Scripture Archives • Knowing God and His Ways

January 22, 2024January 20, 2024

The Third Mark of a True Disciple of Jesus

True disciples abide in the words of Jesus

Jesus said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples” (John 8:31)

Do you want to be a real disciple of Jesus? That is, do you want to be an authentic Christian, rather than a Christian in name only? Do you want to have an assurance that your sins are forgiven and you have eternal life?

According to this verse that is not possible unless you abide in his word. Jesus says if you abide in his word, you are truly his disciple. That means if you do not abide in his Word, you are not his disciple. Can someone who is not a disciple of Jesus legitimately call himself a Christian?

Abiding

Webster’s dictionary defines abide as: “to remain stable or fixed in a state,” “to continue in a place.”

My wife and I have been living in the same apartment since 2009. We are staying; we are remaining; we are abiding.

If over the course of his childhood a boy listens closely to his father and learns eight important life maxims from him, and he lives by those truths all the days of his life, he is abiding in his father’s word.

More than 35 years ago I learned from an author named Haddon Robinson a method of studying the Bible and developing a biblical sermon that I still use today. I am abiding in Haddon’s method.

Abiding in the words of Jesus means reading or listening to them, learning them, and learning to obey them.

Many people are willing to assent to the truths about Jesus, but they do not take his words seriously. They are not intent on changing their life to obey him. They are not intent on surrendering their will to him. They are not intent on sincerely repenting of sin. They are not growing in heartfelt love for him.

Others have some desire to follow Jesus, but they are casual and lazy about the words of Jesus. They scarcely read the Bible. They do not go to church to hear sermons. Or if they listen to sermons or read the Bible, they do not put the words into practice.

At the feet of Jesus

Luke 10:38–42 says, “Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.’ But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.’”

Mary was an avid listener. She was abiding in the words of Jesus. Jesus said such listening “is necessary.”

You do the same thing today when you read the Bible and attend church. You should do so consistently. You should abide in the Bible, in church meetings, and smaller Bible studies.

You do the same as Mary when you abide in the word daily and weekly, not just once or twice a month. If you are reading the Bible or attending church just now and then, it is hard to make the case that you are abiding in the words of Jesus, that you are taking them as seriously as you take your daily meals.

To lose interest in God’s words is to have lost interest in him. On the human plane, if one has no interest in hearing someone else’s words, then it is obvious there is no affection and no desire to know the other person.

What about people who are illiterate or have some other factor that keeps them from being able to read or hear the Bible?

Well, we are not saved by reading the Bible or going to church; we are saved through faith in Christ and his atoning work on our behalf on the cross. God holds us accountable for what we know and what we are able to do.

True faith results in an abiding focus on the Lord’s words

Even if you have read the Bible cover to cover before, interpreting and applying the Bible is a lifelong project. You cannot read it once and know it. Interpreting and applying the Bible is a pursuit deeper and wider than exploring all the oceans of the world.

Memorize and meditate on the Scriptures. Read books and commentaries on Scripture. Listen to sermon podcasts. Talk about it with others who take the Bible seriously.

Still, abiding in the words of Jesus is about more than interpreting and applying them; it is about fellowshipping with God through his words, knowing his presence, and experiencing him speaking to you through his written words. Abiding in the Scriptures is about having your faith in his promises strengthened more and more.

Living faith (see James 2:17) in Jesus is the kind of faith that sincerely believes in and receives him for who he is: one’s Lord and God. To believe in him as Lord and God and at the same time to ignore and unrepentantly disobey his words is hypocrisy and self-deception. It denies the claim that one has saving faith.

May 1, 2023April 29, 2023

Familiarity with Scripture

Eight Qualities of the Heart That Resists Error

Keen instincts for truth come from broad familiarity with Scripture

If we want to know the truth about the big questions of life, we must pay attention to the state of our soul, not just our worldview. This is part three of eight soul qualities that make us immune to false teaching. (If you missed a previous article in the series, see part one and part two.)

3. Familiarity with Scripture

Last night I was in a prayer meeting for which someone arrived late. I did not open my eyes to see who it was, but in a moment I knew. When he walked by, I smelled the after-shave he often uses, and when he began to pray, I of course recognized his voice.

We gain a similar discernment when we saturate ourselves with Scripture. As we prayerfully read the Bible day after day, we become familiar with the sound and feel of truth. We come to know intuitively in our spirit the One who is truth.

Jesus compared this experience to that of sheep with their shepherd. He said, “The sheep hear [their shepherd’s] voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers” (John 10:3–5).

The more you read the whole Bible, the sharper will be your instinctive sense of what is true and false in the world. Falsehood will sound off-key, even if you are not immediately sure why it is false.

To know truth we must pay a price. Instead of spending discretionary time on myriad things of little lasting value, we need to read, study, memorize, and meditate on God’s Word.

April 10, 2023April 7, 2023

The Four Guides into Truth Must Agree

Truth is too important for us to neglect any of the guides God has provided.

For several months now, we have been digging into the idea that God leads us into essential truths about himself and salvation through four guides. They are (1) the Scriptures, (2) the Holy Spirit, (3) the church, and (4) prayer. If we follow these four guides with patience, faith, and wisdom, we can be assured of finding the truth—even if we are a new Christian! Through these four guides God will certainly lead us into the truth that assures us of eternal life.

Harmony

Just as a car needs all four wheels, you need all four guides working in harmony. Do not neglect or ignore any of them. Remember the Pharisees, who were radically religious yet profoundly wrong. Jesus corrected them: “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.” (John 5:39–40, ESV) They examined one of the four guides closely, yet they still went astray.

The Sadducees made the opposite error, failing to give adequate attention to Scripture. Jesus corrected them as well: “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?” (Mark 12:24, ESV)

So if we rely exclusively on one of these guides in contradiction with the others, or if we neglect, ignore, or reject one of the guides, we can stray into error.

Examples

For example, although objective Scripture is free of error, we might err when we interpret and apply it. False teachers usually appeal to the same Bible as orthodox Christians, but they misinterpret it. This is why we need the wider, historic church and the fruits of its two-thousand year history of interpreting the Bible together under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Over that period the church has thoroughly wrestled through disagreements about the key doctrines necessary for salvation, corrected the errors of particular eras, groups, leaders, and locales, and long ago reached general consensus on the essentials.

Similarly, with regard to the Holy Spirit leading us into all truth through the Scriptures, we may have subjective thoughts and feelings that are not from the Holy Spirit. They may come from personal convictions shaped by our upbringing, for example. This is why we need the objective correction that comes from both Scripture and historic church doctrine.

For instance, some people have grown up in heretical religions such as the Mormons or the Jehovah’s Witnesses that do not believe Jesus Christ is the eternal, uncreated, divine Son of God. As a result, their consciences may affirm that what they learned in “church” and from parents is true, even though objective Scripture and the wider, historic church emphatically deny this false teaching. A Mormon might think that his Mormon-shaped conscience is the Holy Spirit leading him.

God is faithful to lead us out of an unhealthy religious group if we commit ourselves to follow the truth even if it contradicts our traditions. Psalm 25:5 gives an essential Scriptural prayer that God will surely answer: “Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation.” The Holy Spirit will answer that prayer over time by illumining Scripture as we read. If we are in an unsound group, over time we will see how the Bible contradicts their teaching in significant ways. The Holy Spirit will disturb our conscience over what we hear. We can trust God to lead us into truth and a church marked by sound teaching.

Through prayerful agreement between the Bible, the Holy Spirit, and the true church, God reliably guides everyone who is committed to the truth at all costs and seeks it with prayer, trust, and persistence.

Next week

God is reliable, but we are not. What can make us susceptible to error is the state of our soul. Exhibit A is the Pharisees. So next week we begin an examination of eight soul qualities that make us immune to false teaching.

February 6, 2023February 8, 2023

How Does God Equip Even the Youngest Believer to Distinguish Truth from Error?

Distinguishing truth from error requires that we rely not on our own understanding, but rather on the guides God has provided.

In previous posts in this series, we have seen the importance of pursuing truth from God and being on guard against error, for we live in a world swirling with deceptions about the ultimate questions of life. These lies can lead to our destruction.

That brings us to a crucial question. How do we recognize false teaching? How does God equip even the youngest believer to distinguish truth from error?

Passing the test brought on by deception

Those who love and trust the true God will not ultimately be deceived and lost due to false teaching—guaranteed—but that does not mean their salvation is automatic. We are responsible to follow the guides God has given to keep us from error.

When you are unsure what is true, you can trust him to lead you to truth as you prayerfully find harmony between three guides:

(1) the objective truth found in God’s inerrant Word (the Bible),

(2) the subjective truth given by the abiding, internal witness of the Holy Spirit,

(3) the objective teaching of the broader church on essential doctrines.

We must find agreement between all three.

1. Scripture

The foundation of all true teaching about God is the Bible.

The apostle Paul counseled his assistant Timothy, “Continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching” (2 Tim. 3:14–16, italics added).

Paul was an authoritative apostle commissioned directly by Jesus Christ, and we see in this verse that he had complete confidence in Scripture as the inerrant guide to the truth that brings salvation, just as Jesus had absolute confidence in Scripture and his own teaching as inerrant guides.

“Scripture cannot be broken,” said Jesus (John 10:35).

Notice that I said Scripture is an inerrant guide. People go astray when they think they know better than the Bible and Jesus. That is a sure way to end up in error. I long ago determined that I would humble my mind under God’s Word and believe it rather than believe my own understanding or the wisdom of man.

God is perfect, and he has given us perfect truth in Holy Scripture.

Next week we discuss the second guide to truth: the Holy Spirit.

May 16, 2022April 28, 2022

Truth #12 – God’s Word Creates Faith

To increase our faith we must learn to absorb God’s Word in the way that creates faith.

Have you ever dearly wanted something and realized to get it you needed more faith?

That happened to me about four years ago. I came to the settled conclusion the church I serve must have the ability to win converts to Jesus. And for that to happen I myself needed to have the ability to win converts to Jesus. The frustrating truth was, the latter was not happening, though not for lack of effort.

But I knew God wanted it to happen. Luke 19:10 says Jesus “came to seek and to save the lost.” When he ascended to heaven, he gave that mission to his church. So I knew we were missing something. One crucial day James 1:5 convinced me God could give me the wisdom to understand what we were missing and what we could do about it.

But there was a complication. James 1:6, the very next verse, told me that to get that wisdom I must have faith.

How we increase our faith

The situation for which you need faith differs from mine. You may need faith for physical healing. You may need faith to get out of debt and establish your finances or to meet the person who will someday become your spouse or to conceive a child or to succeed in school or on the job or to overcome fear or depression.

Whatever your need, we all need more faith for something, and the good news is we can get it.

To get the wisdom I needed I began memorizing Scriptures about God’s willingness to give wisdom. Over the next year I collected a list of 39 Scriptures. One by one I memorized them and spent slow time pondering each one over and over again. Then I would cycle back and refresh my ability to quote the verses correctly and once again ponder each text one word and phrase at a time.

I have been doing that now for several years, and I now believe in every cell of my bones that God gives me the wisdom I ask for. And slowly I have been learning how to lead others to become followers of Jesus.

Breakthrough

Over the past year my breakthrough came. I know of four people who have responded to my conversations with them and said they wanted to follow Jesus. I assume others have as well, for I have given the gospel to hundreds of people in various ways over the same period. Every month or two I get another insight into how to improve and become more effective in this.

I am certain that over the next year I will lead more people to become followers of Jesus than I did last year. My wisdom and effectiveness will keep growing. Why? Because I believe God’s words concerning his willingness to give me wisdom, and so I keep seeking it and I keep getting it and using it. God’s words have created this settled faith in me.

God’s words create faith as acorns create oak trees.

Romans 10:17

Romans 10:17 says, “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

In this verse Paul is describing how saving faith comes about, and he says it comes when lost people hear the message of the gospel, which is “the word of Christ.” The same principle applies to faith in general. Faith comes from hearing the word of God.

Faith needs an object, it needs content, and the object of faith is God and his Word. (Unlike the department store chain with the one-word marketing slogan, “Believe,” which does not specify what to believe, as though all that matters is belief in something or anything.)

Faith increases as we hear, read, and consider the Word of God and humbly and obediently choose to believe it. God’s word creates faith as acorns create oaks.

The unique vitality of divine words

God’s words are not like ordinary human words.

First, like acorns God’s words are alive. Hebrews 4:12 says, “The word of God is living and active...” Living things grow and multiply. Living things are active, like the new leader of an organization who brings fresh ideas, energy, and vision. Scripture pulses with life.

Second, God’s words are spirit. Jesus said, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (John 6:63). Notice that he did not say his words are spiritual, although that is certainly true. Rather he said his words “are spirit.” He was asserting something about the nature and essence of God’s words. God is spirit (John 4:24), and his words also are spirit. Whatever that means exactly, it suggests why his words are powerful, uniquely life-changing, and able to create faith, why they are living and active.

This sheds light on why God can say, “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:10–11).

It makes sense

As this verse illustrates, God’s words are instrumental in nature, and they hold a place at the center of his relationship with us and the foundation of no less than the universe itself. For example:

Jesus is the Word

John 1:1–2 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” Verses 14–18 make it clear that “the Word” is Jesus.

In John 14:6 Jesus described himself as “the truth.”

Clearly, if God himself can be described as the Word, then words are fundamental to all reality. It makes sense, then, that words are fundamental to our faith.

God created all things through his words

Genesis 1:3, 6, 9 says, “³ And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. … ⁶ And God said, ‘Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.’ … ⁹ And God said, ‘Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.’ And it was so.”

Likewise for the remaining days of creation. God creates through his verbal commands.

It makes sense, then, that he creates faith in us by his Word.

God exalts his words for the sake of his glory

The Holy Spirit inspired the writer of Psalm 138 to say to God, “you have exalted above all things your name and your word” (v. 2).

The Holy Spirit inspired the writer of Psalm 56 to say three times the refrain that he praised God’s words. “In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust” (v. 4). “In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise, in God I trust” (vv. 10, 11). And twice the psalmist links his praise of God’s words with his trust in God.

The psalmist’s praise for God’s words inspired his trust in God. God’s word creates the faith that brings God glory.

Takeaway

You need more faith for situations you face. The question is, how badly do you want it? Enough to really knuckle down and work for it for the long haul? To carefully read several chapters of Scripture daily? And to compile verses that pertain to your situation and memorize and meditate on them? To regularly ask God to help you do all this and thereby to increase your faith?

Shifting my analogy: Although it only takes one acorn to create an oak tree, it takes many acorns to feed a squirrel for the winter. The more acorns you squirrel away, the stronger your faith will grow.

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)

January 3, 2022December 19, 2021

Pray for Wisdom and Read Scripture

When we inquire of God for wisdom, the Bible helps us find answers.

When you seek particular wisdom from God, Scripture should play an important role.

Psalm 119:24 says, “Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors.”

Therefore as you seek wisdom, God’s words can counsel you.

Likewise Psalm 119:98–99 says, “Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. ⁹⁹ I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation.”

Therefore God’s commands not only tell us what God expects of us, but they also make us wise, which is again what we seek. To get that wisdom verse 99 says you should engage with Scripture in meditation. Repeat it over and over, break it down word by word and phrase by phrase, imagine what the words picture, draw implications from its assertions, trust its promises, think of ways to apply it.

Moreover, ask the Lord where to read Scripture to find the answer to your inquiry. That guidance can come in various ways. He might guide your heart in that very session of prayer, or he might do so a month or a year later. He might create an interest in reading a particular book of the Bible. Or as you follow your annual Bible-reading plan, he might providentially bring you to that place in Scripture where the needed wisdom lies. If you maintain your faith and your inquiry, your eyes will fall sooner or later on Bible verses that help answer your question, and you will recognize them as such.

How Scripture imparts the wisdom we seek

Therefore, when you ask God for wisdom on any matter, read the Bible with that question in mind, search Scripture for what it says on the subject, and meditate on relevant passages.

This is important for four reasons:

1. God might have spoken directly to the subject in his Word, and if not, he has given relevant principles.

For example, if a man asks for wisdom about how to improve his marriage, he can find specific help in Ephesians 5:22–33. On the other hand, if a woman asks for wisdom about how to protect her dog from catching ticks, she will not find anything in the Bible on that specific topic, but there might be relevant principles.

2. Setting your mind on Scripture brings the presence of God within.

Regardless of whether the Bible speaks to the question, whenever we read Scripture long enough with humility, faith, and reverence, our awareness of his presence increases. Our fellowship with God becomes more real, and the mind of Christ prevails in our mind. God’s presence and the wisdom we seek go well together.

3. Whatever Scripture says shapes you with wisdom in general and thus makes your mind a good environment for wisdom.

A heart filled with wisdom is a conducive place, a suitable environment, for the revealing of further wisdom on any specific subject. When you saturate your mind with Scripture, your mind develops an ecosystem of wisdom where further wisdom finds rich soil for growth.

4. Reading Scripture sanctifies you.

Jesus said, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17).

Sanctification puts you in a right place with God and thus better able to receive from him.

The Bible tells several stories of people who sought information from God even though they had no intention of having a holy relationship with God. The results were negative.

For example, 1 Samuel 28 tells how King Saul inquired of God when he and his army faced an overwhelming enemy. But Saul had long been far from God and hardened in heart, so the Lord did not answer.

Still, Saul wanted information about the future, so he went to a fortune teller to see if she could contact the dead for the help he wanted. He had reached the ultimate, muddy bottom of his pathetic life, and he died in battle hours later.

(For other examples of people who inquired of God for information while rejecting God’s will for their lives, see Jeremiah 42; Ezekiel 20:1–32 [especially v. 31], and 1 Kings 22:1–40.)

Because we sin in many ways, we always need God’s counsel not only for our specific inquiry, but for the general sanctification of our lives. Holiness makes us better receivers of wisdom.

Takeaway

When we pray for wisdom, we should approach Scripture as our counselor and be open to all God wants to say to us, not just the answer to our question.

We should desire the full light of Jesus in his Word, both the street light and the focused laser beam. The way to have eyes that see and ears that hear God’s wisdom is to hunger for all he says, in all ways, about all things.