Manslick Road church of Christ » 2007 » January
The purpose of the Bible says yes. God inspired the Bible writers so that we might know His will. “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God” (1 Cor. 2:12 ). Why would God direct writers to use language we cannot understand?
The Bible itself says yes. It claims it can be understood: “For we write nothing else to you than what you read and understand…” (2 Cor. 1:13 ). “That by revelation was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. By referring to this, when you read, you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ” (Eph. 3:3-4 ). If the Bible can be understood at all, it must be understood alike. If two differ over what it means, at least one of them is bound to be wrong!
The command to be united says yes. We are to “speak the same thing” and “be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Cor. 1:10 ). We are to “preserve the unity of the Spirit” (Eph. 4:3 ), the unity the Spirit made possible by revealing the mind of God to us. If we cannot understand the Spirit’s instruction, this command is impossible.
Common sense says yes. Three men building houses according to the same set of plans would not build three different types of houses unless some of them misunderstood, altered, or ignored the plans. Likewise, religious differences come about through misunderstanding, changing, or simply ignoring what the Bible teaches. Those who insist on a “thus says the Lord” and who “rightly divide the word” will be united in faith and practice.
After Solomon’s death the kingdom of Israel divided. Ten tribes rebelled, leaving only Judah and Benjamin loyal to David’s line. Jeroboam, king over the ten northern tribes, immediately perceived that he had a problem. God’s law required all Israel to offer sacrifices at the temple in Jerusalem, which was in Judah. If Jeroboam’s citizens were constantly returning to Jerusalem, after a while they might rejoin that nation and possibly even kill him.
“So the king consulted, and made two golden calves, and he said to them, ‘It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; behold your gods, O Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt.’ He set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan” (1 Kn. 12:28-29 ). Dan and Bethel were both in Jeroboam’s territory.
What a clever idea! If God’s requirement is inconvenient, change it. Do you suppose we could find a way or two to implement this strategy in our day?
God instructed first-century Christians to assemble on the first day of the week to break bread (Acts 20:7 ). But Sunday is a great day for yard work, fishing, TV, shopping, or just plain doing nothing. How about if those of us who enjoy Sundays off meet on Saturday night instead?
Jesus taught that the only reason for which a man may divorce his wife and marry another is that his wife commits fornication (Mt. 5:32; 19:9 ). This is bound to cause a hardship or two—it makes couples have to work at living together. Could we not alter that to read “adultery, incompatibility, or similar faults”?
God’s plan for our salvation includes baptism as an essential act (Acts 2:38 ). One man in the New Testament believed that so strongly he was baptized in the wee hours of the morning (Acts 16:25 33). Anyone can see the burdens this command might create, especially in cases of death bed repentance. How does “just accept Christ as your personal Savior” sound? We’ll leave off any specifics.
Speaking of baptism, did you know that it is immersion? The word means to dip or plunge. It is a burial (Rom. 6:4 ). Talk about unhandy! Just suppose you wanted to be saved on a cold morning and the only water around was a frozen pond or river. Some fanatics have been known to go in anyway, but with Jeroboam’s convenience principle you could substitute sprinkling for immersion.
Convenient religion sounds appealing. It comes with only one catch: God rejects it! He sent a prophet from Judah to cry out against Jeroboam’s new altar and gods. The Lord even split the altar, causing its ashes to spill out (1 Kn. 13 ). Fact is, God never said serving Him would always be easy. He said we must deny ourselves, and we may even have to bear a cross. In light of that, would anyone really want to adopt the changes we have facetiously proposed in this article?
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1 ).
So begins the Bible. God’s existence is not argued, it is assumed. In subsequent pages of Scripture numerous evidences for God’s existence are suggested. At the top of page one, however, the fact is simply and boldly stated.
With this opening declaration, Almighty God immediately sets at naught numerous ideas about deity that have come to be prevalent among mankind. Among them are:
- Atheism, the belief that God does not exist. Genesis 1:1 begins with God.
- Polytheism, the belief that a number of different gods exit. It is interesting that Genesis was written in Moses’ day, an era in which polytheism saturated the minds of the world’s intellectuals. Yet Genesis 1:1 speaks of only one God.
- Materialism, the belief that physical matter is the only reality and everything that exists is made from or results from matter. Genesis 1:1 begins with a spiritual reality, God, who created matter.
- Naturalism, the belief that everything came to be as it is only through natural processes (e.g., evolution), without any supernatural involvement. Genesis 1:1 says God created.
- Pantheism, a belief that blends God and His creation: God is all and all is God. In effect, “nature” or the “environment” becomes God. Genesis 1:1 says God is separate from His creation.
The first verse of the Bible also declares God’s matchless power and wisdom. “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made” (Rom. 1:20 ). “By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible” (Heb. 11:3 ).
This initial statement of Scripture establishes one more vital truth: God’s ownership and rule of all, and our obligation to submit to Him. “The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it. For He has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the rivers” (Ps. 24:1-2 ). As creator, God owns everything. Our “ownership” is but a stewardship of things entrusted to us during our lifetimes. As creator, God has the right to impose His will on creation. We are all subject to that will, regardless of whether we consent to it.
Genesis 1:1 provides the framework for life. It explains how we got here and implies our purpose. In the Preacher’s words, “Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth…” (Ecc. 12:1 ).
With regard to homosexuality, women as preachers, and other hot topics, critics of Bible teaching sometimes emphasize the fact that Jesus did not say anything personally about the subject at hand. The implication is that since Jesus said nothing, what other Bible writers said is irrelevant or invalid. Such a deduction only reflects the ignorance of the one making it.
Jesus’ words were not His own. He said, “For I did not speak on my own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me commandment, what to say, and what to speak” (Jn. 12:49; cf. 14:24). God spoke through His Son (Heb. 1:2 ), who is called an apostle (Heb. 3:1 ). Why is what God spoke through Jesus valid, but what He communicated through other spokesmen invalid?
Jesus commissioned His apostles to preach. He promised the Holy Spirit to guide them. Of the Spirit, Jesus said,”He shall take of Mine and disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are mine; therefore I said, that He takes of Mine, and will disclose it to you” (Jn. 16:14-15 ). Since the apostles were speaking the things of Jesus, their instruction was His instruction, which was God’s instruction. To deny that is to deny what Jesus said.
Jesus said if we keep His word we will keep the apostles’ word as well (Jn. 15:20 ). He knew many would do neither. The real problem, He said, is rejection of God (Jn. 5:42; 15:21; 16:3 ).