptic Gospels in The Expositor’s Greek Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans), 1:246.

7 Perschbacher, p. 418.

8 Danker, p. 1034, italics in orig.

9 Act V, Scene iii, line 290ff. Other occurrences in Shakespeare of the use of “winked” are found in Cymbeline, V.iv.192; Hamlet, II.ii.137; Henry 5, V.ii.300; and King John, IV.ii.211. See https://www.shakespeareswords.com/Public/Searchresults.aspx?search=winking&WholeWordSearch=True.

10 Danker, p. 762; Perschbacher, p. 306.

11 Marvin Vincent (1946), Word Studies in the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans), 1:108, italics in orig.

12 No doubt Moses did not explicitly articulate this fact in his recounting of the events in the Garden since Adam and Eve were the only people on Earth and, hence, incapable of committing adultery.

13 A number of English translations demonstrate awareness of these grammatical principles and the commencement of the apodosis at verse 4. Among those that insert “then” at the beginning of verse 4 are the ESV, NASB, NIV, NKJV, RSV, NAB, and the Geneva Bible. The CEB has “in this case,” the CJB has “In such a case,” and the EHV has “in these circumstances.” The EXB, GNT, ICB, and NCV have “In either case.”

14 Jack Lewis (1978), “From the Beginning It Was Not So…” in Your Marriage Can Be Great, ed. Thomas Warren (Jonesboro, AR: National Christian Press), p. 415.

Published


How Many Women, Men, and Angels Were at the Tomb of Jesus? by Eric Lyons, M.Min.

 

https://apologeticspress.org/how-many-were-at-the-tomb-of-jesus/
Tomb of Jesus

How Many Women, Men, and Angels Were at the Tomb of Jesus?

Eric Lyons, M.Min.
Reason & Revelation Alleged Discrepancies
From Issue: R&R – September 2021

In his debate with Michael Horner on “Did Jesus Really Rise From the Dead?” atheist Dan Barker asked:

Who were the women who came to the tomb? Matthew said it was Mary Magdalen and the other Mary. Mark said it was Mary Magdalen, Mary the mother of James, and Salome. Luke said it was Mary Magdalen, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and other women. John said Mary Magdalen….

Who was at the tomb when they arrived? Mark said there was one “young man.”… Luke said there was [sic] two men. Matthew said there was one angel, and John, the last writer, said, there’s two angels. See what’s happening here? See how the myth is growing and getting more exaggerated?1

Indeed, two of the most frequently cited reasons for questioning (and perhaps rejecting, as in the case of Barker) the four resurrection accounts have to do with the identity and number of women who went to the empty tomb of Jesus, as well as who (and how many) they actually found there.

The Women

Many fail to recognize in their critique of the Bible that additional information is not necessarily contradictory information. Was it essential for the apostle John to mention every woman who came to the tomb of Jesus on the morning of His resurrection, or was he at liberty to mention as few as he wanted (John 20:1)? If Mary Magdalene was at the tomb on that Sunday morning, and John recorded that she was there, without ever denying the presence of others (some of whom were mentioned by Matthew, Mark, and Luke), could his record of the events be truthful? Of course. Differences exist among the Gospel writers’ accounts, but no one has proven that they are discrepant. Just as a person might say, “I went to the ball game with Bill, Bob, and Bubba,” he might also truthfully say, “I went to the game with Bill and Betty.” These statements are not necessarily contradictory. One can easily (and honestly) supplement the other. A person may only mention Bill and Betty in one setting when talking to one group (e.g., at worship where the church knows the married couple), while at another setting when talking to a different group (e.g., at the office where only the men are known), he may truthfully just mention the men. We must keep in mind that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John wrote at different times, to different people, for different reasons.

Consider the scenario where four different newspaper reporters are covering the 2021 NBA finals (between the Phoenix Suns and the Milwaukee Bucks). All four writers are from different cities, including Phoenix, Milwaukee, Charleston, South Carolina, and Athens, Greece. Here are the four different headlines from the Bucks’ third win in the series:

  • From Phoenix: “Timely Team Effort Lifts Bucks Over Suns”
  • From Milwaukee: “Jrue Holiday’s Big Night on Offense and Defense Leads to W”
  • From Charleston: “Hometown Hero Kris Middleton Shoots Lights Out in Win”
  • From Athens: “Greece’s Giannis Leads the Way for Another Bucks Win”

All four reporters focused on different people in their headlines (and stories) for different reasons for their different audiences. Yet, all four reports were truthful. No reasonable person would accuse the writers of contradicting one another. Similarly, no rational, fair-minded individual should assume the Bible writers were errant in their accounts of the events on the morning of Jesus’ resurrection.

Furthermore, if the Bible writers always told every detail of every account the same way (mentioning the same people, places, things, and events exactly alike), the criticism would then be, “They all copied each other’s accounts. They conspired with one another!” When an experienced detective interviews various suspects regarding a crime, and all four suspects have the exact same alibi (down to the smallest details), the detective will be highly suspicious of such “perfect” repetitiveness—wondering if collusion has taken place to cover up a crime.

One of the many marvels of the Gospel accounts is how similar they are so as not to be contradictory, yet how different they are so as not to be guilty of collusion. This perfect balance of various truthful differences is what should be expected by independent truth-tellers, especially those who were inspired by God.

The Number and Nature of Those Already at the Tomb

The Gospel writers also differ in their accounts of who was at the tomb of Jesus when the women arrived. Regarding the number of individuals present, if there were “two” (as Luke and John specify), then there was at least one (on whom Matthew and Mark focus). Matthew and Mark do not say “there was only one,” but they do mention one individual. As with the number of women who came to the tomb, the number of individuals who were already at the tomb is not contradictory but supplementary. If I tell someone, “I have an old car with a lot of miles on it,” and I tell someone else, “I own two old cars you should check out,” I have not contradicted myself. Both statements are factual. Simply because I did not mention both cars in the first conversation is not a denial of owning more than one older car. It’s quite telling how easily skeptics can understand the legitimacy of supplementation not being equivalent to a contradiction in their own everyday-life scenarios, yet not give the Bible writers the same fair treatment.

Still, what about the nature of the individuals at the tomb of Jesus? Were they men or angels? The answer is simply, “They were both.” Lest someone scoff at such an answer, pause for a moment to consider how versatile certain things are (as well as the description of those items). In one setting, a person may refer to his handheld device as a “phone,” and in another setting, his “flashlight.” He may take out this device at a meeting to check his “calendar,” while later on that night he uses it as an “alarm clock.” (Imagine telling someone in 1950 that his “phone” would one day also be his flashlight, calendar, alarm clock, camera, directory, etc. He would have thought you had gone mad. Yet, to those in the 21st century, it all makes perfect sense.) Many things are not either/or; they are both/and.

Similar to how Jesus was both God and man (John 1:15,14; Philippians 2:5-11), the individuals at the tomb of Jesus on the day of His resurrection were both angels and men. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were all correct in their accounts. The angels were in human form. Mark and Luke referred to their humanity (in their appearance), while Matthew and John referred to their angelic nature. Consistent with what Scripture teaches elsewhere (e.g., Genesis 18:1-33; 19:1,5,15), in the past, both God and angels have come to Earth in the form of human beings.

The four Gospel accounts independently testify that various women arrived at the tomb of Jesus on the morning of His resurrection and were greeted by angels who were in the form of men. Such differently worded statements are without contradiction. In truth, they stand as perfectly harmonious accounts with different, supplemental material from four different independent writers.

Endnotes

  1. Dan Barker (1996), “Did Jesus Really Rise from the Dead?” Debate with Michael Horner at the University of Northern Iowa, April 2, http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/dan_barker/barker_horner.html.

Published

The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin! 1 John 1:5 -- 2:1 by Roy Davison

 

http://www.oldpaths.com/Archive/Davison/Roy/Allen/1940/blood.html


The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin!
1 John 1:5 -- 2:1

“If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

To understand this verse, we must know what sin is, what its consequences are, how the blood of Christ can cleanse us from sin, and what it means to walk in the light.


What is sin?

Sin is a thought, attitude, action or inaction contrary to the will of God. “There is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10). “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

Such statements are not popular! Most people tend to think that sin is actually not all that bad, especially their own sin!

How often is the word “sin” found in magazines and newspapers? The bad consequences of sin are described in great detail, but (except in churches) sin is almost never acknowledged as a cause of human suffering. Sin has to do with one’s responsibility to God, and people prefer not to think about that.

A man went to church alone because his wife was ill. When he came home, she asked: “What did the preacher talk about today?” “Sin,” he replied. “And, what did he say about it?” “Well, he was against it!”

Although there is a conspiracy of silence in the press about sin, God has much to say about sin. When we study the Scriptures we discover how sinful we are!

Jesus teaches us to look at the inner causes of sin: “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man” (Mark 7:20-23).

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus emphasized that external sins begin with internal sins, for example, when He said: “Whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28).

In a popular song in the fifties there was a line, “You can’t go to jail for what you’re thinking.” On hearing the song my father commented, “But you can go to hell for what you’re thinking!”

In the New Testament there are several lists of sins that show us how sinful we are.

“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like” (Galatians 5:19-21).

“Being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful” (Romans 1:29-31).

“For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (2 Timothy 3:2-4).

“If you show partiality, you commit sin” (James 2:9). This means that looking down on poor people, racism, and all forms of prejudice and discrimination are sin, including favoritism, cronyism, tribalism, and blind patriotism.

And what about sins of neglect? “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin” (James 4:17). There are so many good things that we ought to do that we fail to do!

Even our good deeds are tainted by our sins: “But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6).

Even those who sincerely want to do what is right, fall far short in actual practice, as Paul says: “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do” (Romans 7:15).

The Bible is a spiritual mirror that shows us our sins (James 1:23, 24).


What are the consequences of sin?

“The righteous judgment of God” (Romans 2:5) requires the death penalty for sin. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). After listing a series of sins, Paul says that “the righteous judgment of God” is “that those who practice such things are deserving of death” (Romans 1:32).

In addition to bringing dishonor to God, our sin causes immeasurable pain, heartache and suffering to others. Only God knows how much harm is done by our sins and “each of us shall give account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12).

Jesus warns us about eternal punishment in hell as the ultimate consequence of sin: “And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire - where ‘Their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched’” (Mark 9:47, 48).


God provides salvation through the blood of Christ.

When we realize how sinful man is, and how destructive sin is, we could easily conclude that there is no hope for mankind.

But there is hope because God, in His great love and mercy, has provided the blood of Christ as the means of salvation. God is willing to forgive: “‘Come now, and let us reason together,’ says the LORD, ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land’” (Isaiah 1:18, 19).

Water and many other solvents are used to wash away physical dirt, but only the blood of Christ can cleanse us from sin.

Many people do not understand how blood can take away sins. Briefly stated: Since death is the just penalty for sin, the only way God can preserve His righteousness when He forgives sin is if someone else, who is without sin, bears this punishment in the place of the one forgiven (see Romans 3:24-26).

Thus, God has given blood as the means of atonement by which sins are forgiven. In Leviticus 17:11 He explains: “The life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.” Atonement is satisfaction for an offense, resulting in the restoration of a broken relationship.

“According to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission” (Hebrews 9:22).

Under the Old Covenant there was atonement through the blood of sacrificial animals. This prefigured the blood of Christ, who would bring the ultimate sacrifice for sin. “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4).

High priests in the Old Testament offered the blood of animals. Our High Priest, Jesus Christ, gave His own life as a sacrifice for sin: “Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9:12-14).

Christ could pay the penalty for our sin because He was without sin. Since He was not under the same condemnation, He could voluntarily take our place, He “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24).

Thus God’s grace is granted through the blood of Christ. We are “justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith” (Romans 3:24, 25). “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7).


The blood of Christ is the blood of the New Covenant.

Jesus said something that was hard for His hearers to comprehend: “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:54).

This mystery was unveiled when Jesus instituted the Lord’s supper: “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body.’ Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins’” (Matthew 26:26-28).


The blood of Christ shows God’s love.

“God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him” (Romans 5:8, 9). Jesus “loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood” (Revelation 1:5).

God proves His love by the high price He was willing to pay for our salvation. “Conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:17-19).

As John the Baptist testified of Jesus: “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).


Cleansing by the blood of Christ is offered to all.

The Old Covenant was given to the people of Israel. The New Covenant is for the whole world. To non-Jewish Christians Paul wrote: “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:13).

The blood of Christ is for everyone: “And they sang a new song, saying: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation’” (Revelation 5:9).


The blood of Christ enables us to stand before God’s throne in white.

“Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, ‘Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?’ And I said to him, ‘Sir, you know.’ So he said to me, ‘These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb’” (Revelation 7:13, 14).

Now we can better understand John’s statement: “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).


How do we walk in the light?

“God is light and in Him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). Through the blood of Christ, God has freed us from the power of darkness so we can walk in the light: “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13, 14).

We begin our walk “in the light of the gospel” (2 Corinthians 4:4) when we believe in Jesus (Mark 16:16), repent of our sins (Luke 24:47), confess our faith in Christ (Romans 10:10) and are baptized for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). We then rise from baptism to “walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). We strive not to sin, but when we fall short “we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1).

Thus, to walk in the light does not mean “that we have no sin” (1 John 1:8) because then a continual cleansing by the blood of Christ would not be necessary. It does mean, however, that we are not walking in darkness!

We walk in the light by following Christ day after day and by coming together on the first day of the week to commune with the body and blood of Christ at the Lord’s table.


Let us walk in the light!

“If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Amen.

Roy Davison

The Scripture quotations in this article are from
The New King James Version. ©1979,1980,1982,
Thomas Nelson Inc., Publishers unless indicated otherwise.
Permission for reference use has been granted.

Published in The Old Paths Archive
(http://www.oldpaths.com)

The Lord your God is testing you by Roy Davison

 

http://www.oldpaths.com/Archive/Davison/Roy/Allen/1940/test.html

The Lord your God is testing you

“The LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 13:3).

Our life is a testing-ground for eternity. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10).


We need to examine ourselves.

In preparation for a test, students review their work and check their knowledge. We must examine ourselves to see whether we are meeting God’s expectations. “Let us search out and examine our ways, and turn back to the LORD” (Lamentations 3:40). “Let each one examine his own work” (Galatians 6:4). “Let a man examine himself” (1 Corinthians 11:28). “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith.1 Test yourselves” (2 Corinthians 13:5).

To effectively examine ourselves, it is helpful to know how God has tested mankind through the ages so we can understand how He is testing us now.


God tests everyone, including the righteous.

“His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men. The LORD tests the righteous” (Psalm 11:4, 5).

Belshazzar, king of Babylon, was terrified when he saw the handwriting on the wall: “Mene, mene, tekel, uphasin.” Daniel explained that “tekel” meant, “You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting” (see Daniel 5:25-28).

The most severe tests in the Bible were experienced by men of faith. Abraham was asked to offer his son;2 Job lost his children, lost his possessions, and his body was covered “with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head”;3 Joseph4 was sold into slavery by his own brothers and was imprisoned unjustly because of his integrity; Daniel was thrown in the lion’s den for faithfully praying to God.

These servants of God were strengthened by the trials they endured, and became examples of faith for others to follow down through the ages.


God tests our hearts and minds.

“The righteous God tests the hearts and minds” (Psalm 7:9). “The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tests the hearts” (Proverbs 17:3).5

God explains: “I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings” (Jeremiah 17:10).


God tests our faith and love.

“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance” (James 1:2, 3 NASB). When we remain faithful in spite of “various trials” it proves “the genuineness” of our faith (1 Peter 1:6, 7).

“The LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 13:3).


Faith and love are tested by obedience.

Abraham was tested to know whether he feared God. “Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham” (Genesis 22:1). After Abraham showed his willingness to offer Isaac, God said: “Now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me” (Genesis 22:12).

God gave the Sabbath command to test Israel. They were to gather manna on six days, but not on the seventh, “that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not” (Exodus 16:4).

Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15).


Faith and love are tested by hardship.

Israel was tested in the wilderness: “You shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD” (Deuteronomy 8:2, 3).6

Going through the Red Sea prefigured our baptism (1 Corinthians 10:1, 2). Entering the promised land prefigured our final rest (Hebrews 4:8-11). God tests us during our wanderings through the wilderness of this life.


God sometimes withdraws to test us.

Hezekiah, one of the most faithful kings of Judah, was tested in this way: “God withdrew from him, in order to test him, that He might know all that was in his heart” (2 Chronicles 32:31).

Do you sometimes feel that God has forsaken you? He may be testing your faith and love. Remember that Jesus also felt forsaken by God when He was hanging on the cross for you (Matthew 27:46).


The Messiah refines His people by fire.

Referring to the promised Christ, God warned: “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like launderers’ soap.7 He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver” (Malachi 3:2, 3).8

Metals are purged and refined by fire to remove impurities. Silver melts at 962°C. Gold melts at 1064°C.

When I was thirteen our class visited the Kaiser Steel Mill at Fontana, California. I vividly remember the white-hot liquid metal flowing from the bottom of the blast furnace into moulds. Huge hammers pounded large, red-hot ingots into glowing flat slabs of steel that were then rolled under great pressure into sheets. Heat and pressure are required to produce steel sheeting from iron ore.

Heat and pressure of a different kind refine the people of God. “Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction” (Isaiah 48:10).

Jesus himself “learned obedience by the things which He suffered” (Hebrews 5:8) and His followers share in His suffering. “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12).

“Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy” (1 Peter 4:12, 13).

Jesus comforted the believers at Smyrna: “Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10).


The fruitfulness of our faith is tested.

Jesus said: “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (John 15:1, 2).

Notice that all branches are cut. The fruitless are chopped off, the fruitful are pruned.


Our work will be tested by fire.

Paul writes: “I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is” (1 Corinthians 3:10-13).

This does not refer to our own salvation9 but to God’s testing those we teach. How we preach and worship can influence the type of people we attract and whether we build with straw or with precious stones.

Apostate churches use worldly means to entice people, such as imposing buildings, pageantry with colorful costumes, and instrumental music.

Some congregations build with straw by using worldly attractions to entice people, for example, with what they call a “contemporary service” with loud instrumental music. One young woman, who had attended such a service at what once had been a church of Christ, said, “It was great! We were up dancing10 on the tables!”

Some use worldly allurements to attract people in the hope that eventually their attention might be redirected to spiritual things. But how spiritual is this approach? Can we picture Paul and Barnabas playing “Christian rock” to draw a crowd?

Jesus said: “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself” (John 12:32). Paul declared: “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16).

They who resort to worldly attractions lack faith in the drawing power of Christ and the gospel!

Entertainment attracts straw. Gold, silver and precious stones are harder to find, but they can withstand the fire. Hearts of gold are won when we exalt Christ and give them what they cannot find elsewhere, the undiluted and unadulterated doctrine of Christ.


False religions test us.

God allowed the surrounding heathen nations to test Israel: “Because this nation has transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers, and has not heeded My voice, I also will no longer drive out before them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died, so that through them I may test Israel, whether they will keep the ways of the LORD, to walk in them as their fathers kept them, or not” (Judges 2:20-22).

In our time God allows denominations with their confusing, contradictory and unscriptural doctrines and practices to test our faith and love. Will we serve God simply as Christians, members of the one body, the church of Christ?11 Or do we prefer a denomination of human origin?


Miracles of false teachers test us.

To test people, God sometimes allows false teachers to perform wonders: “If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’ - which you have not known - ‘and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him” (Deuteronomy 13:1-4).

People are tested now the same way. Jesus warned: “For false christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (Mark 13:22).12

Certain denominations use apparitions, wonders and signs to lead people astray. Two examples:

In 1858 a girl of 14 in Lourdes, France claimed that Mary had appeared to her in a cave. Since then this has been used to encourage people to worship an image, which is contrary to God’s word (Exodus 20:4; 1 Corinthians 10:14).

There are people who claim to speak in tongues, yet women lead in their assemblies, something forbidden by God (1 Corinthians 14:34, 37).

By signs and wonders people are tested to see whether they want to obey God’s word or follow their own feelings and emotions.


We are tested by division.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians: “First of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you” (1 Corinthians 11:18, 19).

Jesus prayed for unity (John 17:20-23) but not for unity at the expense of truth. He prayed for unity based on God’s word (John 17:14, 17). When division comes - caused by people who depart from the truth - this “parting of the ways” purges and purifies the church. The unfaithful are chopped off, the faithful are pruned, and those who are approved can be recognized.


What have we learned?

“The LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 13:3).

We need to examine ourselves. God tests the hearts and minds of the righteous. He tests our faith and love by means of obedience and hardship. He sometimes withdraws to test us. The Messiah refines His people by fire. The fruitfulness of our faith and the quality of our work are tested. False religions, lying wonders and division test our respect for God’s word.

“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God” (2 Timothy 2:15). Amen.

Roy Davison

Endnotes

1 To be “in the faith” is much more than merely believing that God exists. “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving” (Colossians 2:6, 7). We are “in the faith” if we serve God according to the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 4).
2 “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, ‘In Isaac your seed shall be called,’ concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense” (Hebrews 11:17-19).
3 Job 2:7.
4 Referring to the trials of Joseph it is said, “The word of the LORD tested him” (Psalm 105:19; see verses 16-21).
5 David prayed: “I know also, my God, that You test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness” (1 Chronicles 29:17). “Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my mind and my heart” (Psalm 26:2). Paul wrote: “But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts” (1 Thessalonians 2:4).
6 Moses warned Israel not to forsake the Lord, “who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end” (Deuteronomy 8:15, 16).
7 Or “the lye soap of the fuller” referring to the cleansing and whitening of wool in preparation for cloth making.
8 “Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, against the Man who is My Companion,” says the LORD of hosts. “Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; then I will turn My hand against the little ones. And it shall come to pass in all the land,” says the LORD, “that two- thirds in it shall be cut off and die, but one-third shall be left in it: I will bring the one-third through the fire, will refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘This is My people’; And each one will say, ‘The LORD is my God’” (Zechariah 13:7-9).
9 “If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire” (1 Corinthians 3:14, 15).
10 This was said several years ago. Recently, on February 27 & 28, 2015, this congregation held “Daddy Daughter” dances costing $25 per dad and $5 per daughter (ages 4 through 12). “Come for dancing, dinner, dessert, carriage ride, photo booth, and crafts!” (downloaded on February 28, 2015 from http://www.thehills.org).
11 The church is the body of Christ (Colossians 1:24) and there is only “one body” (Ephesians 4:4).
12 Paul explained: “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved” (2 Thessalonians 2:9, 10).

The Scripture quotations in this article are from
The New King James Version. ©1979,1980,1982,
Thomas Nelson Inc., Publishers, unless indicated otherwise.
Permission for reference use has been granted.

Published in The Old Paths Archive
http://www.oldpaths.com


“Let us walk in the light of the LORD” Isaiah 2:5 by Roy Davison

 

http://www.oldpaths.com/Archive/Davison/Roy/Allen/1940/lampuk.html

“Let us walk in the light of the LORD”
Isaiah 2:5

What if you had to find your way alone in a dark forest at night without any light? What would you think of someone who had a light, but failed to use it? In the spiritual realm that is what most people do.


We need the light of God’s word.

“Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my pathway” (Psalm 119:105 ISV).

Deep darkness covered the earth until God said, “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3). The Creator of physical light is also the source of spiritual light. “Oh, send out Your light and Your truth! Let them lead me” (Psalm 43:3).

We need the light of God’s word to guide our steps along a safe path in a dark and dangerous world. Without this light we cannot find the good way.

Jesus, the Word of God (John 1:14), is “the true light, who gives light to everyone” (John 1:9 NET). He said: “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life” (John 8:12).


Millions walk in spiritual darkness.

It is sad that most people make no use of this “light of life.” They are like people driving their car at night without turning the headlights on.

And what about someone who goes into a forest at night, takes a light, but without batteries? These are people who have a Bible, but never read it. Of what value is a lamp without oil or a pocket light without batteries?

For a long walk, we need spare batteries!

Jesus told about ten virgins who took their lamps to meet the bridegroom (Matthew 25:1-13). Five were wise. They had extra oil. Five were foolish. They had oil in their lamps, but no reserves. As the bridegroom approached, their lamps started flickering out. These people have some light from God’s word but not enough.



The light of life must enlighten our heart.

The word of God must dwell in us richly (Colossians 3:16).

Before the word can reside in our heart it must enter our mind through our eyes and ears. We do not have a slot for a Bible memory card on the top of our head. To have God’s word in our heart we must listen to the word being preached, participate in Bible studies, and read the Scriptures. Human memory must be refreshed and strengthened by repetition.

We must know what the Bible says, but that is not sufficient. We must also understand the word of God. His word must enlighten the eyes of our understanding (Ephesians 1:17, 18).


We must walk in the light (1 John 1:6, 7).

This spiritual enlightenment must guide our lives: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (Colossians 3:16, 17).

When we walk in the light we do everything “in the name of the Lord” which means “under His authority.”

Some people misuse this passage. They think they can do whatever they want as long as they say they are doing it in the name of the Lord! But Jesus warned: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).

To be done in the name of the Lord, our words and deeds must be based on the word of God! That is why His word must dwell in us richly, so we can know what to do and what to say! Only then can we walk in the light and do all in the name of the Lord.

To walk in the light, we need a good supply of extra oil! God’s word must dwell in us richly and that word must guide our lives.

“We also have the prophetic word made more sure, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts” (2 Peter 1:19).

By heeding this word, we follow Christ “the Bright and Morning Star” (Revelation 22:16). He “went about doing good” (Acts 10:38). We follow His example “by patient continuance in doing good” (Romans 2:7).

When we walk in the light we follow God’s pattern for our lives. Paul charged Timothy: “Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me” (2 Timothy 1:13).

A pattern is a binding example. What happens if a pattern is not followed carefully? If someone cuts out a dress haphazardly, without closely following the pattern, it will not be a presentable dress.

In explaining salvation by grace to the saints at Rome, Paul said: “But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered” (Romans 6:17).

The word translated “form” has the basic meaning of “mould” and refers to the prescribed form or pattern of something.

Thus, God has subjected us to a prescribed form of doctrine that we must gladly obey.

To walk in the light we must follow God’s pattern for our lives. The light does not follow us, we must follow the light. We must walk in the light!


We must avoid darkness.

To walk in the light we must refrain from walking where there is no light! What if we leave the well-lit pathway and wander off in the dark?

To walk in the light we must enter the small gate and stay on the narrow path: “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13, 14 NASB).

Avoiding darkness involves the daily choices of our lives. It is not stepping into the darkness of sinful ways, being careful what we allow our eyes to see, what TV shows we watch, what websites we visit, what books we read, what words we speak, what thoughts we nourish. Such choices determine whether we are walking in the light where God is or in the darkness where Satan is.

Avoiding darkness also requires the avoidance of religious practices that God has not prescribed.

Paul wanted the Corinthians to learn “not to go beyond what is written” (1 Corinthians 4:6 NET). “Any one who goes ahead and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God” (2 John 9 RSV). In Isaiah 8:20 we read: “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Peter commanded: “If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God” (1 Peter 4:11).

What we do and say, both religiously and in our daily lives, must be based on the word of God. Otherwise we are walking where the light is not shining.


The blind cannot see the light.

Light has no value for someone who is blind. He cannot recognize light and he does not benefit from light.

This also applies to the spiritually blind. Jesus said of the hypocritical religious leaders of His time: “Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch” (Matthew 15:14).

“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” (words of Jesus in Matthew 6:22, 23).

Rather than having the eyes of their understanding enlightened (Ephesians 1:18), the spiritually blind have “their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart” (Ephesians 4:17, 18).

Spiritual blindness can result from hatred. John warns: “But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes” (1 John 2:11). Eyes that lack love are blind to the light of God’s word.

Spiritual blindness can result from rebelliousness. Ezekiel was told: “Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, which has eyes to see but does not see, and ears to hear but does not hear; for they are a rebellious house” (Ezekiel 12:2).

The eyes of the rebellious are blind to the light of God’s word. Rebellious people do not want to submit to the authority of God.

Rebellion is a fundamental cause of the apostasy of Christendom. Denominations are rebellious. They walk in darkness because they do not submit to God’s word. They do many things that are not prescribed in the New Testament - even things that are specifically forbidden, and they neglect to do what is prescribed. They just do what they want to do, or follow their own traditions.

People who do not want to practice the truth shun the light: “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God” (John 3:19-21).

They who are spiritually blind because of hatred, rebelliousness, or rejection of the truth cannot see the light.


What have we learned?

We need the light of God’s word. His word is a lamp for our feet and a light for our path. Millions walk in spiritual darkness. The light of life must enlighten our heart. To walk in the light, we must know the Scriptures, understand the word, and do the will of God. We follow Jesus Christ, the light of the world. We do not walk where there is no light. The spiritually blind cannot see the light.


They who walk in the light have fellowship with God.

“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:5-7).

“Let us walk in the light of the Lord!” (Isaiah 2:5). Amen.

Roy Davison

The Scripture quotations in this article are from
The New King James Version. ©1979,1980,1982,
Thomas Nelson Inc., Publishers unless indicated otherwise.
Permission for reference use has been granted.

Published in The Old Paths Archive
(http://www.oldpaths.com)

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